Two Times The Chaos!: Having Fun & Conquering Fears

This past weekend was "MEA" (Minnesota Education Association) weekend in Minnesota -- the largest professional development opportunity for educators in Minnesota...and a traditional "holiday" for students. Historically our family has chosen to not do anything over MEA weekend, but this year we strayed from the "norm" and decided to head to Wisconsin Dells, WI.

We started things out by traveling to my brother's home in Rochester, MN, and spending the night there before making our way to Wisconsin. My parents even came to visit for a while and we had a fun time visiting -- the kids love seeing their grandparents (all of them!). Wednesday morning the kids and I slept in until 8:30 or 9:00 and then we decided to get up and hit the road. Our niece came with us, so we had two adults, 3 kids, and something like an entire month's worth of ~~crap~~ stuff with us so the van was packed to the brim!

Our trip was short-lived (3 nights and 4 days) but we had a blast nonetheless! We played, ate, slept, swam, and conquered fears in those few short days. Wednesday we pretty much relaxed at the hotel most of the day, unpacked, grabbed dinner at MooseJaw Pizza (best pizza EVER!), and then headed back to the hotel for some pool/hot-tub time. Thursday brought an all-day trip to the Kalahari Indoor Amusement Park at the Kalahari Hotel...this is where fears were conquered! The park was huge and had everything from video arcade games to laser tag, go-karts, a Ferris wheel, a rock climbing wall, and a "ropes course." The ropes course is where some fears were conquered -- you see "Little Man" has somehow acquired a few of heights and while I'd say that I'm not afraid of heights, dangling 40+ feet in the air by only a rope did manage to make my stomach turn. ("Little Man" had a tough time of it and it took him quite a while to complete the course, but we were so proud of him for toughing it out and completing the course with the help of his dad!) Oh yes, and we also spent some time at "MagiQuest" on Thursday evening.

Friday brought another all-day adventure...but this time at the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort. We headed over to the resort first thing in the morning and spent the entire day playing at the massive indoor waterpark. We usually stay at the resort 1-2 x's/yr and move between each of the different waterparks (there are four total) but since we only had one day on this trip, we decided that we all liked to waterpark with the wave pool the best -- so we "rode the waves" the entire day. It.was.a.blast!

Saturday started with packing everything up in the van, hitting the road, stopping back at my brother's house to drop off our niece and to have a break job completed on the van (a planned break job...not the emergency kind!) and, last but not least, a return to our home to unpack, do laundry, etc.

Now, we're back to everyday life and wondering what adventure might await us next. I'm not 100% certain what it will be...and I had a blast spending time with my family...but I do know that the next trip will be an "adults only" trip! (Time for some mom-and-dad-time!)

Here are a few photos from our adventures in the Dells: