We packed up the car on Sunday morning and headed out on a five hour drive down to the Milwaukee area to visit cousins, aunts and uncles. Pat stayed back as he had to work but we brought Grandma GiGi along for the fun (er..challenge)!
The kids did so great in the car. I generally like to keep my expectations low while hoping for the best when traveling with my three kiddos. But they truly did surprisingly well. My secret weapons on this trip were Legos, pads of paper/markers, Super Hero books, a new movie and food. All of which I truly kept secret until we were in the car driving toward Milwaukee. I bought each of the boys a new small set of Legos which I put in plastic containers. They could work on these while keeping all of the tiny pieces contained. Jack and Owen loved this. Next time though, I might pull them out when I'm desperate to get through the last leg of a trip. They both chose to work on their Legos immediately and so they only lasted about an hour.
Anyway, we made it to our destination without too many stops. The kids were thrilled to play with their cousins for two days. The boys were so tired at the end of each day. One night at 7:00 pm, Owen announced, "I'm going to bed" and he proceeded to get himself completely ready for bed on his very own, including rubbing Vapo-rub (a little too think) on his chest (he has an icky cough). The next night while my mom was reading to the boys, Jack told her that she could keep reading, but he was going to sleep. These little stories just make me laugh as they most definitely do not happen in our regular everyday life. Looking back through my pictures, I realize I didn't take any with my big camera while we were there. Ahh, this is the beauty of the iPhone as I did take some pictures.
A few days before we left, I proposed to my mom that we have an overnight at the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells on the way home from Milwaukee. She was on board and so we planned another little secret for the boys. It just so worked out that Pat could rearrange a few things at work so that he could come down and meet us (with a raging head cold and all). The boys were so pumped when we pulled up to the Kalahari and they were even more excited when they saw their dad. This waterpark/resort is so huge that we truly only scratched the surface (waterslides, arcade, go-karts, bowling, animals) in the 24 hours we were there. But, we had such a blast in the time that we had. We will definitely be going back in the future. As I look back at my pictures, I realize I'm not in any of them. It must be that four month long winter glow that I'm rocking that kept me from stepping in front of the camera. Such a bad excuse and so not what I preach to myself.
Anyway, here are some of my favorites...
The waterpark has a ride called Flowrider, which is a surfing/boogie boarding simulator. Owen wanted to give it a try from the moment he laid his eyes on it. He is my brave/willing to try anything/almost no fear child. Jack immediately said, "No thank you!". He is my cautious/thinker/slightly fearful of new experiences child. We were just about to call it a trip when we decided we couldn't leave without giving this thing a try. Owen went right up to the head of the line with Pat while Jack stayed back to ponder his decision with a finger tap to the chin. Well after about two minutes of that, Jack decided he was going to give it a whirl as well. One word...proud.
As a mother, I'm all about making memories and I think we had some major memory making during this little getaway!
