Wisconsin Dells, and Then Some

Last year it was The Black Hills....this year...it was The Dells.

Every summer for the past nine summers, Jake's parents have rented a cabin for a week or two on Rush Lake near Ottertail, Minnesota. We've made the trip up a few times. More than a few times, I guess. It's kind of become our tradition...our annual vacation.

However...we don't get the opportunity to go on many full-fledged family vacations. We get the occasional long weekend, but we get only ONE week-long trip each year. So, spending our one week in the same place every year, no matter how fun, was a concern for us. We wanted to be able to show the girls more.

So two summers ago, we took a little detour on the way to the lake and stopped at De Smet, South Dakota to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's home. I read all of her books when I was younger, and wanted to go to De Smet for years, so I was nerdily excited. If you ask the girls about that detour, they'll tell you they found kittens in the barn...that's what they remember...

Last year, we decided to head to The Black Hills for a few days before heading to the lake. This time, it was definitely a LONG detour. In fact, it was 7 hours in the wrong direction. It was 7 hours of amazing. The girls loved that cold, wet vacation so much they wanted to go back again this summer. We loved it so much, too, that we were really considering it!

But we wanted to check out another part of the country this summer, and made plans to go to Wisconsin Dells. Jake had driven through The Dells for work at some point fairly recently, and thought it would be great for the fam. He said there were waterparks everywhere, and he thought I'd appreciate their downtown area.

There are SO many places to stay in The Dells. It was hard to choose. But we knew it would be early June, and probably chilly, so we wanted to stay where there would be an indoor waterpark in case it was too cold for outdoor swimming.

We finally decided to book one of the Glacier Canyon Lodge condos at the Wilderness Waterpark Resort - Sunday through Wednesday.

With the resort booked, we needed to schedule the rest of our trip. We planned to leave on Saturday, and coincidentally, the Saturday we planned to leave, was also the same day as a benefit for one of Jake's co-workers in Sioux City. It was going to work out great. We could go to the benefit, and then head towards the Dells from there.

But leaving Sioux City later in the day, meant we weren't going to make that long drive to the Dells that night. We decided to take a minor detour to Winona, Minnesota. After YEARS of hearing about how neat Winona was (Jake played football in Winona during college, and I didn't make the journey for that game), I was happy to finally see what the fuss was all about.

Winona isn't a huge city - but it is big enough, and there were a few hotel options. One hotel quickly stood out - Express Suites Riverport - Conference and Event Center. There were two suites that had an old Chevy convertible in them...REAL car beds. We knew that we had to do it. We didn't tell the girls. It was going to be a surprise.

It was a busy week leading up to the vacation. It was month end for me at work (non-stop working). Kamryn and Kindrey had a game that week. Jake was in Lake Charles, Louisiana for a quick trip. It was our 14th Wedding Anniversary. Busy busy.

The night before we left, we spent the evening packing and cleaning. We even spent Saturday morning cleaning the house. It can get a bit hairy when it's month end for me...when all I do is work, little cleaning takes place. So we cleaned, and let me tell you...that is going to be something I will try to do from now on before we leave for vacation. It's usually such a rat race, I know it might be difficult to accomplish, but coming home to a fairly clean home was awesome!

VACATION - DAY 1

After a quick lunch at home, and a morning of loading the truck and home-cleaning we set-off for Sioux City to grab "snacks"...I highly recommend getting individual snack size treats for the family (Cheez-its, Nilla Wafers, Beef Sticks, Popcorn, Mini Muffins, etc). A big container of nuts and a giant container of Red Licorice were fixtures on this trip, too!

Then we were officially on vacation.

First stop - Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor - Lemars, IA

Pistachio Ice Cream for Mom, Mint Chip for Dad and Cotton Candy for Kam and Kin! So charming!

Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor

Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor

Wells Visitor Center and Ice Cream Parlor

Then it was for realsies vacation time....down the road we went for hours and hours. We took a few pitstops along the way - one with a babbling brook.

We played the license plate game the entire trip.."Do you have Indiana?" "Yes, Mom. We have Indiana!" :)

Then there was the "I heart milk" moment....Kamryn was chewing on her hair, and I asked her how it tasted. She said, "It tastes delicious." Jake didn't hear her response, and asked "What?" And Kindrey responded, "She said it tastes delicious I HEART MILK!" Kindrey read a sign on a dairy barn, "I heart milk" without even taking a breath...we were all terribly confused, and once we figured out what had happened, we laughed and laughed...

