Wisconsin Here We Come!

Spring break vacation--Wisconsin.
Why?
Because everyone dreams of going to Wisconsin! {insert heavy sarcasm}
We like to do things a little different around this house.
When the birds fly South we head North.
And that's just what we did.
(I know, it's June.  Waaay past Spring Break.  I'm busy.)
Where were we?
Oh yeah, Wisconsin.
It's home to the Nation's largest indoor waterpark.
That's right up our alley. 
The boys were first introduced to an indoor waterpark when we visited Niagara Falls.
We love theme parks.
We seem to visit one on almost all our vacations.
This time the whole vacation was about the theme park.


It started out as a long drive with our first rest in Springfield, Illinois.  Home to good ol' Abraham Lincoln.  As a small 15 minute detour we visited Lincoln's burial and had a quick lunch.  We knew it was going to be cooler than our Georgia temps but it was CHILLY.  The cemetery was beautiful and the monument as well.  My heart hurt deeply for Abe's wife.  They had four sons, all who died.  The longest surviving son was 21 years old.  Then of course, she lost her husband.   I just could not imagine.

Five more hours and we had finally made our destination, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.  Apparently home to MANY indoor waterpark resorts and several them parks.  We just missed Wisconsin's Spring break (whew) and was surprisingly welcomed with 70 degree weather.  The boys were excited!
When Jarom checked us in, they were shocked that we drove all the way from Georgia just to come to their resort. 

They were so happy to be out of the car.

 

Goodbye warm weather.  It was snowing the next morning when we woke up.  And guess what!?  Traffic and life was still functioning at a very normal pace.  ;)  We were just excited to see some snow with our very mild winter.  It was only flurries but enough to make us smile and provide fun conversation for breakfast.

No shoes, no sun shirts, no sunscreen, no sand, no seaweed, no worries.  That's my kind of vacationing and what I love most about indoor waterparks.  There was stuff for us to do everywhere and for every age.  The pictures were minimal, simply because I too was busy having a good time with all the kids and enjoying the ride.  I brought the camera but just didn't use it.

It was an African themes resort, so it all these life like statues everywhere.

This ride made me cry.  Liam finally toughened up and rode it a couple of times as well as Jarom.  It's about 10 stories up.  It puts you in a tube, that I would call a coffin, close it and then the bottom drops from under your feet, shooting you straight down for about 4 stories.  The boys loved it, and I about died.

 The park had playgrounds, an indoor theme park, and putt-putt--a family classic.  That was our Family Home Evening activity and Bret's first time.  It was entertaining to say the least.

After 3 days of water fun, indoor go-karts, a Ferris wheel, lazer tag and tons of other stuff, it was time to head out...to another resort.  We went with a less expensive one this time.  To buy some time before check-in we checked out the town of Wisconsin Dells.

It was pretty much a ghost town.  Not too much happening.  By this point it was in the 40's and breezy.  It was cold.  Most things there don't open until the end of May.  We tried fresh curds for the first time and fried cheese curds.  Our cheese lover Hyrum surprisingly didn't like them.  Liam found a new favorite food.

 

Notice the teenager who wasn't properly dressed.  Said he would be fine.  Right...
He was freezing!

 We enjoyed going on a Wizard Quest.  It was a really bizarre place but very cool too.  The boys and I enjoy "quest" scavenger hunt like activities, solving puzzles.  This one was timed.  It would been best had we not taken Marshall with us (he was freaking out in some places) or Bret (who we kept losing).  It was easy to get lost.  There were hidden passages and doorways, and four different realms of mystery with tunnels, forest and ball pits.  We had a good time.

 After a busy afternoon we were ready for waterpark part two.  The rooms weren't as nice and it was a ways off from the main happenings.  We still enjoyed every part.  Tipton actually liked this park better and Marshall loved these slides.  The kiddy area wasn't very good, the water was colder and the life guards were a bit overboard.  Once again, we still managed to have lots of fun.

This park had a Mayan theme.  And the ride you see there is actually like a water roller coaster.  It requires at least person of a certain height to ride.  Marshall liked it so much he would stand in line and ask strangers to ride with him, so he could keep riding. 

The funder of these great vacations with his awesome farmer's tan. 

This was our view from the room.  The Wisconsin River.  Much different from the interstate at our other hotel.

TO end our time in the Dells we ate a restaurant called Sprecher.  We learned the people of Wisconsin like their beer and German food.  This offered both.  They brew their own root beer and several other sodas all caffeine free.  I had their Ginger Ale.  It was excellent.  Actually, everything was excellent.  We loved the food and service.  We would recommend to everyone!  Mmm-mm.