The Dells

Devil's Lake is just outside of the Wisconsin Dells (similar to Branson for those like me who had never heard of it!) so we found a little hotel that has a small indoor water park for little kids. There are many, many choices for fancy water parks in the area. Across the street from the hotel was a huge indoor theme park and restaurant. We ate there for dinner and our food was delivered by train! We opted out of playing at the theme park so that we could head back and swim at our hotel. We thought it would be packed because of spring break, but we were the ONLY family at the pool! So much fun!

The next morning we swam again until check out time and prepared to head back home. As we drove out of town we saw more of the strip and stopped to check out a few places for next time. The roller coasters were especially tempting to our dare devil crew. Dad did a little investigating over lunch and found us an amazing deal to stay one more night. The hotel stay included a giant indoor waterpark, an outdoor roller coaster and an indoor theme park. We did it all!

Devil's Lake

We've been talking about Wisconsin camping adventures and couldn't wait to get started. We were told that April was really too early to go, but we thought that because it was such a warm winter we might be ok. As the day got closer and closer we became more and more reluctant as the temperatures were predicted to be just above freezing at night. Worried for our little guy who refuses to keep a blanket on, we opted for a day trip and a hotel. Perfect!

We spent the afternoon hiking around Devil's lake. Friends recommended the trail on the west side, but when we got there we were warned that the bugs had just hatched and it would be better to take the trail along the east bluff. We heeded that advice and followed a trail (maybe not THE trail) along the east bluff. The kids were great hikers and suddenly perfectly fine with posing for pictures - possibly the biggest shock of the weekend! Somewhere along the way we lost the trail (we ran into three other families that had done the same thing) and we hiked back down the hill to find the lower trail. We quickly found it and it led us slowly back up to the top. At the top we heard that there was another trail that led to the "balanced rock." That sounded fun. It turned out to be a very steep rocky path about a quarter of a mile long straight to the bottom. The balanced rock was about half way down. By the time we got down we didn't think the kids would be up for walking all the way back to the car so I took them to the campground park on the other end of the lake.

Jeff took Harrison in the backpack across the train tracks along the lake to get the car. He found out that it was not just a few bugs that had hatched! The sides of the lake were thick clouds of black bugs about the size of large mosquitos. We tried to go down by the water and had just a taste of what he went through. We were all running around crazy and waving our arms to get them away from us. Once they are on you they follow you. The buzzing sound reminded me of a horror movie. It was really crazy! Jeff said that he ran the whole way inhaling bugs the whole time. Harrison was a trooper and didn't even complain.

All Dressed Up & No Place To Go

Yesterday I got an e-mail about a RS temple trip. It said that many sisters hadn't heard the announcement, but we were going to the temple and meeting at the church at 4:30. I forwarded the e-mail to Jeff, mentioning that I must have been one of those who missed the announcement. He worked with his schedule so that I could make it. I had to load the kids up and meet him half way from his meeting at the church. I was surprised that no one else came to the parking lot as time kept passing. When Jeff got there he called people from the RS presidency to confirm. They didn't know about any temple trip. I was so confused and questioning my sanity. I searched through my e-mails and found that it was from the RS presidency of the CHOCTAW ward. Oops.

We all loaded up and went home to the dinner I had ready for them. We played charades and cleaned the house. Not quite the night I was hoping for, but quite enjoyable nonetheless.

Asian Philosophies

After our trip to the farm we stopped in for some Chinese food. The kids love the placemats with the Chinese Zodiac Signs. They were studying all of our families signs and Jackson was so disappointed that he wasn't "compatible" with Harrison. I had to laugh when he asked if it was ok for Lincoln to hang out with Harrison. The first thing Lincoln said to our waitress was, "I have a question for you... which is healther, vegetables or grains?" She wasn't quite prepared to answer that. He was very concerned that his fortune said he would make a lot changes before he settled satisfactorily. It took some coaxing for him not to worry too much about a piece of paper in his cookie!

At the end of our meal the waitress asked Jackson how old he is. His response, "I'm six. I'm a sheep. I'm looking out for dragons."

Farm Visit

Jeff wanted to restock the pond with a few fish and found someone on Craigslist who was giving away some large goldfish. We loaded up for a family home evening outing and visited their little farm. They had six mules, chickens, several large dogs, cats and a beautiful pond. They let Jackson get a few eggs from the chicken coop and feed the chickens. Harrison got to ride a donkey. He loved it for about 3 seconds and wanted right back off. You can see from the expression on his face how delighted he was to be there!

Easter

I probably say this every year, but Easter is my favorite holiday to be with family. I love that it is spring time and everyone is able to be outside enjoying the newly green grass. We are celebrating the atonement and the resurrection at the same time we feel the renewal of life all around us as flowers bloom again and baby birds appear in their nests.

This year I was worried that I would be sad. We are far away from our families and the cute cousins and their Easter baskets. I threw a big party so that I wouldn't have time to be sad! The kids and I filled about 500 eggs and invited lots of friends! They were more excited about hiding the eggs than they were for the actual hunt. The boys talked about all of the best places to hide the "golden egg" for weeks. I hunted the stores for a golden egg! There were none to be found until the last night before the party. I happened to look at the same wal-mart for some last minute Easter treats (Jackson mentioned that he was so excited about the Easter Bunny filling their baskets - uh oh! We've never done that before!) and found one package of shiny eggs - including 2 golden ones. What luck! The golden egg turned out to be a fun thing - no one found it for the longest time. Eventually I had to point out the tree I thought I'd hidden it in.

After everyone left we played in the yard nearly the entire day. Jeff fixed up the pond and put in some bird feeders. He bought a bungee cord with corn on the end for the squirrels, but got distracted as he was hanging it and created an awesome swing for the kids instead.

On Easter itself, we enjoyed dinner with our friends the Morgans after church and skyped with the Oklahoma crew. The boys all got new ties in their Easter baskets, but Harrison is the only one that wore one. Jackson tried, but his top button was too tight around his neck. Lincoln wouldn't even wear the white shirt. I'll have to try again to get them to all wear them at once. Wish me luck with that!