Wisconsin Dells!

 Many months ago, we promised Elizabeth a trip to a waterpark at Wisconsin Dells... ...and she had not forgotten. Things came up and the trip got postponed, and we figured we had better go before the kids got out of school or the crowds would be overwhelming. Here's Beth Marie and Paddington all packed and ready to go: 

 (If you don't know the story of Paddington...  He arrived at our door one day holding a sign that said, "Please look after this bear" and a note informing us that he wished to come with us on all of our trips...and that he wanted us to be sure to take pictures of him so that he could keep an album of all his travels.  Paddington has already been in several states and seen many things, and so when the time comes for the Amundson's to venture away from home, it's very important that he not be forgotten...because he would be very disappointed.) We arrived in Wisconsin Dells and decided to do some outdoor activities on the first day both because we thought it would be good to give Mike's eye (previous post) an extra day to heal and also because it appeared to be our best weather day of the trip. Our first stop was the Original Wisconsin Ducks: 

Beth Marie and Paddington:



Our tour was full, so Mike got to ride co-pilot:



Dells/Lake Delton:



The site of the breach during the 2008 flood when all of Lake Delton drained into the Wisconsin River:

Bummer I didn't have a blog back then because I would have told you all about how that flood turned into quite a weekend adventure for the Amundson's.  But...  I didn't.

After the Wisconsin Ducks, we went on a horse-drawn wagon tour through the Lost Canyon.  (I would highly recommend this half hour tour by the way--it was fun and very affordable.)

We had a little time to kill before our tour, so we had a look around the place...

They had a nice bridge over a creek.  Mike thought he'd give Beth a closer look:

(This picture was staged, but the look of terror on Elizabeth's face was not. :-)

Can you find Paddington?

This is Beth Marie greeting Bill and Bob:

She adored these horses...

Here's Paddington ready to board the wagon:

Our view of the Canyon:

Our plan worked to perfection because the entire second day was cold and rainy.  But that didn't matter, because we were here:

We spent several hours as a family in the indoor waterparks of the Wilderness Lodge.  Beth Marie made fast friends with a sweet little boy named Reilynn.  I wish I'd have snapped their picture.  (I didn't take a lot of pictures in the waterpark because it was so humid in there that I thought it might be bad for our camera.  That, and it's dangerous to have my husband nearby with a camera while I'm in a bathing suit...)

There were a lot of places you could eat both at the resort and nearby.

We really enjoyed this place:

So, being us, we went there twice.  :-)

The first night, we went for entrees.  I had a creamy chicken pesto, Beth had fetuccine alfredo, and Mike had chicken tikka masala.  All were excellent.

But we figured it was only right to go back and try the deep dish Chicago-style pizza.  So, we did.  :-)  We shared appetizers and a pizza...and the plan was to share a dessert as well.  But, we had no room.  So, if you go, you'll have to try the bread pudding with salty caramel sauce for us and let us know how it was....

Before heading home, Paddington wanted to be sure that we visited the location of the original Culver's in Sauk City:

Culver's has been our favorite burger spot since Beth Marie was only big enough for mashed potatoes...

(Paddington thought the restaurant was pretty nice, but the food wasn't quite as good as our Culver's...)

And, that would be the highlights from our Wisconsin Dells trip...better late than never!