Home, where my thoughts escape me...

My girls.

They are the impetus to drag me to a waterpark - perhaps the only thing that could drag me to a waterpark.

As a belated birthday present to my girls (their birthdays were both the third week of May), we took them to the Great Wolf Lodge, a waterpark/resort hotel in Sandusky, Ohio.

I admit, this isn't really my idea of a good time: donning a bathing suit and sharing space with a hundred or so other people and their wide variety of body parts that can be described in a vast array of words that end in "y" (pasty, jiggly, hairy, saggy), and sharing a host of other things that come with sharing gallons of water with said people.

But, ah! the things we will do for our children!

Families who have sled dogs - or any animals - make a lot of sacrifices to have them.  We can't take off on a Disney or Virginia Beach vacation like other families. We have animals that depend on us, 365 days a year.

But one night and two days...we could do that. The girls deserve it.

Here are some photos from the Great Wolf Lodge.

Elise was most excited about this long-awaited trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. She had researched the resort online, visiting the web site and watching all of the videos of the water slides, the arcade, and the hotel which was decorated like a giant cabin. When we got there, she said, "It's just like I dreamed it would be, only better!"

A giant totem pole awaited us at GWL

The girls: Sophie (left) and Elise (right) in the lobby of the GWL

So we swam and went down water slides. We played in the arcade and jumped on the beds in the hotel. But, the fun must end, and we adults are happy to return home, and our animals are even more excited to see our return. Ultimately, no matter how many times I leave or how far I go, it is always awesome to return home!