Riley and Rory had watched videos of the resorts online and had begged to go many times. I'm not sure how we kept it from them, especially since most of the other kids found out when we booked the trip in July, but we didn't tell the boys we were going until the week before we left. They were super excited, and even more so when they realized we would be going with their friends.
We left the morning of Lundi Gras, February 24. We picked up a kingcake on our way out of town and even saw a caravan of floats on the interstate heading into town. Only in NOLA!
It was a six-hour drive to the resort, our longest road trip thus far. The boys did really well in the car; however, Kenny's electronics set-up helped things quite a bit. They had access to the Switch, the Fire Stick, the Nintendo, the tablet, and DVDs. We didn't let them spend the entire trip playing games or watching movies, though. They also had Mad Libs, books, LEGO, and each other to entertain them.
We arrived in the late afternoon, checked in, received our wolf ears, settled into our room, changed clothes, and then went to find everyone in the water park. Our vacation had begun!
Everyone had dinner on their own the first night but met back up near the shops after eating and bathing. The kids needed to get their wands for the MagiQuest game that came included with an activity pass we bought for each of them. (Totally worth it. In addition to MagiQuest, they all got one game of mini golf and of bowling, one entry to the ropes course, one climb on the climbing wall, 25 credits to the arcade, a cup of candy from the GWL Candy Company, and a scoop of ice cream from Ben & Jerry's. All the fun things.) Wands in hand and game names chosen ("Death Rider" for Riley and "Magical Tiger" for Rory), we went back upstairs, even though Riley wanted to start the game right away. We were all pretty exhausted. Day 1 done!
The four of us were up just after 7am the next morning, so we got an early start. We went down to breakfast and then the boys got going on MagiQuest. (This turned out to involve running all over the first floor of the resort collecting magical items, battling multiple enemies, and checking in at various portals. It was a lot of back and forth and kept them extremely busy.) Everyone else trickled downstairs eventually, and we were all in the water park by 11.
Since it was Fat Tuesday, the adults decided to have a big group dinner that night at the resort's sit-down restaurant, Barnwood. We all dressed in matching Mardi Gras shirts that Heidi and Terah made and had a really fun night together. The nightly lobby dance party took place as were finishing up, so all the kids abandoned the table to join in. And of course, the boys had to do some more questing before going to bed. Day 2 done!
Wednesday was when we did lots of different things: water park, questing, candy store, ropes course for Riley (Rory refused to do it), questing, arcade, bowling, and questing. We also decided to gather at one of the picnic tables in the common area for a more casual group dinner, which worked out really well. The kids could run off and do whatever they wanted (mostly questing.....see a pattern here?) while the adults stayed in place. Day 3 done!
Thursday was another hodgepodge of activity: water park, outdoor hot tub, more bowling (Rory loved this), lots more questing, climbing wall (both boys tried it!), mini golf, and a last few games and prize picking at the arcade.
We had another casual communal dinner in the same spot as the night before. Diana, Jamey, and I thoroughly enjoyed our second round of BBQ pork nachos (I had them the first night and had to get them again; they were so good), and Terah handed out special gifts she got for each kid: a personalized cape and matching mask. So cute! (Not pictured is Colin, who ended up having the flu and was in isolation with Dana in their room since the previous afternoon. Poor guy.) Day 4 done!
Questing was a huge draw for Riley practically the entire trip. It was his favorite thing, and he was determined to finish the entire game before we left. Not many people are able to do that, on account of the time it requires to get through all of the levels. He and Rory both achieved Master Magi status, but that wasn't as far as they could go. So the next morning, our last morning, while everyone else was eating breakfast, packing their cars, and preparing to get on the road, he was questing.
He got all the way to the final boss and just couldn't beat him. He was so frustrated, as were the rest of us, who just wanted to go home. He decided it must be a glitch in the game because it couldn't possibly be his fault. (Stubborn, stubborn child.) So he went to ask one of the workers in the MagiQuest shop if she could help. She schooled him and made him realize that he wasn't at his full potential in the game; he wasn't using all of the power and resources that he had spent so long collecting since the beginning of the week. Once she clued him in, he beat the final boss with no problems. And that meant he became a Totem Master and we could finally go home. More than two hours after everyone else had left. But he was so happy. (His final point total was much higher. I didn't get another picture once he was all done!)
We took some pics in the front of the lodge before getting on the road. We arrived home late that evening with lots of memories of a great trip.
The boys have already asked if this can be a Mardi Gras tradition from now on.
