Road Trip!

So as we headed out on Saturday the kids were excited to say the least. They began chanting 'Road Trip, Road Trip... ' before we even left Appleton. Our Camry has the basic of air conditions, called open windows. After about an Hour and half Zeb asked "How much longer?" Happily I replied "Only 30 more minutes."

As we arrive in Downtown Wisconsin Dells it is 3-4pm and the street is full of people and traffic in all directions. The kids are excited but when we turned left onto the road with the Hotel on it they become beside themselves with excitement. Wow. Look at that! Can we do that? Can We go there? Were phrases I heard over and over. We found our hotel with no problem and check in. We quickly became the minority there. Three Chinese looking women were checking in and many dark skinned and hair people around us. He scooped out the view of the indoor water area and it was filled with African Americans. It is so different to see that in a Wisconsin town, even if it is a tourist place. A lot of the staff seemed to have a strong accent of some type. Ordering our food was interesting. The guy was very nice though.

We spent our time going between the indoor and outdoor area. We got a life jacket for Zebbie, but we were unsuccessful in getting him to go down the water slides they had.
We took a break from swim time for food about 6:30pm, just in time for the Packer Game. We went up to our room, via stairs due to the elevator being down, ate and took some time to let the food digest. The kids were to excited to sit still so they found the arcade. It was on level 2. Our room was on level 3. We only gave them a few dollars but only 1 dollar at a time, so they had to keep coming up by us for more money. Finally we headed back for 2 more hours of swim time.

Zeb did a constant flip flop between the kiddie slide and hot tub. (probably to warm up) Toward the end of the night we actually go Zeb talked into the deep water, with the life jacket, to doggy paddle by HIMSELF. He was so pleased with himself.
I tried to work with swimming for all the kids. Brock actually does a very good front crawl. He kept his head in the water face down, only turning as he should to breathe.
Reece's technique is a work in progress. He still has a tendency to arch his back to breathe, instead of turning his head.

Unfortunately, we had to go to the room to hit the bed.

We woke up bright and early to goto a favorite restaurant of ours called Paul Bunyan's.
Can you say YUM?

We quickly attack our buttermilk donuts, as they bring out our drinks. Brock- Decaf coffee, Zeb- milk and Reece-Orange Juice.

As we finish our donuts out comes the scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausages, ham and pancakes. Our server asks us if we would like biscuits and gravy, but we declined. Zeb said yes, but he was just about up for anything, even though he hadn't yet finish his donut.

We quickly finished out food an hour before the water park even opened, so we browsed the gift shop for a while to waist time. Zeb got a truck and car that was on clearence (half-price), goodboy Zebbie! Reece got a bow and arrow set with tiny suction cup arrows. Brock got a mini pirate set, Duner got a new T-shirt and I got a anti-gas sign for my house. (Yes, I know that would help..).

We get back to the hotel change into our swimsuits, sunscreen ourselves, and check out. Our hotel was directly across from the water park. We quickly found a parking stall and began to exit the car.

After getting our wristbands for Noah's Ark, Zeb immediately sees the Stingray slide and decides that is the first thing he wants to go on. Not the best choice. After we get to the top, we found out Zeb can't sit on our laps, so only one of us can go. Duner quickly chickens out after seeing the drop so I am it. Zeb had to sit backwards because they want the heavier person in the back. Zeb's tiny little butt, just barely staying in the tube. As soon as we move to the edge I realize just how bad this ride is for Zeb. As we are going down on part of the slide to head to the other, he folds in half. When we reach the other side I quickly grab his leg, just in case he would panic and try to get out. After losing my sandal under his butt, the ride slows down quickly. When we stop Zeb has a hard time getting out of the tube. He wanted to make sure it really stopped.

The next was bumper boats, then Flash Flood. The boys didn't want to go on that ride so they waited on the bridge to get soaked, as Duner and I rode the ride. It was so empty that we got to go on 2 times in a row. They have special nets and railings on the bridge due to the powerful water that comes due to the boat. It was very fun for us and the kids. I don't know which ones got more soaked, us or the kids.

The rest of the day was spent on various tube rides, rope gliders, short slides and in the wave pools. Zeb found some kiddie pool areas that he throughly enjoyed. The older kids couldn't wait to head in to the wave pools, I hardly had a chance to tell them about not going to deep before they wandered in. Luckily the waves go in timed waves. They turn off the waves to tell if anyone is having a difficult time in the water. After the first time, a lifeguard actually had to jump in a save a boy that was near Duner and Reece. He looked to be about a year or two younger than Reece. He was ok, just shaken up.

We managed to sneak in the 4-D theater, that had the smell of pickles, the feel of air and water, and real floating bubbles. We also stopped by the Noah's Incredible adventure, that Zeb loved.

By the end of the day, we had sore feet and thirsty mouths, but we all loved each and every minute of it. As we left, we wondered, what can we do there NEXT year???