Warning: Travelogue of Wisconsin Dells

While tornadoes barreled through our home city, we were enjoying a nice long weekend of sunny skies in Wisconsin with two families we just love. I wasn't so sure how the waterpark experience of the Dells would work with young kids, but it was wonderful! We loved every minute of it (well except for the middle of the night when Teyah didn't sleep). I'm amazed how the resorts are setup so well for little ones who don't swim. The Lazy River, wavepool, and many of the pools were not higher than 3 feet, plus there were all kinds of little slides and play places for the kids.


It was fun to be able to take some turns on the adult slides too! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Kimberley, Ruby, and I screaming our heads off as we braved the steep slides.


Teyah loved snuggling after playing HARD in the water. It was wonderful!


My little Ellie was the daredevil. After going down this kiddie slide once, she said, "I want to go on the huge slide now all by myself." She did all of the bigger kid slides by herself, and I loved watching her from up above because the whole time she had a gigantic grin on her face. She then asked to do the adult slides and Dave tried to take her on them, but she wasn't tall enough. Around people, she tends to be shy and timid, but she is very confident with any type of physical skill or experience.




A view of the Dells from the "Duck Tours."


The "Duck Tours" were cool because they went in and out of water effortlessly which allowed for a beautiful tour of the scenery.




And we took in some crazy sights at the Tommy Bartlett Show.


I thought for sure this nut was going to kill himself right in front of my eyes.


Nothing like a tub that can bathe six kids at once!


OK, so I'm not even sure what to say about these pics, or if I even should be posting them. These photos were taken by Aubrie's "friend's" sister who is seven. We only saw them after the fact. Every time we turned around they were hugging and being affectionate. At one point, I realized I needed to have a talk with her, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing that because I wasn't sure if she realized it was any different than hugging and kissing her friends who are girls.


I'm not sure I'm ready for this stage of parenting yet! Yikes. Already, really? Does this mean Aubrie's already had her first kiss? Ahhh!

My super cute graduate

Why didn't anybody warn me that preschool graduation would make me so emotional?? I know it seems meaningless, but as I was watching her end-of-year program, it just hit me that she would never be in preschool again ... I will never have all my kids just at home with me all day where we set our own schedule and do our own fun things ... I will now lose control over the bubble I've kept her in ... soon she will be spending more time in a day with a teacher I don't even know yet ... this is a big change! My tears have flown and flown. I couldn't be more happy for her though. She's so ready for a new step (she's reading, doing math, she has great classroom and social skills, she knows how to tie her shoes ... go conquer the world, kiddo!)



I am looking at these pictures and here come the tears again. Oh brother. I'm such a sap. This is ONLY preschool! What am I going to be like when it's high school graduation?



Aubrie is so social. She just loves her friends and is such an extrovert. I often have to remind myself that I must give her social time because it's truly how she gains energy.



She actually had two days of graduation because she was in Joy School and a regular preschool.



I love you Aubrie. Now, if I can just let go a little.

Proud to "host" Mrs. Meyer

I spent my Tuesday evening at my favorite place, with my favorite author, with some of my favorite people, with a new book in hand! This is what I have to say about that ...





My friends all wrestled with what we should say to her. We knew our time would be supremo limited, so this is how my 20 seconds went:

Me: "Thank you for giving me something fun to read. Your books help break up the monotony of being a stay-at-home mom. I love having that to look forward to at the end of the day."

Stephenie: "Yeah. The days can get long can't they. But you're good to wait until the end of the day. I used to sneak it in during the day."

Me: "Well, I do too, but it sounds good that way, doesn't it?"

Stephenie: "Chuckle, chuckle."



I wish I knew exactly how many people were there for her book signing. I know they anticipated 3,000 people. I imagine there were about that many. The line twisted all around and went all the way down one of the Mall of America Hallways.



Necia and I thought we were pretty smart for NOT getting into line at 8 a.m., like many others, and arriving just before Stephenie did her Q&A at 6 p.m., then we went to dinner, and finally joined the line as it dwindled down. We ended up only waiting in line for about an hour and a half.





I felt so privileged that of all the places in the whole world, Stephenie chose Minnesota to launch her new book! It took me a while to post because I got a copy for my mom for mom's day and I didn't want her to know!


*Thanks Allison. I totally stole your pics. I hope you don't mind!

My presents

My sweet husband brought me home this $9 "Mugen Puchi Puchi" (everlasting Bubble Wrap) from Japan. It's a tiny bubble wrap simulator that tries to imitate the feel & sound of popping bubble wrap when you hit the buttons. Quite fun and creative concept, but it's just not the same as stomping on it. Evidently, these are all the rage in Japan as you can see from the TV ad below.

Here's a great demonstration of the puchi puchi on Youtube




He also brought me this alarm clock that he found in Akihabara (the electronics district) in Tokyo. When the alarm clock goes off, the flying saucer takes flight, and the only way to make the alarm clock go off again is to find the flying saucer and stick it back into the clock. Can anyone guess why he might have bought this for me? Actually, I can't remember the last time I woke up to an alarm clock rather than a kid!



This broken stroller wheel was my present from the airline on our flight home. My double stroller is my lifeline and especially when we travel. You should have seen us trying to get through the Phoenix airport on our layover with a three-wheeled stroller, three young kids (one who can't walk), four carry-on bags, and a carseat. That turned some heads!