sometimes you just need to hit the road

and so that is what we did.
someone asked me why we took off like that...i said, "my family needed some spoiling."

so, that's my story, folks.  we needed some bachart-time.  just the four of us.  it meant missing out on some terrific stuff.  it meant riding in the car for nine hours in two days.  it meant spending a decent chunk of vacation change. it meant arranging and rearranging stuff on the calendar.

but...

it was awesome. 

we headed west for our adventure, taking the scenic route through white pass.  i drove, so we made record time with minimal car sickness.  tony had much to say about my driving, like "would you please not follow that semi so closely as we slalom through this snow tunnel" and "there are these white signs with numbers on them that tell you what speed to drive". 

mmm hmm... tony's disclaimer: he is older and wiser and more responsible and that is why he takes driving so seriously...now.  i am sure it is wisdome and responsibility.  that and this. . . tee hee hee.  

but i digress... we landed ourselves in grand mound, wa at the great wolf lodge.  this not-so-little gem has a ton of family fun packed into one very large building.  while there is loads to do, it was the waterpark we were after--- in all of it's climate controlled glory.

 we put many, many miles on those water slides in the mere 27 hours we spent there.  we also ate a pound of fudge between the four of us.  a pound people, a pound!  rocky road, s'mores, peanut butter cup and maple bacon fudge at that.  and this was after we ate ice cream for dinner, one of our favorite vacation traditions. 

even with the sweet-sweets and the slippery fun, my favorite part of the experience was waiting in line for the water slides.  in these lines (which are not terribly long even though it was the weekend of spring break for many area schools), were little pockets of time.  there was the excitement and even apprehension of going down the five story slides.  there was the nervousness of peering over the edge of the railing.  there was the reading and trying to remember all of the little factoids that are posted along the way.  and then there was the stuff that you just don't have time for in regular life.  like rearranging each others eyebrows to all point down or be brushed up just so.  and the part where you all stand in the exact same pose to see if the lifeguard notices.  and the part where you get to hear about each others futures, their wishes, their dreams.  not too deep, but just deep enough to keep it fun and light.  

waiting in those lines with just the chance and the quiet to be the four of us; that is when i got the spoiling returned.