Wisconsin Dells

The Wisconsin Dells is a place with glorious indoor water parks. It is a place where Chicago dwellers can escape when they feel suffocated by layers and layers of winter clothing and want to bare their soft white bodies to the world in the middle of January. A place within driving distance where it can almost feel like summer for a little while. A place where you don't have to take a single freezing step outside because everything you need is inside the walls (or tunnels) of the resort.

A few weeks ago, we got a sudden strong urge to get out of winter for a day and drive up to the Dells (a few hours away in Wisconsin). So on a Wednesday night, we emailed a bunch of business school friends, told them we already made reservations, and demanded that they join us the next day. Two of those lovely families responded to our threats and were able to get out of classes and schedules. And it's a good thing, since it was probably the only time we could make the trip work with this pregnancy coming to an end.

Sunglasses on -- ready for our January "summer vacay".

When we reached the hotel, it was jackets off, flip-flops on right away! And we got three rooms right near each other, so we were set to party hard.

We could barely all fit in one elevator, but you know we had to try! Living in Chicago, we've learned to get over any previous personal space issues.

For dinner that night, we splurged and hit the buffet! It was very much less than satisfying, but it was a fun idea and great for the kids. Josh got all the watermelon, crackers, and olives he could want. 

I WISH I could've caught a video of this. We took a walk to check out the water park that night, and Josh felt that he needed to escort Leah like a proper gentleman, with his hand at the small of her back guiding her along. It was so stinkin' cute. And she actually let him for a long time, but when I finally got my camera out, she'd had enough. She started shrugging him off and running away, and he would chase after her in a panic trying to restore the romance until he felt too rejected and gave up. Ahh...love hurts sometimes.

After we finally got all the kiddos to sleep, we adults left our room doors open and gathered in the hallway for some serious rounds of Spin the Bottle and Texas Hold 'Em. Okay not really. We just sat around and talked and laughed. Some of us even drank Mountain Dew. After 11:00! I know, we're pretty crazy parents. Honestly though, this was probably my favorite part of the trip. I love me some good poopy pants stories and late night tired laughter. Felt a little like college.

The next day, we packed up and hit the water park!

Crazy water slides, a lazy river, kiddie pool, and giant Mayan Temple water playground. So many great ways to get soaked!

These precious little babes came with us and had me drooling pretty much the whole time. Why can't babies wear just swimsuits and diapers every day?

Matt spent a lot of his morning in the kiddie pool getting squirt by these hooligan two-year-olds. I'm so glad he's always willing to be the fun parent.

Notice the sunlight reflecting off our blinding white bodies? Getting a vision of Edward's sparkling skin when he steps into the sun in Twilight? You know you are. I may or may not be pregnant with a vampire baby.

Base camp.

Thank Goodness there's still room for Josh to recline against my growing belly. I live for his snuggles.

Half the fun, for me, was watching these two flirt shamelessly.

"What? I can't help it! With my shirt off and this hair style, I'm kind of irresistible."

After everyone started to look like they could fall asleep at any moment, we showered and headed to the arcade -- Josh's new favorite place in the world, which he calls "the truck store".

We got a ton of free tokens with our hotel package, so Josh literally spent 75+ tokens on this one truck game. All you do is put in the token and hope that it rolls into the back of one of those semis. But he couldn't stop! He earned a LOT of tickets and turned them in for a monster truck toy. Hence the reason he calls it "the truck store".

Awesome trip! Especially for a last minute overnighter. Thank you friends for bringing your cameras and letting me steal all your pictures. (Besides the blurry weird ones that are from my cell phone.)