Spring break came early this year, so what a better way to get some Wisconsin winter relief, then to take a little trip to...
The Dells!
I was pretty proud of Ryan for being spontaneous and going along with my impromptu plan of surprising the kids with a spring break mini vacation. Usually, spontaneity isnt his strong suit. I guess this winter has got him as desperate as the rest of us. So Monday rolled around like any other day off of school, and I fully used our plans to my advantage by telling the kids that if they were super well behaved and helpful, then we would go do something fun on Tuesday. Ryan called later, to see how things were going and added to the fun by telling the kids that he would take the day off and come with us for whatever fun thing we were going to do...if they were good, but dont tell Mom...its a secret. (:
Of course the kids were angels, so Ryan "managed" to get the day off. I got everything packed and ready to go on Monday night, after the kids were asleep. Tuesday morning, we told them to get on their swimsuits because we were going to try out a new indoor pool that Ryans old boss (Megan) told us about, but it was a little further away. Of course, they werent expecting 2 1/2 hours away, so we did hear a lot of..."how much longer?", and "are we there yet?", to which the reply was always "almost!" As we started getting closer, there began to be some signs advertising some of the Dells parks. Alissa saw one of the signs actually advertising the place we were going to and said, "Hey, look! Maybe thats where we are going?", and Madi corrected her by replying "No, thats a condo!" Haha...so funny.
Finally, about 20 minutes to arrival, Katelin says "These look a lot like the mountains on the way to the Dells."
I reply "Really? You remember what it looks like?"
"Yeah, I remember everything about it, because it was so much fun!"
"Really? Well, look around, what else do you notice?" There was a big red billboard that said Wisconsin Dells on it.
"Maybe Megan was talking about the Dells!?"
We just started to laugh.
"Actually, we never talked to Megan."we admitted. Looks of confusion. "We are going to the Dells, and we are going to stay there for the night."
Alissa: "I KNEW IT!"
Katelin and Madi "YEAH! AWESOME!"
Anyway, it was fun to put one over on them, because keeping surprises is not my strong suit. I usually get too excited or nervous and it gives it away.
Anyway, we decided to try somewhere new this time, just to try it. Mistake. We really missed the last resort we went to. They had 3 different indoor areas. This place just had one, and there wasnt much of it that didnt include shooting water, so Zack and Brylee didnt get super into it. We spent most the time on the lazy river, which ended up being Zacks favorite part. They did have some fun bigger slides that we rotated going on with Madi and Katelin, and a pretty cool raft coaster. Alissa learned after our last experience, that the water slides are actually fun, so she didnt waste any time getting in as much slide time as possible. But it all got old after the same thing for 2 days. The condo was also a big letdown in comparison to the other resort, but I wont get into that. We still had fun, and it was nice to pretend for a minute that it was warm outside by wearing our swimsuits around for 2 days. So, enough talk. Heres the slide...the slide show I mean.
Our little boy turned 4! Why do they keep getting older!? This year we decided to celebrate Dinosaur style. Zack insisted on a blue dinosaur cake, that looked like Rexy (from Caillou). Of course he was disappointed when I added purple spots because Rexy doesnt have purple spots. Grrrrr...oh well. He is becoming very opinionated in his old age. Anyway, his party was about to start, and I wasnt about to scrape off the frosting and start over. He invited 4 friends from his primary class, and all of them came. We started off with lunch including dino nuggets, dinosaur shaped PB&J, dino bone bread sticks, dinosaur eggs (grapes), and green dino juice. Then it was time for games. The first one was a dinosaur egg hunt. They each got to find 3 dinosaur eggs and then hatch them to find one or two dino's inside. Next up was pin the horn on the triceratops, followed by a dinosaur feet race, while balancing a dino egg in a spoon. By then, all the 3 and 4 year old boys had lost interest and they just wanted to go up to Zacks room and play! So we proceeded on to the present unavailing. I guess 3 year old boys dont understand the concept of giving gifts yet, because all the 3 year olds tried to open the gifts for Zack and see what they got! They were so disappointed the gift inside wasnt for them. Good thing we had awesome party favors to give them, so they didnt go away empty handed! After presents it was cake time! 5 minutes later they were back upstairs, so we pulled out all his train tracks and race car set, and put on Ice-Age, Dawn of the Dinosaurs to keep them busy, until pick up time. And to think I was actually worried about fitting everything in! 5 days later was Zack's actual birthday. He wasnt feeling very well, as once again the sickies hit our house. Grandma Taylor called and sang a happy Birthday song, and at the same time, her present arrived at our door. So she got to listen as he opened it. Youll notice in that picture that his eyes are all red and watery, because he wasnt feeling good, but I think getting another present cheered him up. Later that evening, we celebrated his actual birthday as a family, by consuming cupcakes and opening the family gifts. When Zack realized he was getting another celebration, he figured it was another birthday, and this time he was turning 5. Too bad for him, I get to keep him 4 a little while longer! Family gifts included a paper jams guitar, a roads rug to drive his cars on, and a new lamp for his room. He stole Daddy's lamp a while ago and uses it at night when he goes to sleep. He was excited to finally have one to call his own. So that about sums it up. We cant believe how big he is getting. Of course we have realized just how quickly the time goes and I hate to miss an opportunity to let him cuddle me still. He is a total Mommas boy (Yay me), and loves to sit on my lap, and give hugs and kisses. Although, now he doesnt want to marry me anymore...I think Ryan turned him away from it...now he wants to marry Katelin. I'll take what I can get, while I can get it. Enjoy the picture slide show! 
