Going wild in the Wilderness!

This is a run down of our two day stay at the Dells. If you dont want to hear my detailed review, feel free to scroll to the bottom for the pictures! Although, who wouldnt want to hear me go on and on and on and on.....? (:

This was our first time to the very raved about Dells. We thought it was time to see what all the fuss was about! Now we understand. What a great time! We decided to book our stay at a condo in Wilderness Territory. The day we arrived, we hit one of the closest outdoor water parks. We had to wait until check in to go to our condo, so we splashed around for a few hours. Madi and Libbie quickly discovered how much fun the water slides were, and began their 2 day tour taking every advantage of them. The younger ones took a little longer to warm up. Katelin and Alissa even started out equipped with goggles. Alissa took quite a while to try out the baby slides. I think she did them a few times, but didnt really enjoy getting water poured in her face on the way down. Brylee was content with just it sitting out, and watching.

When our condo was ready, we headed over to drop our loads off, have some dinner, and then back out to another outdoor park. This next one had to be my favorite outdoor park. There was something for everyone...well there was everywhere. But the younger ones really enjoyed the dinosaur themed kid area. Madi and Libbie of course made multiple trips up to the big water slide to race down. I could even take Brylee and Zack around an endless trip on the longest lazy river at Wilderness (instead of just sitting and trying to talk #5 into getting into the water). We stayed there until closing time, and took the little ones home to get ready for bed. The Dads took the older kids to try out one of the indoor parks, that stayed open an hour longer. Guess 10 hours of water wasnt enough for them yet.

As soon as the parks opened in the morning, we were back at it. This time, it was to the last outdoor park. This one wasnt as full with stuff to do as the others. They did have a little double slide to race down, and one bigger tube slide and body slide, but the kid area was really for babies. Unfortunately, Brylee still didnt want much to do with the water. Zack did enjoy the baby bouncy swings, and even though I told him repeatedly that he was too big for them, he kept going back and getting himself stuck in one. At least I didnt need to worry about where he was! Alissa and Katelin had decided to forgot the goggles on the second day, and learned it was easier to just close your eyes! After about an hour of that park, we had had enough. Lets move on to better things...indoors this time! The indoor water park was awesome! There were several bigger slides for Madi and Libbie, that started inside, and twisted around outside before the ended up back indoors. Most of them were even dark inside, making the thrill much better. There was also a slide that 4 of us could go down at once on a big tube. The downside to all this, was the long lines! We ended up staying there for most of the day. Alissa would still only splash around in the kiddie area, and I was getting tired of it. There was a ton of stuff perfect for her age, and she was being a wimp. Of course I resorted to bribery if she would try a bigger slide. Ice-cream worked to get her up to the top, but it wasnt enough to get her down. She looked down to Daddy waiting at the end of the slide, watched a few kids go down unharmed, even sat down ready to go, but it ended there. She started panicking and going back and forth on whether she was going to do it. A little more "persuasion" proved necessary...maybe a little push to get her going? Yes, I think so. Just a nudge did the trick. Daddy, and even the life guard were laughing as she screamed all the way down, like it was a raging 10 story drop. She wasnt happy at the end...but it did the trick. She decided it was safe now, and tried out all the rest of the slides. Too bad it was almost time to move on to different things. Shoulda pushed her sooner! By the time we were ready to switch, even Brylee decided this pool was made just for her, and didnt want to get OUT of the water!

Time to switch again. Gotta try everything Wilderness had to offer. This time, it was off to the wave pool. At this point, Zack felt like sitting out, and was feeling feverish. Oh no...not a sick kid! Brylee was even feeling a little warm. After a very runny diaper, we decided it best to keep Brylee out of the water from this point on. Dang, and she was just enjoying herself! They just stayed bundled in their chairs. After a little nap, Zack seemed to be feeling better, and got back in the water. The wave pool was not my favorite. Maybe it had something to do with me trying to hold onto my tube, and two others with kids on them, so they dont drift away or get knocked out of their tube as the water is pushing me up and them down...maybe? It wasnt bad when I could let go and relax in my own tube. Once or twice was good enough in the wave pool for me.

Onto, the last indoor park. The best thing about this one, was the 4 person tube ride down the Hurricane slide. Maybe me having to go backwards added to the thrill, but I thought it was the best slide yet. The rest of that one was just okay, but that could have been our exhaustion talking. It was a full 2 days of water, water, water, and finally time to go home. After a late night stop for some food, and of course the ice-cream promised to Alissa (and everyone else too), we were headed back home. Our plan was that after a long 2 days of fun, and leaving at 9:00 in the evening, that the kids would sleep the entire ride home. However, that was not the case. Brylee was the only one who followed through. Even Zack stayed awake the whole 2.5 hour drive. I guess we didnt wear them out enough?

The final verdict: we could definitely make Wisconsin Dells a yearly excursion. Especially in the winter when the whole world is ice, and we have nothing to do. The indoor park was great for all of us, and plenty to keep us busy for a couple days, and forget about the negative temps outside. We give it two thumbs up! Now, onto the pictures!