You know what’s more difficult than getting my children to brush their teeth?
Getting my husband to take a vacation where he is truly on vacation.
Last fall my dad offered up his timeshare to us and I knew we needed to take advantage of it. We are always so busy, it’s good for us to relax and unwind.
Especially J. He works crazy hard and never takes a moment to just breathe. Which is kind of ironic because he’s the slowest person in the world.
When I asked J where he’d like to go he of course answered “the Carribean.” But that’s currently off the table due to Zika and our desire to reproduce again, so I told him to try again.
Colorado.
I vetoed again. Cold. Blerg. Although snowboarding is his idea of fun, being stuck in a condo with an infant and nothing else to do didn’t seem quite like my idea of fun. Or at least I didn’t want to drive 15 hours one way in order to do it.
I suggested New Orleans.
J was reluctantly on board, but lucked out because there was nothing available during the time we wanted to go.
So I went back to his snowboarding idea and chose Wisconsin Dells. He and the big kids could snowboard, M and I could snuggle, and the drive was only half as far as Colorado.
Added perk: my dad and step mom only live a few hours away, so they were able to come down and spend the weekend with us.
J and the big kids hit the slopes for Miss H and Mr. B’s first snowboarding experience. They absolutely slayed it!
They snowboarded into the night. And that’s saying a lot: despite their Norwegian blood they tend to abhor the cold. But they persevered because they were having so much fun!
Sweet M and I got in lots of one on one time, which is a rare occurrence when you’ve got three kidlets. I don’t think I could ever get my fill of that tiny man and his sweet face.
The kids got lots of pool time. They’re all waterbugs, but admittedly B lamented that he would rather be on the beach in the sand.
Me too, mi amigo. Me too.
We spent a day at Mt. Olympus. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, although J and I were pleased we had gotten heavily discounted tickets through our resort as we’d have been a bit disappointed if we’d paid full price. The site was very nice and clean, and the staff friendly. I think their primary focus is on their outdoor park which I’m sure is amazing during peak season when it’s open. The inside park was still fun and there were two great waterslides that H and B were able to utilize with an adult. Plus, the actual swimming pool was well heated and enjoyed by all.
An indoor “theme park” was also included in our admittance. A handful of carnival like rides and a play space. They also offered arcade games and rock wall climbing, which we carefully avoided.
Probably the best little gem we found was Wizard Quest. Since so much of the Dells is summertime fun, finding things open and out of the cold was a bit challenging; but we did!
Wizard Quest was this great place set up into four realms: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. There were five quests: one easy, two medium, and two difficult. The kids chose the medium level Earth quest. It was easy enough for us all, working together, to finish, but it definitely took our entire 1.5 hours of time. And we may or may not have had to ask one of the employees for some hints time to time.
The set up was great, and so much hands-on, teamwork fun! We were so busy focused on our task that I didn’t really take any pictures. And the ones I did, as you can see, are super poor quality. Alas, we’ve got the memories!
I would definitely return here, even if it was just a drive through coming or going from my dad’s house.
It was a really fun, relaxing, low key week. Just what the doctor ordered!