We had a really great 3 days in the Wisconsin Dells as our first little family getaway as a family of five! I'm planning to do a more comprehensive review of each of the things that we did on my
travel blog, but here I'm keeping a basic overview of our trip :)
In a nutshell, it was really awesome :) We had a fun time, and the boys had SUCH a blast!
We left Thursday afternoon around 1pm and arrived right around supper time. We stopped along the way in Onalaska at the mall just to stretch our legs a bit, then hit the road for another hour. Kendrick took about an hour nap and Cashel didn't nap at all, so we weren't too optimistic about how the trip would go, but were pleasantly surprised at how effective some targeted tablet time would pan out.
We went straight to Buffalo Phil's for supper when we got to town, which the boys were STOKED about. It's this little place that delivers your food via train, and the boys were so intrigued.
After supper, we headed over next door to Knuckleheads, a little indoor amusement park that is attached to the restaurant. The boys had a blast, and we really thought it'd be fun to head back over there the next day, but we just had too full a schedule.
Of course, when we thought we'd go back to the hotel and the boys would totally crash, they instead just couldn't wait to hit the pool, so we obliged, and then made it back to the room around 9pm to get cleaned up and ready for bed.
Ryan had his first little debut with the swimming pool too. He didn't actually cry about it, but he didn't seem super fond of it either. We didn't bother with going again with him the rest of the trip, as it seemed like more of a hassle than it was worth for the short amount of time he would enjoy the water.
This is about as close as you'll get to a picture of me in a swimsuit right about now. During this trip, I discovered that with nursing boobs, my swimsuits aren't exactly decent to be worn in public haha I may need to either invest in some suits with significantly more coverage or else wear a tank top with them.
The boys enjoyed all aspects of the trip, but they LOVED the pool. Every moment we were back at the hotel, they wanted to be there. Mark did a LOT of swimming while I cared for Ryan. Meadowbrook Resort was a PERFECT choice for us with kids at the ages they are. The pool wasn't deep at all (no higher than 2-feet in any area) and it was all super kid-friendly. We didn't have to hold on to the boys at all, and it was really easy to keep an eye on them and not worry about them getting hurt or anything. We'd HIGHLY recommend this place for families with little kids.
Story time with Daddy while Mama got showered up and ready for bed :)
The next morning we slept in a bit. I grabbed some McDonald's for breakfast and we ate, then got ready and made our way over to Timbavati Wild Animal Park. We knew it was going to end up being a warmish day, so we wanted to get started early. We arrived shortly after opening time and pretty much had the place to ourselves before the tour groups started arriving. I guess it was either the last day or one of the last days of school for a lot of the schools, so there were tour buses all over town. Even so, it wasn't crowded at all, which was nice. We felt like we mostly had the place to ourselves. And really, it was a pretty cool place for the kids.
One of the coolest parts of Timbavati was the spot where you can feed the giraffes and llamas right up close. Kendrick was all about it, but Cashel was actually the shy one who just preferred to throw the carrots at the animals.
Apparently it was terrifying to feed the giraffes and llamas, but Cashel had no issues with trying to feed the birds carrots haha
We left the park to head over to catch the little train that goes back into the park.
Baby Ryan slept pretty much the entire day, which worked out great! I sure do love the kTan Breeze carrier for days like this!
The boys loved the train ride! There was a part where you stop and the guy gets off and guides some of these deer like animals up to the train so you can feed them, and Kendrick ate that right up! Cashel was, once again, pretty scared, and threw his carrot stick at it lol
The last stop of the train was back at the giraffe and llama area, so we fed a few more giraffes and llamas, then said farewell to the train.
It was really starting to heat up, and we had seen all we wanted to see (including pig races at the end), so we made our way back to the van, made a quick stop at a candy shop to get the boys their choice of lollipops, and then had some lunch at McDonald's.
After lunch, we made our way back to the resort for a little more pool time for the big boys with Daddy, and a little lunch for Ryan and snuggles with Mama.
The pool area was really warm (and the water was pretty cold), so if you weren't in the water, it wasn't very comfortable to sit in the pool area. The resort did have a viewing area, though, high above there just inside the main lodge, so Ryan and I pulled up a chair (for me) and bean bag (for him) and checked the boys out from up above while they finished swimming. This place was so cool :)
After the pool time, we headed back to get cleaned up and got the boys down for naps. Afterwards, Mark headed back to the pool with the big boys, and Ryan and I rested and then ordered a pizza from Moosejaw and we had a picnic down at the gazebo at Cashel's request.
After our little picnic time, we headed back to our room to get our pjs on and ready to head over to the lodge for a movie and popcorn. The movie that night was Bolt, and we made it through all of about 30 minutes before heading back to our room and heading off to bed.
The next morning, I grabbed more McDonald's breakfast for everyone, which we ate in our room, and then we played around the resort a bit while I got our time lined up for the Army Duck Boats Tour.
This particular weekend happened to be a huge car show, so we drastically underestimated how long it would take us to reach the Army Duck Boats place, and we ended up having to reschedule for the 12pm ride as opposed to the 11am ride. It ended up working out alright, though. We all had SO much fun!!
The boys were TOTALLY excited that they got to DRIVE the duck boat. They only went about 2mph, but it was SOMETHING, let me tell ya ;)
After the duck boat tour, we decided to grab lunch at Dairy Queen before heading over to mine for gems. It was NUTS there! The line wrapped all the way around the interior of the building due to the car show and all. We snagged one of the last tables, though.
The traffic was seriously NUTS, though!
After lunch, Ryan and I headed back to the van so I could nurse him in the a/c for a bit while the big boys all headed over to pan for precious gems. We got a nice little bag full, including some sapphires and other pretty stones, but, of course, the stones themselves are worth very little, and having them cut and polished was laughably expensive for the good ones. They had fun anyways, though!
We made our way back to the resort afterwards for MUCH needed naps. We decided to go out for supper that night, and decided to try out the newer place in town: Kickers. It was an EXCELLENT choice. We grabbed a table out on the deck and there was plenty of entertainment nearby for the boys, and the evening was just perfect!
After supper, Mark attempted another movie with the big boys while I got Ryan ready for bed, but they didn't end up staying long, and we all conked out around 9 again.
Our final day in the Dells, we slept in for a while and putzed around. Mark took the older boys to the pool after day #3 of McDonald's breakfast. I stayed back with Ryan and got the room packed up and the van loaded and ready to hit the road.
The drive home was highly uneventful. We stopped for lunch in Onalaska, then made our way to the Lock and Dam No. 9 to see the barges going through. The boys thought it was pretty cool.
We drove straight through from there and made it home around 5pm.
We had such a great time in the Dells and will likely return some day when the boys are old enough to enjoy the BIG water parks :)
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