Then we finally arrived in Winona. We couldn't wait to get to our room to see the girls' reactions to the car bed. As we pulled up to the hotel...we were not quite sure it was where we wanted to stay...it was a bit rundown. But Jake checked in, parked, and we unloaded the truck and found our way to the third floor...

Aside from the outside and our car bed...the hotel was quite updated. Thank goodness! The indoor pool was pretty nice, and there was a bar attached to the hotel, so Jake snagged one of the local brews. Poolside booze while the girls swam and swam = perfect start to our vacation!

Amenities or not, I think it was safe to say, no one had a good night's sleep! Kamryn refused to sleep in the same bed as Kindrey because "Kindrey kicks and sleeps sideways". Kindrey totally does. So Jake slept in the car bed with Kindrey, and Kamryn slept on the sofa bed with me...Ugh. It was one of the most memorable nights though!

VACATION - DAY 2 / DAY 3

After eating breakfast at the hotel, we drove around Winona.

Naturally there was a triathlon going on that morning. People running all over.

We went to the park by the lake, and sat on a bench while people ran by and an angry Red-Winged Blackbird attacked them. I wish we had gotten that on video. Hilarious.

We stopped at the football field that Jake played on, but I didn't get the privilege to see....

Then we tried to find Sugar Loaf (the big rock in the pic we took from the balcony from our hotel room). We realized we would have to actually climb up the "mountain" to get there. Nope. That wasn't happening. So we found our way to Garvin Heights and took in a neat view of the city.

But the sites were seen, and on the road we went...to Wisconsin Dells.

We were going to arrive much too early, so Jake mentioned that he'd like to show us the downtown area before we went to the hotel anyway. I joked about having "our own private tour guide". Of course Kamryn was eavesdropping as usual, and asked what we meant by a tour guide. I jokingly said, "Yah. We're going on a tour, and we're going to have our own private tour guide called 'your dad'." And Jake chimed in, "Yah...like 'your dad' but his first name is actually 'yourdad'."

We thought the convo was over until five minutes later, Kamryn asks from the backseat, "So...are we going to be the only ones on the tour?"

I lost it. Tears...rolling down my face...I couldn't breathe. Kamryn is so smart, and she can tell a great joke and be just as sarcastic as her parents, but she takes everything anyone else says so literally.

It was perfect.

Our "tour guide" drove us around Wisconsin Dells when we arrived. We saw the downtown area Jake thought I would like - it reminded me an awful lot of Deadwood and Keystone - but even more tourist-trappy.

So we also saw HUGE waterslides lining the highways. Mount Olympus was massive. Noah's Ark was massive. And our resort was massive.

Jake checked into the resort (we were early - as mentioned before - so they were going to text us to let us know when our room was ready). It was lunch time, so we went to Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty. It was "okay". But quaint just the same.

Buzz...our room was ready! Time to check into our sweet condo.

Sweet suite. We booked a two bedroom condo - full kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, fire place, balcony. It was really really nice. I'm glad we decided to stay just outside of Wisconsin Dells to get a nicer place. The girls LOVED it. They had their own room with bunk beds and their own tv.

We were in a pretty decent location, too...we were right by the entrance into our "zone". You would think that would mean there was a lot of foot traffic...but there wasn't. It was easy to get to our room, and it was easy to get to the outdoor waterpark in our area...some of the hallways were the "path" to the other parts of the resort and were heavily traveled! We were happy ours wasn't one of them.

Our resort had 4 outdoor waterparks, 3 indoor waterparks, an arcade area, go-carts, golf, spa, restaurants, zip-lines...we really had no reason to leave. The girls had an absolute blast...swimming and swimming and swimming some more. Kam was so brave and went down the big waterslides...Kindrey tried...and was not a fan. She preferred the smaller slides in the little kid areas.

Jake even went down the slides and braved the big tube slide where you go upside down. :)

We took advantage of the resort dining/bars. We bought a souvenir cup (The Great Wave) filled with a Raspberry Mojito, and then later it was filled with a margarita. Deeeeelightful. We had dinner the first night at the Thirsty Buffalo Saloon. The next night we ordered pizza from Sarento's. Delivered right to our room. So their Mac n Cheese pizza is the bomb diggity. We had the left over's for lunch on Tuesday. It was really nice to have a full kitchen in our room!

As far as The Dells are concerned, I really wasn't that impressed. Sure the girls had a blast at the resort, but I don't know that it had much to do with The Dells. Everything we did really had very little to do with The Dells...it was just located there. Does that make sense? I don't know. I expected there to be more Delly stuff.

