Wisconsin Dells

VACATION TIME!

Owen was very pleased with the new in-car DVD player.

Maya ... not so much.

Car seat discomfort and an absolute bottleneck of cars (and boats) traveling through southern Wisconsin on July 4 weekend made our trips to and from the Wisconsin Dells a challenge at times ... but it was definitely worth it.

We overnighted at Nana and Grandpa's on our way there to cut down our travel the second day, arriving early afternoon on July 3 in time for some good fun on the water slides before we all collapsed off to sleep.

It was a busy weekend a the resort, making the finding of parking and the following photo of luggage arriving something to celebrate.

The kids had a great time, though. We spent a lot of time at the water parks, playing on all the slides and in the lazy river. The best slides were those we could do together with Owen. They were all operated with two-person inner tubes; Amy or I would sit in the back and Owen would grab onto our legs up front. He always started out a bit nervous when we approached a new ride, but it was always a race to get back to the top from that point on.

We also took a Duck Boat tour of the Dells on July 4 morning. The guide was cheesy (it's Wisconsin after all), but it was worth it.

And speaking of rides, Owen and I had a great time on the go-karts!

The sensory overload really came, though, at the July 4 fireworks. Owen and I had just returned from the go-karts when it was time to get in place for the fireworks, so I told Amy to take him and I would stay in the room with Maya, who had just gone to sleep.

Amy's story is that the first explosion outside coincided perfectly with a HUGE rainstorm. The two of them still got to see the show, but part of it from the safety of shelter.

Inside the hotel, the first firework coincided with Maya waking up thinking we'd gone to war. I couldn't help but think about my good friend Troy whose Dachshund Snicker almost dug through the front floor mats of their car when they made the mistake of letting her come along to the Independence Day celebration when we were growing up.

That was Maya.

She screamed until Amy and Owen returned to the room 5 minutes after the show was over. Happy birthday, America!

We still had an awesome time, though, and are looking forward to going back again, but perhaps on a less explosive holiday next time.