The Dells

We planned a little staycation for Spring Break this year. It was up in the air if I was going to be needed in Ecuador for a student trip (as one of the chaperones broke her arm), and the amount of tasks that need done lately have been weighing us down...so we thought a planned week of catch up would make us all breathe a little easier. It was much needed.

However, some friends invited us to the Dells and we just couldn't turn down this fun group of people and knew that a little get-away would be good for the soul. We packed up Sunday morning and headed north. It gave me a solid 6 hours (up and back) to grade papers and not feel like I was completely ignoring my family, and the girls enjoyed catching up on some reading and relaxing. We stopped off for a little Spotted Cow purchase because, well...when in Wisconsin, and pulled into Great Wolf Lodge by lunch time. 

Our she-wolf pack and their welcome howls. So cute that they give out wolf ears at check-in! :)

Bring on the waterslides!!

With our customary stop at Monks for lunch, we then checked in early to our room and headed straight for the water! [If you haven't ever taken advantage of online check-in at hotels, its a must...we got into our room 3 hours early]. We swam all afternoon as our friends trickled in and then headed up to the room to clean up for dinner. 

We decided on Famous Daves for a little BBQ goodness. One great thing about the Dells is that they are used to accomodating large groups so they didn't blink twice at our party of 23. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a fun night of Euchre while the kiddos played games and enjoyed the ClockTower show [okay, it was pretty lame]. 

This wild bunch had a blast with each other and we had a blast with their parents...double win.

We're not much for sleeping in, so we got up the next morning, I graded papers for a bit and then hit the Outlets! Located right next door to the hotel, they opened an hour before the waterpark, so while Mark and the girls vegged out with cartoons waiting for the park to open, I headed over to make the most of my morning and scope out what all it had to offer. Much to the girls' dismay...no cinnamon rolls or other breakfast yummies, so it was back to the hotel for some waterpark wonder. 

Such a great group of girls! [The littles were too busy to stop for a picture!]

We rented a cabana for the day so it was great to have a "check-in" point so we could give the girls a little more freedom at the waterpark. They enjoyed a little independence from mom and dad riding slides with their friends, and many of the adults enjoyed not having to walk quite so many flights of stairs lugging huge tubes. [Plus, getting a few extra hands of Euchre in at the waterpark!]

So many waterslides, so little time!

As the youngest on the trip, this little hung with us and wasn't too disappointed that we weren't willing to give her the indepedence that she was after. It didn't hurt my feelings too much to get a few extra waterslides in either as spring break always seems to be a good reminder that staying in shape shouldn't just be a summer thing. Uff. It was a workout. 

Minneapolis

Spring break we decided to sneak a little get away in so we headed to Minneapolis for a few days. Though we had a great time, we definitely should have traveled south instead of north as the first afternoon we were there we were greeted by blizzard warnings. Since it was chilly and snow was on the way we bypassed our favorite zoo and instead checked out family day at the Minnesota Institute of Art. The MIA was busy as Guillermo del Toro's "At Home with Monsters" was on exhibit (which would have been so awesome, but it was rated R and we obviously had the girls). However, the museum had so many great activities for families all while checking out the art. 

We started in, 'clay monster making' where the girls got to mold their own monsters. They LOVED this and it was a great place to start so they could see how art is born. They sketched out their ideas, grabbed their supplies and started molding. From there we learned about costume making and how masks are designed for movie sets. This was especially intriguing to Emma who just watched Harry Potter and was questioning how they make quiddich brooms fly, invisibility cloaks work and house elves so small. They even got to try on some of the costumes. Then we were off on a scavenger hunt through the museum to find highlighted works of art. There is no doubt who our 'artsy' kid is...Emma could have spent many more hours exploring this place, but we knew the blizzard was on its way, so we headed out. Our 15 minute drive back to the hotel lasted about an hour. Good thing we ordered some pizza to get delivered to the hotel so it didn't interfere with our swim time!!

The next morning we headed out for a day at the MOA. Of course, the first stop had to be American Girl. Every year they love their dolls more and more and I love that they still get excited for a visit here.

We then hit up our second favorite spot...Legos. Ironically, we ran into our nextdoor neighbors while we were buiding in the bins, so they shot a quick family picture for us. 

These goofballs had a blast at MOA and enjoyed lunch at Rainforest Cafe (Emma found a new fear of gorillas here) followed up by tons of rides all afternoon. 

We then headed back downtown to the Target Center for our first NBA game! We had awesome seats and our row was chosen as "row of the game" so we got lots of fun goodies and the girls loved that we got to be on TV! 

They were super excited when Crunch the Wolf stopped by to make fun of us and mess up my hair. He was a good sport though and the girls loved getting to take pictures with him. It was a fun quick get-away to celebrate the hopefully soon arrival of spring! (No worries, we hit up Ikea the next morning before we headed for home!)

Jumping Janes

On our way to Grand Harbor we decided to stop off for a morning at Jumpin' Janes! We had a blast on the inflatables all morning and basically had the place to ourselves. With an awesome lunch menu we decided to stay for lunch too a jump a little longer. I highly recommend this place if you have littles...it's affordable, fun, and keeps even the big kids entertained. 

Snuggled in, taking a break...it's a lot of running.

The purple inflatable was a favorite for hide and seek. 

Titanic had some LONG slides.

Soccer and basketball...our two favorites!

Grand Harbor

Some friends of our invited us for an overnight at Grand Harbor! As the girls get older, the place seems to be getting smaller, so it was great that the girls had friends to play with. It was interesting to be at a waterpark knowing I could see them from anywhere, they are confident swimmers, and they could go off with their friends and I didn't have to worry. They loved the independence and Norah loved so much undivided attention. That night we took in some yummy food at Shot Tower and walked around downtown a bit. With a sweet ice cream treat before bed, it was a great night! The next morning we swam until lunch, headed to Champps to watch March Madness unfold and then it was back home for a trip to the dentist. Had to mix a little business with pleasure today! :)

Getting ready to play!

Norah loved the waterslides, but spent most of her time with me relaxing in the lazy river.

Gracie and Grace were inseparable!

Spring Break!

Week 10 brought Spring Break!! As many of our friends jet-set to fabulous tropical destinations, we were quite content to stay home and RELAX this week! We snuck a quick overnight in at Grand Harbor so the girls could swim a little, but other than that we had a relaxing week filled with YES! Play outside, yes. Have friends over, yes. Play games, yes. Paint, yes. It also gave us time to house shop! We lost the house that we were hoping for, but we're in no hurry to move; so we'll wait until the perfect house finds us. For the meantime, we're in the perfect house. 

A spring break filled with play dates...it doesn't get much better than that!