Family Vacation : Wisconsin Dells

Winter isn't the most ideal time to go to the Wisconsin Dells. Unless, that is, like us, you happen to prefer less people, less traffic, less busyness... so it was the perfect time for US to go! The Dells was our alternative to Florida... ;] We decided to go to the Dells because it would be significantly cheaper, we found a good deal on a hotel that had a water park, and we figured that as long as we were all together that it didn't really matter what we did :] We had a really good time! Of course the trip had some down sides, like a teething little boy and a sick-to-his-stomach husband (both of which easily persuaded us to come home a day early)... and we did get a little bit bored, but I think the boredom was good for us. It's just so hard for us to relax because we are busy ALL THE TIME. But it was nice. And it's also nice to know that Jake still has the rest of the weekend with us before he goes back to work... so vacation isn't over yet! Here are some (okay, a lot!) of photos from our little trip.

We stayed at "Hotel Rome at Mt. Olympus." 

We relaxed, hung out, and played in our room. Ryan was pretty frustrated because he wasn't able to walk well on the slippery Pergo flooring... who has non-carpeted floors in their hotel rooms, anyways?! 

Our "themed" room. We just wanted something with two beds and this is what we got. Ryan loved looking at and pointing to the paintings. 

*happy sigh* I love him.

NAPTIME!! Naps are glorious. 

Learning to brush his teeth! 

We went to a candy store called "Goody Goody Gumdrop." Just for something to do. Ryan liked looking at all the colorful candy.

I think the pink, bugged-eye monkey made him a little nervous ;]

The hotel had a (kinda lame) indoor "theme park." We only went there once, but Ryan enjoyed people watching, playing with the nerf balls, and watching papa drive a yellow car around a race track :]

We spent most of our time at the water park, I think. Ryan wasn't too sure what to think of it at first, but he warmed up to it after a while. I think the noise took him by surprise. He loved watching people and splashing in the water, but he didn't really care to sit in the water. In his defense, it was pretty cold, which was unfortunate.

Having spent time in Kenya sure has changed my perspective on water and it's usage, though... it was hard for me to swallow that here we were, PLAYING in hundreds of thousands of gallons of water... yet so many people die every day from lack of clean drinking water. *sigh* Being out of your "element" sure puts things into perspective sometimes.

We also went to a cheese factory that said they offered tours... well, the tour ended up being us watching workers from behind a glass window, and then watching a 5 minute video. Some tour! But we got to taste some cheese at the end, so it was okay. Now I wish we would have bought some of the cheese curds, though! Ryan really liked the cow ;]

Ryan was a sleepy boy on the way home. He did so well in the car, both on the way to and from Wisconsin. It was kind of a surprise... usually he hates being in his car seat unless it's nap time. I was very happy that he was content for a majority of the ride :]

And... Dunkin Donuts is awesome. That is all. :]