Monday morning, we decided to have breakfast at Denny's Diner - where they sell their famous cinnamon rolls. It was an old fashioned diner. It was perfect. Kamryn was creeped out by the bear riding a bike on a wire across the restaurant. Again. It was perfect. We left the diner with cinnamon rolls for the next morning.

Then we went into the touristy trap area and bought the girls their sweatshirts....since I forgot their jackets...they wore those sweatshirts every single day of the rest of our vacation!

We cruised the shops, and then decided to take the girls to Wizard Quest. It was really fun. The girls had to find four dragons hidden in the different worlds. The scenery/sets/decorations were really cool. Very well done, and way more challenging than we thought (since we chose the easiest level!). We definitely recommend this experience!

Next door to Wizard Quest is Ripley's Believe It or Not. We could have skipped this, but we purchased our tickets for both attractions at the same time. Did I mention we could have skipped this?

For lunch we decided to get off of the main drag and pull into the first place we saw. Half a block later, we found Rivers Edge Pub & Grill, just above the Riverwalk.

We wanted to eat outside...tried...but it was too cold and windy, and we just couldn't tough it out. So we decided to just sit at the bar.

We had considered for a brief second having lunch at the Macaroni and Cheese Shop, and I reminded Jake that the girls wouldn't eat Mac n Cheese if it didn't have "Kraft" in front of it. Guess what the Kid's Menu had on it at Rivers Edge...Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It was destiny.

I had the Steakhouse Salad (DELICIOUS!), and Jake had a Steak Sandwich or something. You can take the Robinsons out of Nebraska, but you can't take Nebraska out of the Robinsons. Where's the beef?!

We took a stroll along the Riverwalk - one of the few Dell specific things we did in the Dells. Very pretty.

After our walk, we went to the Timbavati Wildlife Park. I believe they could have called this a zoo? Anyway, it was pretty nice. they had a variety of animals, and the buildings were new and clean, and the landscaping was current and well kept.

We bought some animal food so we could feed the camels and the giraffe, and a handful of other animals. The giraffe was in the middle of his area - not the least bit interested in being fed. But the camels were hungry. So that was cool.

Then we stopped at Goody Goody Gumdrop on the way out of the zoo. Holy candy! I would recommend going to both the zoo and the candy store there if you happen to be in The Dells. What kid and Jake doesn't like a zoo with a candy store??Then it was back to the hotel for swimming and swimming and swimming.

Jake and I had a nice night out on the balcony, too!

VACATION - DAY 4

We had a big day planned for Tuesday! A trail ride, swimming, a lavender/cherry farm tour, and dinner at Moose Jaw!

For breakfast, we had the cinnamon rolls from the diner. Um. They were awesome. I'd never seen a cinnamon roll rolled the way the roller theirs. There was so much gooey center to enjoy...if I wasn't afraid of becoming diabetic, I would have eaten two!

Kamryn really wanted to ride horses....so we decided to check out the horse outfit, Canyon Creek Riding Stables, conveniently located across the street from our resort. We headed over first thing that morning, and got the girls fitted with riding helmets. We walked over to the corral, and walked up to the platform to "mount up". :) Kamryn got on her horse, Forge. Kindrey walked toward her horse, and as Kamryn would say, "She chickened out". She stepped back and said, "I'm not doing it." Jake quickly said, "I'll stay back with her". Pretty sure he was pretty relieved and happy to have found a way out of this adventure. Then it was my turn to get on "Tick". He was naughty. Some might say he was something that rhymed with Tick.

We set off down the trail. Kam and I were in the middle of the group. Kam was in front of me, and she did so well. I thought her horse did well, too. Meanwhile, my horse walked along the edge of the trail, running me into the trees and sticks...okay...he didn't successfully run me into the brush, but he was trying. I just know it.

The ride seemed really long. I don't know that it was quite an hour, but it sure seemed to take forever. Also, I felt like my butt was bruised by the end of it. It didn't hurt right away, but it is still sore - over a week later!

Also, Kamryn wanted me to mention that the horse in front of her "kept farting". :) Ahhh to be 8 years old again!

Kindrey and Jake passed the time by getting a sneak peek of the stable's petting zoo. The animals were busy having babies or something so they weren't really supposed to be on display. But Jake did what Jake always manages to do, and made friends with the guy at the front, and he let them check it out.After the trail ride, we went back to the hotel for some outdoor swimming. It was surprisingly warm that morning, so we were happy to have an outdoor waterpark right next to our door!

