That Vacation Where We Almost Broke Bugs

As Dec put on his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pjs tonight, I thought I'd prove how cool I was and named all the ninja turtles for him (and sang the theme song too ... Heroes in a half shell. Turtle power!). He was sufficiently impressed and excitedly asked me which one was Raphael. Crap. And with that, all my cool points were lost. At least until Google came to the rescue later (red. Raphael was red). Funny how fast those cool points can disappear in the wind.

On our final full day in the Dells, cool points came and went for the whole group. It was definitely a different experience than last year with six kids that were a year older. We had more independence and improved ability in the water. Some were even tall enough to try new rides. We also had a group of big kids who remembered the resort and had very clear opinions on what they wanted to do and when they wanted to do it ... and who were not influenced by group think in any way. It was a new dynamic. 

Tuesday morning saw most of us walking toward the WaterDome. Declan and Mike took a right instead of a left and went to the Wild West - as D had asserted his opinion loudly about checking out those slides. The girls and I took Hannah while Cheryl worked on her own cool points and took her boys on the big tube thrill ride, the Hurricane. Cooper told me that he though his mom was going to have a heart attack when it was over ... but admitted that she was pretty cool.

The girls figured out how to "surf float" in the waves and had a great time splashing around together. Eventually Mike and Dec rejoined us and Mike and Brad headed off to ride the Hurricane (Cheryl didn't want to go again ... strange). The kids were wiped out, so C and I sustained them with snacks. Then Coop and I got in line for a different tube ride and C eventually got the rest of the group back in the pool.

Once all tube riding was done, we headed back for lunch and a rest. Then Quinn, Fiona, and I met Jack at the arcade for BINGO. The Kids Club room was packed - and I'm pretty sure there were more adults than kids. And definitely adults who took kid Bingo WAY too seriously! I'm not sure any kids actually won a game ... so I really hope those adults enjoyed the ten cent prizes that they got. It was a bit ridiculous - but the bigs and I had fun, nonetheless. 

We gave the kids a hearty snack and then split up for the final pool visit. We almost didn't make a final pool trip as we had some very poor attitudes from the small Vs - but they pulled it together and we had an absolute blast going back across the lake to Cubby's Cove. There were hardly any people there and our kids happily spent almost two hours jumping into the pool, paddling around, getting out, and repeating. We also fit a few water slides in - including several races!

We met back up at the condo for quick showers and pizza dinner. Then we walked over to the ice cream shop in pjs (the kids anyway). Fiona was SO tired from all the walking for three days and all the jumping and swimming we had just done that her legs were killing her. Uncle Brad swooped in and saved the day. Bugs checked her ego at the door and gratefully rode in Hannah's stroller to ice cream while B carried Hannah. Her legs were just too sore to make one more long trek. She also had quite the exasperated face when everyone piled on her bed for story before I tucked them in. She was done for the day!

We were too tired for Fun-Employed that night, so Cheryl sent me to chaperone Brad and Mike at the bar (I think she wanted to get rid of all of us so she could go to bed). I did one round of shots with them and supervised one more. And then made them make good choices to be done - mostly because those shots were CRAZY expensive!

Before the long drive back on Wednesday, we made one final stop at the indoor playground to let all the kids burn off some energy. When we saw Cooper lay down on the ground in exhaustion, Cheryl and I deemed it a great vacation. We made it home before rush hour and the kids and I were thrilled that I had also taken Thursday off for re-entry. We love vacationing with the Ps and can't wait for our Father's Day camping trip!