Already??? Geez Time Flies!

Its kind of that scenario when you go about your day to day business, hang with your family, enjoy the different seasons of the year and all of a sudden a major date comes up.  In our case it was our wedding anniversary...mind you...not just any yearly wedding anniversary, but our FIVE year anniversary! Yay us!  It was actually funny because we had mentioned back at our four year that we were going to do something special for the next year so of course throughout the activities of summer, we were again planning a mini-vacation!  So as we both sat back and watched Maddie play in the kiddie pool, our thoughts went away to a far away land where leaves would be falling off trees, a brisk chill was in the air, (interruption-I have to "water" Maddie the "plant" in her pool,)  furnaces would be firing up, and it would get dark at 4pm.  The inspiration was there...we were off to Chula Vista Resort and Indoor Water park the weekend before the anniversary of our big day.

But I jump to the future......our anniversary day was awesome.  We are so lucky to have each other and reflect on the special day that we shared with friends and family.  We also reflect fondly on our expanded family.  Fun times!  And on that morning of our anniversary, Maddie jumped out of bed (with help) and colored a card that Papa had prepared for Mama, sealed it herself, and presented it from both of us to Melissa:) What followed was a skillet steamed salmon dinner prepared by Jon (Melissa's favorite meal) and now deemed completely delicious by a little bumpkin named Maddie.

And of course the trip, the pinnacle of our celebration.  What a great time.  We had booked two nights on a Friday and Saturday evening so we decided to leave early in the afternoon to get ample swim and orientation time in the waterpark before dinner.  We arrived and checked into our room, and then it was straight down to the waterpark.  Wow, did Maddie enjoy it.  It is a perfect setup for a young toddler because there is a whole area of zero entry pool space that even includes two...count them TWO toddler water slides, which in my opinion are fun for the parents also..at least Melissa and I thought so.  Maddie splashed and twirled, and especially liked going down the slides and seeing Papa get water dumped on his head from the hanging buckets.  We also hit up the lazy (adventure) river which was a great time.  Mama and Madeline rode together and mozied down the river..even into the waves a little bit.  Smiles all around.  Dinner that night was subway, and the night was not complete without another brief outing to the waterpark.

Now, the cool thing about this place is the waterpark is connected underground to the hotel so it is a breeze getting over there.  So here we are, Mama leading the way, Maddie bringing up the middle and Papa in back making sure we actually get some where...why...because the tunnel is filled with video games, plants, fake animals, cool carpet and of course a riding automated rocket...we could have spent an hour in there...but we paid for the waterpark...:)  We finally made it..and playing was involved..as Mama and Papa took their turns on the adult speed water tube...which.....was......AWESOME....

The second day turned out to be similar..and may I say that we sure did make use of our daily passes.  All together we wend down to the waterpark about six times at about an hour and 45 minutes a shot.  Apparently the management didn't get Maddie's memo that she sent from home requesting the park open at 5:45 am..or maybe they couldn't hear her shouting "Splash!!!! Splash!!!" from the third floor...I don't know....we sure heard it......and got her swimming suit on BEFORE we had breakfast!

So if anyone wants a good restaurant to visit while they are in the Dells area...(I should get advertising $ for this) you need to visit Buffalo Phil's Pizza and Grill.  What a great time we had on our evening out.  The restaurant was perfect for the young ones as your food is delivered via train.  We sat at the "train" bar and watched fondly as Maddie followed the train all around the room.  Good times were had by all.  On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the old Indian Trading Post which was a staple to visit by both of our families when we were younger.  It was cool to get pictures of Maddie in the tee pee just like we did when we were kids...after a brief and unexpected #2 diaper change on the porch...(it was dark) we were on our way back to settle in for the night.....Actually I think we went swimming again...yeah...we did...complete with the adult water speed tube....

The final morning of our trip we awoke and surprisingly....went swimming again.  Highlights included one last time on the lazy river and to have papa get water dumped on him....oh...and for Mama and Papa to each hit up the adult water speed tube.....did I mention that before?....and that it was...AWESOME.....??  We then headed to the Riverside and Great Northern Railway.  This is a real miniature steam train that you can ride for about a mile into the woods, then they turn it around.  Maddie loved the trip.  A highlight was having her pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch and carry it back to the train in her dress.  A picnic lunch was had on site and then we packed up to head home.  We got home, unpacked...reflected on our relaxing weekend..and then one by one...

Maddie took a nap...
Papa took a nap....
Mama took a nap....

Happy Anniversary!