I sat in the sun...at least I wore sunscreen...but felt like I was frying. The girls swam and made friends. Jake went down the infamous upside down tube slide. Then the clouds began to roll in...just in time for us to come in and eat the rest of the pizza from the night before.

We got the girls freshened up and ready for the next item on our list - a tour of New Life Lavender & Cherry Farm outside of Baraboo, Wisconsin.

It wasn't too far from our resort. So with a storm looming, we drove out to the farm. The owner, Laura, was so sweet, and come to find out, she went to college in Sioux Center. What a small world?! But she was really so friendly and sincere. We were all a little concerned about the potential for rain, so we decided to hang out - shop - and see what would happen closer to the tour.

It was sprinkling...we had one umbrella in the truck. So we grabbed it, and I grabbed my sweatshirt...and we prepared for the tour.

It was a real family affair. Their oldest son drove the tractor on our tour, and also showed us his bees. Her husband sat in the wagon and explained everything to us. Their daughter also rode along. She had a "part" in the garden. The girls will probably tell you their favorite part was getting to feed their animals. I think my favorite part was everything! Their shop is so cute. And their products are so unique! Lavender Ice Cream? Cherry Lavender Pie? Yes, please! The girls and I also love the Lavender Body Scrub!

I am so glad we were able to have that experience.

We went back to our hotel for MORE swimming before dinner. Kindrey sure was a fan of the lazy river...she would have been content to spend all day there I think.

After swimming, we freshened up for dinner That sounds misleading. I did NOT swim ever!). We had seen the Moose Jaw delivery vehicles, and felt like we really needed to have dinner there. Our last night in The Dells was the night! So we followed a moose butt to the pizza joint where we did NOT order pizza. :) The beer was good, the sugary sodas were good, the chicken strips were good, the whatever Jake and I ate was good...Fun times!

VACATION - DAY 5

Well, it was time to say good-bye to our sweet hotel, and get back on the road to head to Perham, Minnesota. I have to tell you about the funny ramp/luggage cart experience. Jake had a brilliant idea (and it really was brilliant), to grab a luggage rack to put all 19 suitcases and bags on to roll down to the truck.

So we loaded it up, and wheeled it out to the ramp. As soon as we rounded the corner, it was obvious that there was going to be trouble! The ramp was not level (and not in the obvious sense)...our luggage rolled off of the cart...cracked me up. Don't set your luggage on its wheels on the cart. Just a little piece of advice. :)

Then we were off.

The traffic near Minneapolis was ridiculous. That's what I really remember about that drive...it was windy and there were a lot of cars and semis. Kindrey started to get carsick. It was eventful!

We finally arrived at Perham around 4:30 on Wednesday. The girls were SO excited to be at the lake with Grandma and Grandpa! Giggles everywhere.

We unloaded our luggage again, and visited with Jake's parents for awhile and then decided to go into town to get some groceries for the house.

When we got back, we had tacos and then the girls played at the beach. They were so happy.

Then it was like 10:00 pm and sunny. ;) We all went to bed, and then woke up at what seemed like 11:00 am (judging by the amount of sunlight streaming in the windows). It was 6:00 am. The guys went fishing. Kam visited with her grandma. I attempted to sleep until 8:00. It was much too bright to get a decent amount of sleep there.

VACATION - DAY 6

The first morning at the lake, the girls were excited to go shopping! One of the traditions of going to the lake is actually going into Perham to the toy store - Goose Gang. Jake's mom let's the kids roam the store until they pick out the perfect toy (or toys) in a pre-determined price range. This year they picked out a bunch of Playmobil sets.

The girls were so excited to put all of their sets together when we got back to the lake. They played with the toys for hours...until they started arguing. So it was time to go enjoy the beach.

The girls love playing in the sand. They dug holes, found sea shells...got leeches. Well, Kamryn got one on her toe, and her reaction was priceless! "Augh! There's something on me! Get it off! Get it off!" Luckily it wasn't really stuck to her, and it came right off in the sand. Then we buried the leech and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to remember where it was buried so we didn't unbury it.

The guys had a successful morning fishing - catching their limit. When they came back, they cleaned the fish, and then our whole group left to visit another tradition - Phelps Mill.

Kindrey and I toured the mill with Jake's mom, and then found a picnic table to relax at while Kindrey played on the playground. Kam fished with her dad and grandpa. The water was running pretty quickly - apparently too fast for the trio to catch any fish!

