Wisconsin Dells

For our big family vacation this year, my Mom decided we would go to the Wisconsin Dells. I had said that I didn't really want to fly out of the country with 3 little ones, and was so excited when she found a resort within driving distance. We left Friday morning, planning to stop along the way for the night, but the kids were all doing so well in the car, that we drove straight through to the Dells. I was really amazed how well they did on the 9+ hour drive. As we got into Wisconsin, I just loved the beautiful countryside. The farms were all extremely well-kept and it all seemed like it was out of a movie.The Wisonsin Dells are famous for their water parks, and we learned quickly that even the smaller hotels had much nicer pool areas than we were used to. Our Best Western had this fun outdoor "waterpark" area that the kids enjoyed.

And here was the view from our room of all the kids (including Kyle & Grandpa & Russ).

We couldn't get checked in at the resort until afternoon, so we decided to check out the local cheese factory. When we got there, someone asked if a bus had just arrived. . . we definitely know how to make an entrance! Uncle John is trying to decide which kind of cheese to try first, while Syd & Violet are excited to try their first "real" Wisconsin cheese.

We were too late for the tour of the cheese-making, but the kids amazingly sat and watched the video of the process.

All-in-all, the Carr Valley Cheese Factory was rather underwhelming, but at least we can say we've been to a true Wisconsin Cheese factory.

The kids (& adults, too) were so eager to get to our resort and start playing! Look at those slides!We have never stayed in condos before, and I'm afraid the bar has been raised yet again for accomodations. Each condo had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, a hot-tub, and fully functional kitchen. They were just gorgeous!

After so much traveling, we were all rather parched and wasted no time finding ourselves some drinks! Our favorite bartender Will (in the background) took good care of us on our vacation.

Did I mention this was an all-inclusive vacation? I'm not sure how good of an example Grandpa Kermit is setting by double-fisting it with his strawberry smoothies! The kids certainly enjoyed their slushies & smoothies & juices (and the adults enjoyed their drinks a little bit too).

Even the Super-Vi got to experience some yumminess with the smoothies. She definitely kept coming back for more. The first pool the kids hit was the wave pool. Calvin & Tyler find their tubes. . .

. . .And here comes a big one! Look out, Jack!

The indoor water park was also super fun. Jack is trying to get Oliver to go ahead and jump in.

Calvin & Oliver loved shooting the water at each other (and anyone else who may be unfortunate enough to walk in the line of fire).

Although Uncle John did climb the 518 stairs to the top to ride one of the water slides (okay, so it probably wasn't really 518, but it certainly felt like it after climbing them over and over again), he prefered to spend his time socializing in the lazy river. There was a high school volleyball tournament going on the same time we were there with some 400 girls running around. I think they all knew John by the time we left. . .

While Uncle John was floating in the big lazy river, Brynnie & Oliver found their own lazy river -- it was so cute watching them go around the loop!

Then they decided they needed a little more action and found a couple of the slides to try out.

Ty, Oliver, and Brynn had fun making a train down one of the other slides.

Those kiddie slides weren't NEAR exciting enough for the big kids. . . This red slide was Calvin's favorite. Here Calvin & Tyler are racing. I'm pretty sure Tyler won every time (but weight was the only real strategy for winning, and Ty has a few pounds on Calvin).

One of my favorites was the "switchback" ride that drops you almost straight down and you go back and forth like a skateboarder on a half-pipe. All week, the goal was to touch the top of the other side; Sydney & I weren't nearly heavy enough to reach it. . .

Kyle & Russ got a little closer, but no one ever touched it.

While the kids went on all of the slides, Grandpa & John hit the mini-golf.

After playing hard all day, we were spoiled with a delicious dinner each night. The Market Fresh Buffet at the resort had everything you could ever want to eat. Here's our family, except Violet. . . Where is she?

She is busy trying to figure out how to eat this thing without any teeth! This restaurant is famous for its crab legs and our party certainly took advantage of that!

The desserts were fabulous as well -- which one tonight, mom?In the evening, the kids loved playing in the huge sandbox (aka sand volleyball court) right outside our rooms, while the guys did a great job supervising.

The shuffleboard (also right outside our room) got used plenty as well.

It was so cute watching the kids play their own version of shuffleboard.

Another favorite night-time activity was soaking in our hot tubs.

Can you say spoiled? Sydney needed her pina colada for full relaxation.

One morning, we decided to take the wagon ride offered by the resort. Oliver loved the ride because it was pulled by a tractor.

The ride took us by 140,000 trees. Sounds exciting, right?

Maybe Uncle John thought so. For the rest of us, it was a very peaceful (some less appreciative of trees may say boring) ride.

Mini-golf wasn't the only golfing to be had on this vacation. The guys spent one afternoon hitting the real links. . .

. . . While we ladies enjoyed a message. Ben gave one fabulous chair message!

This is the view of the sand volleyball court during the day. Our condos are those you see in the background. The kids could have played in the sand all day -- they built lots of extravagant sand castles, as you can see!

The only time we really left the resort was to take a ride on the Wisconsin Ducks. The Duck came to pick us up at Chula Vista and the kids thought that was pretty cool.

Here's our whole crew (and somehow this is the only group picture we got the entire trip).

Our driver, Eric, was really funny and took us on land and water for our tour. We saw these beautiful pine trees during the land part. . .

. . . and this cool rock formation called 'Hawk's Beak' on the water part.

Uh oh! What happened to Eric? Who's this new driver??

Violet & Oliver thought the Ducks were VERY exciting. (The rest of us really did like the tour, though!)

To take advantage of the beautiful scenery, I decided to try to take some family pictures while we were there. Some turned out better than others, as you can see.

Once again, we had a fantastic time with our family on vacation. We are just so blessed to have family who truly are our best friends. Thanks so much, Mom & Dad! We love you!