Get wet and wild with the grands at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs

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A wet and wild weekend designed for grandparents and grandkids? I recently experienced exactly that — without my grandkids.

The story: I was invited to the grand opening celebration of Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs and encouraged to bring along my grandsons and husband. But my grandsons couldn't make the 800+ mile trip to spend the weekend with me. My stepgrandson — my only local grandkiddo — couldn't come either. My husband did get to attend with me, though. And even without our favorite boys in tow, our free weekend adventure left no question that the expansive indoor water park resort offers a great, nay, grand getaway destination for grandparents and grandchildren.

Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs — the fourteenth location of the family-friendly indoor water park resort — has all the first-class entertainment and accomodation amenities of its sister spots across the U.S., plus a few goodies only guests of the brand-new resort on the north end of Colorado Springs get to enjoy.

The incredible view of Pikes Peak to the west is a perfect example of what sets the Colorado Springs location apart from other Great Wolf Lodge locations. This early morning shot was taken from the balcony of my room for the weekend:

pikes peak 

Breathtaking, right?

The majority of what my husband and I experienced at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs, though, was similar to signature features, fun, food and such found...

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Saturday movie review: Dough

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The movie DOUGH is about Muslims. And Jews. And immigrants. And marijuana-infused baked goods. All hot topics in our current volatile (and often downright vile) political climate.

Unlike political discussions on such hot-button immigration, race and religion matters, though, DOUGH leaves no sour taste for viewers.

DOUGH movie

While DOUGH touches on — embraces even — serious issues, the British comedy drama turned out to be quite sweet and digestible. Because of the story and honest performances more so than the bakery goodies featured throughout.

The bare bones of the humorous and heartwarming plot: Nat Dayan (Jonathan Pryce), an aging Jewish bakery owner struggling to keep afloat his family business in London's East End reluctantly hires the troubled son of his Muslim cleaning woman, Safa (Natasha Gordon), an immigrant from Darfur. Ayyash ...

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I say that shutting up is hard to do

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Dear Mr. Sedaka,

You were so right. I know that it's true. Breaking up is hard to do. Especially for teens, when true love seems a fickle, heartbreaking foe.

I do know how difficult breaking up can be. I've been there, done that. Long, long ago, admittedly one of the billions of boomers who once sang away heartbreak blues crooning along to your catchy, comforting tune.

I'm decades removed from being a youngster longing for love. And in the years since breakups with beaus broke my heart, I've found something more difficult to do than breaking up, Mr. Sedaka. And that's shutting up.

Trust me: It's waaaay harder to do than breaking up.

I'm not talking about shutting up regarding social or personal injustice. No one should ...

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Gem of a (borrowed) boy

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Gem of a (borrowed) boy

Those of you who follow me on social media may know I spent the entire past weekend at Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark resort in Colorado Springs. I'll be sharing much more about the grand place for grandparent-grandkid vacations later on this week.

Today, though, my first moment back on the blog since returning from the mini vacation, I must immediately offer online thanks and gratitude to a young man who helped me out immensely over the weekend.

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Saturday movie review: Demolition

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Losing a beloved spouse must be one of the most painful experiences of a lifetime. Bewildering, too, especially if the surviving spouse didn't really love the one who passed. Or at least feels that may be the case once a partner is gone.

Such is the challenge Jake Gyllenhaal as Davis wrestles with in the drama (with a believable dose of humor) DEMOLITION.

demolition film

Davis is a successful investment banker with a lovely wife, a high-end home, a fancy-schmancy car, and good looks to boot. Then his wife dies tragically — which isn't a spoiler, I assure you, as the film is about...

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On adult children: Learning the boundaries of communication (guest post)

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Dear readers: This guest post was written by my grandma friend and fellow GRANDparent Network member Donne Davis of GaGa Sisterhood. Thank you so much for sharing this wisdom on the tricky-at-times relationship between parents and their adult children, Donne.

mother and adult daughter

When it comes to communicating with your adult children, where do you get stuck? I posed this question to the 25 GaGas attending our January 15 meeting and added, is it around discipline, visitation, values or boundaries?

All of the above, and more, they answered. One member said: “All I have to do is open my mouth and my son misinterprets what I’m saying.” Another joked: “OMG! Just asking ‘how are you’ can trigger...

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