We stayed long enough for Jake to find a turtle, and for Kam to discover she's scared of holding turtles. We decided to let the turtle go...it was fast. We should have probably kept it...for the following day's adventure.

We went into Perham for dinner at The Brew that night. We love going to The Brew - they have an interesting menu, and a fun selection of drinks. I ordered a Rhubarb Spritzer, and it was so refreshing, I ordered a second! They have amazing Gouda Pickles, too. I order them every time we go!

After dinner, we hung out on the back deck when we got back from town. Speaking of the back deck. Every year we have a little fun with the chipmunks that live under it. This year, the girls had a plan - they set out different kinds of nuts and watched the chipmunk shove the nuts in his cheeks before scurrying off. I had never seen anything like it. So adorable. His family ate well that night!

Anyway, we had a drink and went to bed again with the sun shining brightly in our faces (I might be exaggerating about the sun...but goodness it stays light out forever up there!).

VACATION - DAY 7

Friday was the big day! The Turtle Races! We had never been in Perham when they were going on....so we were way more excited than the girls to take part in the races.

Cherry Pancakes and Cherry Lavender Syrup from New Life Lavender Farm

I made Cherry Pancakes from a mix I had bought at the lavender farm that morning. We enjoyed them with Cherry Lavender syrup. :) I liked it all. The girls were on the fence.

We grabbed some coffee from The Nest, and then found a parking spot near Main Street. We got in a very long line to register for the races. The gal greeting everyone in the line was from Omaha. Again - small world! We got a little shout out during the introductions!

We registered - Number 85. Kindrey didn't want to race the turtles. We gathered in the Turtle Race Park and waited for the races to begin. It was during the wait that Kindrey confessed that she thought that she would have to race the turtles (like she would have to run). So cute. She was happy to cheer on her sister though!

We didn't have the winning turtle (should have kept the one we found at Phelps Mill). We were in Perham during their celebration week, so the townspeople were busy getting ready for the dance that night, and the vendors were setting up their goods at the other end of the street.

We browsed, got snow cones, and then headed back to the lake.

We had a quick lunch, and Jake and his dad took Kamryn out on the boat for a few hours to get some fishing in. She had a great time while Kindrey and I hung out on the beach.

Then our fishermen and girl came back, they cleaned the fish (another full day), and Jake and I went into town to grab McDonald's French Fries to accompany the fresh fish we were going to get to enjoy that evening. :) Nothing but the finest for us! And dinner was great - the freshest fish I was ever going to eat!

The girls fished on the dock with their dad while the mosquitos ate my ankles on the back deck. It was pretty cute! The girls. Not the mosquitos. Kindrey lost interest after awhile and went back to the beach to play with the kids that showed up for the weekend. Lake life.

The girls came in to shower, but soon there was a bunch of commotion, and it turned out Kindrey had a leech stuck on her foot. When Jake went into the bathroom to help her, he said Kindrey was standing in the shower with her leg sticking out like "GET. THIS. THING. OFF. OF. ME."

There were a ton of giggles in the shower that night. We never really know what they're doing in there, but Kindrey came out with underwear on her head and the biggest grin you ever did see.

Laughing so hard she was crying!

VACATION - DAY 8

It was finally time to head home. We loaded up the truck one last time, and waved good-bye to Jake's parents and the lake.

We drove off into the rain (it always follows us!).

Ugh. I was reminded of the longest stretch ever. I dread this stretch of the drive. It's from Fergus Falls, Minnesota to Wahpeton, North Dakota. Apparently "the stretch" is 34 miles. I could have sworn it was 100 miles. It's THAT boring.

Anyhow, we met Jake's sister and her family for lunch at DQ in Watertown. They were heading UP to the lake. It just wasn't going to work out to be at the lake at the same time this year. So it was nice to get to see them. The girls were stoked! So we had our lunch, visited for a bit, and then we bid our farewells, and we all got back on the road.

We made it home around 4:30 that afternoon. And as I mentioned earlier, we had spent a little extra time cleaning up the house before we left for our vacation. Smart move, I tell ya! Coming home is always such a nice feeling!

But the vacation had come to an end, and I think it is safe to say the girls had had a great time. Kamryn's favorite part was riding the horses. Kindrey's favorite part was feeding the goats and the donkey at the petting zoo at the horse stables. We'll ask them again in a few years what their fav part was. Their responses might change!