Family Fun at Great Wolf Lodge

Every five years, my family meets somewhere for a family reunion. This is just my folks, my brothers and sisters and their families. This year, we did it at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX. Great Wolf is an indoor (and outdoor) water park. For the price of your room, you get admission into the attraction for up to four people. At first glance, the price of the room seems steep, but if you factor in the entry into the water park, it's cheap at twice the price.

This year, we didn't have a great turnout. Half of the family didn't bother to come. Everyone blamed the economy. So, it was kind of sad. I missed seeing all the cousins. It made the gathering more poignant, because this is probably the last time we'll ever be able to gather everyone together in one place.

Five years ago, we met at the DeGray State Park lodge. The only two people that didn't make it were my husband and my son. Both had work issues that kept them from attending. So, I'm sensitive to attendance because I was the one that let the family down last time.

This year, we booked a conference room and shared three meals together. The rest of the time, we just took over spots in the restaurants and lobbies and enjoyed catching up with each other. My DILs took tons of photos and posted them online. I've been vicariously reliving all the good times.

I enjoy getting to spend time chatting with all the nieces and nephews. I've watched them grow up and now as adults, they have their own children. I'm entertained seeing how good they are at parenting their own young children. It's the circle of life, baby.

I highly recommend the Great Wolf Lodge to anyone with children. It was good clean fun. All the water slides were exciting and I screamed myself hoarse. All rides are more fun when you're yelling.

--Sandee Wagner