Third fire alarm

Three times over the past seven months we have been staying in a hotel when a fire alarm has gone off. The first time was in New Jersey in May. Ian and Oliver slept through that alarm. Nadia and I were awake, but we were staying in a motel and so I just kept looking out the window so I could determine if we actually needed to leave the room. The second time was in June in Myrtle Beach. Nadia was at a different resort with Paul's parents. This time it went off earlier, which made it far less annoying than the first time. It took me forever to fall back asleep in May. Paul, the boys, and I stayed outside until the fire fighters said everyone could return to their units. On Monday night around 1:50AM we were sleeping in our room at Great Wolf Lodge when the alarm when off which included a loud sound plus strobe light in our room. Again the boys slept through the alarm. At first the announcement over the loudspeaker was that they were investigating the cause of the alarm. Then the next message over the loudspeaker was that it was a "Code Red" and everyone was to exit the building as quickly as possible because

there was an actual emergency. We woke the boys up, put on our coats and snow boots, and exited the building carrying out things like the iPad, my camera, and the Nintendo switch. Because it was very cold outside (the high during the day had been in the 20's), we waited in our minivan for about 30 minutes until an employee knocked on our vehicle and told us we could return. We got back into bed at about 2:35am, but it took Paul and I a long time to fall back asleep. Paul and the kids did sleep in the next morning to help make up for the sleep lost during the night. The alarm went off because a pipe burst in the boiler room for the indoor water park. The steam had set the alarm off and could have caused a fire, but thankfully it didn't. The kids and I aren't planning to stay at a hotel again until April 2020, so this third time should be the last for 2019. The kids don't experience fire drills at a school, but they've experienced them at hotels.

This particular Great Wolf Lodge is located in the Poconos (mountains). They received a lot of ice on Sunday. The forecast

for Monday looked awful. We were thinking of calling the resort to see if we could reschedule, but after checking various sites that gave the road conditions, we decided to head out as planned on Monday morning and turn around if the roads seemed unsafe. If Paul hadn't been with us, I don't believe I would have attempted that drive by myself. Thankfully the roads were fine. They didn't get anywhere near as much snow in the Poconos on Monday as the weather forecast predicted. Usually if you arrive early at Great Wolf Lodge you can begin using the water park, but you can't check into your room until around 4pm. Because they had so many cancellations on Sunday due to the weather, we were allowed to get in our room at 10am, which was very helpful. We headed straight to the water park after we changed into our swim suits and stayed there until we headed out for dinner. The plan had been to have dinner at Friendly's, but some restaurants were closed. The roads were fine, but we are assuming that is the reason a large percentage of restaurants we drove by were closed. We had planned to buy dinner at either Subway or Burger King on Tuesday night, but we ended up getting dinner at Burger King that was inside a gas station on Monday night. We took the food back to our hotel room because there weren't any tables inside the gas station. I had never eaten a taco at Burger King before. Hopefully I will remember in the future that they were AWFUL. Truly the worst taco I ever ate in my life. Our gift card covered all but 40 cents of our bill. We had planned to pick up sandwiches at Dunkin that night, put them in our refrigerator, and heat them in the microwave the next morning for breakfast. There is a Dunkin Donuts inside the resort, but they don't take gift cards. The DD was also closed on Monday night. I went out on Tuesday morning while Paul and the kids were sleeping and got our breakfast as Dunkin Donuts was open at that point. The gift card covered our five breakfast sandwiches.

After eating dinner the kids and Paul returned to the water park until it closed at 8pm. The kids watched part of a Disney movie and we all went to bed a little after 9pm. Nadia was on the top bunk, Ian was on the bottom bunk, Oliver was on the sofa bed, and Paul and I shared the queen sized bed. Usually Nadia ends up sleeping on the floor when the five of us share a hotel room. It's nice to be able to stay in a room that accommodates up to six people. Unfortunately the mattresses at that resort do NOT get along with my back. I was in so much pain I was literally nauseous. For a portion of the night I took the cushions from the sofa and slept on top of those on the floor. After eating breakfast, the kids and I attended a little showat 9am in the lobby that included singing animals and "snow" falling on everyone. The water park opened at 9:30, but it was closer to 10:00 before we were back down there because it took some time to take things out to the van so we could check-out.

I was the "gopher" and made multiple trips to the van to bring back lunch, clothes and boots to change into when it was time to leave, etc. Outdoor food can be brought into the resort but not into the water park. We had packed food for lunch both days. I also took pictures and videos. I used to enjoy water slides when I was a child, but frankly it wouldn't bother me any if I never went on one again. There are seven water slides that adults can ride. There are several others for younger children that Oliver went on by himself. Four of the water slides are for either 1 or 2 people at a time. One water slide can accommodate 1-3 people, one can accommodate 1-4 people, and the last one can take up to 5 people at one time. All five of us went on that one together twice. The kids also enjoyed the wave pool, lazy river, leap frog, pool with basketball hoops, and Ian's favorite - the jacuzzi. The first day Ian didn't ride too many water slides, but the second day all three kids went on many water slides. Paul did 20 water slides on Monday and 17 on Tuesday!

On Tuesday we left the park around 4:30pm and drove to Friendly's again. It was open this time. I had a coupon for 25% off the bill, and a gift card for $25. In the end we paid about $15 toward dinner, and that was the only thing we paid for during the trip aside from what we paid to stay one night at the hotel. There are many things that cost extra. The kids would have loved to have done the magic wand thing, but we told them we were there for the water park. We went with a homeschool group, which meant we paid less than half of the regular rate for our room.

The kids slept in again this morning although not quite as late as they slept in yesterday morning. When we got home last night, it was only 53 degrees inside our house! BRRR! Our poor guinea pigs were cold! We don't know why that happened. It took awhile to get the house up to 70, which is where we usually have the thermostat set in the winter. This morning we did schoolwork for about 2 hours and then drove to an alpaca farm about 20 minutes from our house as a friend had set up a 2.5 hour tour. We spent part of the time in the barn feeding the alpacas and the rest of the time in their fiber mill. We saw the machines that are used to turn fiber (from rabbits, dogs, alpacas, etc.) into skeins of yard or thread. When we got home our house was again cooler than we'd like although not as bad as last night. We might be making a habit of wearing our winter coats inside our house.

Last December was our first trip to Great Wolf Lodge. There were a few differences this year. #1 They didn't give out wolf ears this year. This year you had to buy them if you wanted some. We didn't buy any. #2 Last year Ian received a special birthday wolf ear and also a special wrist band that entitled him to a free ice cream. This year he got a birthday pin (no ice cream). #3 Last year you could just take towels whenever you wanted in the water park. This year you had to scan your wrist band to borrow towels, and then scan again when you returned them. If you were short any towels, they would charge you $15 per towel. We brought our own towels this year for fear that someone might take a towel and we'd be out $15-75. The kids had a great time, and I'm certain they are hoping we'll return again next December!