The Dells

We decided to have one last summer trip and went to the Wisconsin Dells 4 days. We had so much fun!  The first day we were there it was kind of rainy, so we decided to go on a shopping spree to spend all of the kids hard earned money.  We went to an outlet mall there in the Dells.  Andy decided to buy a Build-a-Bear. 

 Pump up the filling. Haley was there to lend support and expertise since she's done this before.

 Make a wish.

 Air bath (Andy thought this was the best part)!

 Alina showing off her new Crocs.  They change color in the sun!

 Nate didn't want to spend all his money in one place, so he got a "SmallFrys" which is a smaller version of the Build-a-Bear.  He named his frog "Rook".

 Meet Vortex.  He's stylishly dressed in his Iron Man costume.

 Last time we visited the Dells we only stayed in and around our hotel.  This time we ventured out and discovered downtown.  We met this nice man.

 There was a restaurant called "Macs" that served crazy variations of macaroni and cheese.  Part of their motto is "Be Cheesy".  Haley loves cheese and so we had to stop for a photo shoot.  Look at that cute little mimic!

 

Noah's Ark

The second day of our vacation, we went to "Noah's Ark" which is well known in the Dells as being the biggest water park.  Nathan had made an impulse purchase (his words) and bought a waterproof digital camera before we left. It turned out to be a wonderful buy!  We took it to Noah's Ark hoping to take lots of pictures but the battery was low when we got there (some confusion with the charging?  we still are not sure).  So we only got a few pictures.

 

 

 This was the first ride the kids and Nathan went on.  It's called "Flash Flood" and it's a log fume ride (Nate said it was kind of like Splash Mountain). We got there first thing and this ride was the farthest from the entrance, so there was no line.  They were able to go 3 times right in a row without getting off.  Nathan said it was awesome not having to worry about the camera getting wet!

 This was Alina's favorite "ride". She did not feel very good and was not too anxious to get in the water.  We did get her to go on a few slides.  Her other favorite was the wave pool.  It was my favorite too!  A couple of times it almost rocked Alina to sleep.

 

 After swimming all day at Noah's Ark we decided to try "Macs" out.  So the base for all of their dishes is yummy, creamy, and definitely cheesy macaroni and cheese.  Then you can decide what you'd like in it or on it.  The boys all had "Cheeseburger Mac" which had an actual cheeseburger (minus the bun) on top of it.  Haley had "Mama's Mac" that had a fried hot dog on top.  Nathan enjoyed "Memphis Mac" which had bbq sauce and other things I cannot recall.  I had "Taco Mac" which had pico de gallo, tortilla chips, sour cream, beef and guacamole on top.  Alina had the original.

 Each macaroni was served in the dish it was cooked in.

 

Sorry about the "already chewed food"!

 

Chula Vista

The first time we visited the Dells we stayed at the Kalahari, which was awesome!  This time we stayed at Chula Vista.  It wasn't the Kalahari, but it was great all the same!  This time the waterproof camera worked, so we got some great shots above and under the water!

 Michael surprised me and went on every water slide in the indoor water park, even the ones that I would never go on.

Wizard's Quest

This fun place was recommended to us by a friend and got great reviews, so we decided to try it.  We didn't get any pictures but this one.  It was a place where you are trying to save 4 wizards and to be able to do that you earn "glimmers" by answering questions and finding clues.  They had 4 realms: water, earth, fire, air and the realms were decorated and set up really neat.  It was fun to work together as a family to save the wizards - even Nathan got into it!