We snuck away in February for a little trip to Kansas City! Scott won some money to travel with from work and we decided to spend it on a family trip. I wanted to go over spring break but that didn't work with Scott's office schedule so we decided on President's day weekend instead. We spent four days and three nights at GreatWolf Lodge. It was a treat!
Our first adventure was to Legoland! We had been to the Legoland Discovery Center before when the girls were babies and we were surprised to see how much was new and changed since then. All the kids had a wonderful time. It was not crowded and very easy to keep track of the kids. We spent a full morning here, doing all the activities. I liked the rides- we did the Kingdom Quest one twice!
They had removed all the loose pieces from the community build areas due to COVID (one of the most fun parts before) but they did have this art station set up. We all made little tiles of art and then displayed them. We worked hard!
I had to represent with my Iowa state one. :)
We also enjoyed the 4D movie, something we didn't do before either. It was cute!
Miniland was awesome, especially the Kanas City scape. We kept spying things that we saw in miniland in real life after our visit! The kids also enjoyed building and racing Lego cars and I thought the master builder's workshop was pretty cool. Hopefully we can go back again in the future- I would have liked to take a class by the master builder but that was on pause due to covid also.
After Legoland, we went across the street to Fritz's in the Crown Center. It was not very busy and they did a good job of spacing out families in the booths. We had a yummy lunch and the train did not fail to entertain us!
We added on the SeaLife Aquarium tickets to our Legoland tickets as it was a significant discount and the aquarium is right by Legoland. I went in with low expectations... and they were totally exceeded! We had a lovely time. It was relaxing, calm, and a nice way to end our adventure day. We split up here too as Brynn needed a break from getting an owie stung in the salt water pool (ouch!) and it ended up being a lot more relaxing. Brynn and I sat and watched a tank for a while and it was really quite lovely with the dark lights and calming music.
Michael is the swag king!
The next day we went to Science City in Union station. We also stayed the whole time: 9:30-12:30. It was really fun for kids with a ton of hands on and educational exhibits. Our favorite as a family was the trippy optical illusion exhibit. We had fun doing some separate things as a family like when Michael and I did the maker space together and Scott went with the girls. It felt a little less hectic that way. It was a super cool space!
The exit to Science City took you through Union Station. It was pretty neat to see, as it reminded me of Kings Cross Station and also the train station in Hugo (which Michael and I just read). It was a little creepy as it was totally empty, we had to imagine what it would be like bustling with people a hundred years ago.
We ended our morning with a lunch at Jack Stack BBQ. YUM! The location right by Union Station was out of power (a bad omen of things to come) because of the sub zero temperatures. We went to the Country Club Plaza location instead and it was not busy at all. In fact, we didn't see anyone out and about at the Plaza. Very weird! We also made a pit stop at the Boulevard Brewing for Scott to pick up some souvenirs. They were not doing tours due to COVID, we'll have to add that to our list for next time.
We really enjoyed staying at Great Wolf Lodge. It would have been easy just to hole up at the hotel and never venture out. They had activities around the clock for kids as well as the awesome water park. It was worth the price!
(I had to take a photo of the King Henry the VIII Magi Quest portrait as I am knee deep in all sorts of reading about him, hehe)
We splurged on a Wolf Pass for the kids and they got a whole list of goodies to check off as part of the package. We did everything on the pass and I think it made the kids feel pretty special.
The waterpark was a hit for sure. We saw every day for hours. Michael and Scott loved the big waterslides and the girls and I did the one for three people a few times. The girls were a great age to enjoy as I didn't have to worry about them, especially since they are so good at wearing their life jackets the whole time. It was very enjoyable!
The kids also enjoyed the special "Kids Cabin" that was part of our room. It had three little beds and they all took turns sleeping on the top bunk. I think they very pretty special in there. Michael also LOVED doing Magi Quest and he was so disappointed he could not defeat the dragon. :( Hopefully we can find a reason to visit again in the future as all the progress is saved on their wands. I was surprised at how fun the game was and also how much time it took. It worked better for Michael to do it with an adult as the girls were not as in to it. The girls did like wandering around and casting spells at the things to make them light up and open which was great fun in its own right.
We did not get to swim on our last morning as the power went out at the hotel! It had been days of sub zero temperatures and they were doing controlled blackouts. Luckily we were able to be safe in our room and had a gas fireplace to keep us nice and warm. However, after the power came back on the waterpark wasn't online for another hour so we decided it wasn't worth it. Michael finished up his Magi Quest game while the girls and I shopped in the gift shop, got coffee, and played in the lobby. We ended our time in KC with a trip to Freddy's: YUM!
Here is the video from our trip:
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