I love mine. Tons. We're all loud and a little crazy. But we know how to have fun. For several years, we would get together and spend a weekend at the Dells at an indoor water park resort. We tried a few before we decided we loved the Wilderness Resort. We always rent a condo or villa so that we can spend as much time together as possible.
We're no stranger to the Dells. As kids, Nathan and I spent many summer weekends in Wisconsin camping. And we camped just outside of the Dells, so the Dells was like our Disney World. We did just about everything there was to do at the Dells - the boat tours, the water parks (Noah's Ark was my favorite!), the Ducks (I even got to drive one once), the Tommy Bartlett Water Show, the Wonder Spot (where we defied gravity), Robot World (where you make your hair stick all up when you touch some electro-something-or-other), Ripley's Believe it or Not, taking vintage pictures (it was the first time I ever held a real gun), and singing at the recording studio (Mom, do you think you still have the cassette tape of me singing California Girls?). There are probably pictures, so that may need to be another blog post!
It only seemed right for our kids to get to experience some of the same kind of awesomeness.
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| Gramma with Isaac |
Luke was just 3 months old and he was such a little string bean! A string bean with the craziest hair. Can you believe that shock straight hair eventually turned curly?
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| Nathan with Luke |
You should know that my mom and Papa have 7 grandkids. And they are organized into three groups. Alexis and Ashley are the "big girls." Jacob, Abigail and Emma are the "middle kids" and Isaac and Luke are the "little boys." The big girls are 2 1/2 years apart and there are four years between the "big girls" and the "middle kids." The age span between Jacob and Emma is only 18 months and there are another 4 years between the "middle kids" and the "little boys." And then Isaac and Luke are only 5 months apart. So everyone has a buddy (or two). Nathan, Marcy and Brian - we planned that well. ;)
(There is some truth to that actually. We did try to plan Jacob and Abigail to be close in age. And then Emma was a surprise that we didn't plan for, but are thankful to have received. Those three are like the three muskateers! As for Isaac and Luke, there is a rumor floating around that when Nathan and Marcy found out I was pregnant with Isaac, they hurried up and got pregnant with Luke because Nathan wanted to make sure that he had more kids than me)
In 2008, we went to the Wilderness in March. The temperature was definitely better.
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| Papa with the "middle kids" - Emma, Jacob and Abigail |
In 2009, we went in May for Mother's day. We decided to go all out. What a great way to celebrate Mother's day than to spend it in the Dells with our mom and Gramma? We spent a day at Knucklehead's, an indoor amusement park with rides and go karts. The weather was nice, so we also walked the strip and stopped on this bridge to snap a quick picture.
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| Luke and Isaac in the strollers. Gramma, Alexis, Jacob, Abigail, Ashley, Emma and Papa |
In 2010 we went in May again. This was the year that the "No pants" chant was invented. The little boys were around 3 years old and would scurry around the condo pantsless and Papa encouraged them by chanting "no pants, no pants, no pants!" The chant lives on, even after all these years.
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| Nate, Brian, Isaac and Ashley |
After spending all day at the water parks, we would come back to the condo, have dinner and hang out. Being so close in age, the "middle kids" have always compared stories about sports, school and friends. They challenge each other in video games, and sing and tell bedtime stories (Oh, wait, I'm the one that would tell stories - during fun-with-cousins sleepovers). But most importantly, when they are together, they are a special kind of crazy.
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| Jacob, Abigail and Emma |
Fast forward to this year. With the big girls getting older and the kids being involved in sports and activities, it's been difficult to schedule a Wilderness weekend. But this year, for my mom's second anniversary of turning thirty (she's 60, ahem), we got it on the calendar. We went last weekend and we had a ton of fun. Now that all the kids are older, everyone can go on the water slides and in the wave pool. No one had to stay behind with the "little boys" - in fact - most of the time, they were leading the pack.
We celebrated Luke's 9th birthday while we were there and played this insane Pie Face game that he received as a gift. Oh my gosh, if you like whipped cream and being on the edge of your seat and laughing until you can't hold your phone to record video anymore, go get this game. It's hilarious to play - with all ages. Seriously.
We also held a Lip Sync Battle. Are you familiar with this concept? It's similar to karaoke, but you are lip syncing, so you can't use the excuse that you can't sing, because, well, that doesn't matter. It's suppose to be a contest of sorts, with a winner. But ours started out as a battle and then just turned into "Who knows this song? Will you lip sync it with me?" So many impromptu performances were done. And there was lots of laughing, cheering and carrying on. By the end of it, we were exhausted (some of the performances were elaborate with dance moves) and already planning the next one.
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| L - R: Marcy, Maegan, Nate, Isaac, Brian, Alexis, Emma, Jacob, Luke, Abbi and Ashley |
So for this week's blog, I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful that we're close. Even when I'm feeling like we're too close (sometimes y'all are handsy!). You mean the world to me. I wouldn't trade any of you for anything. I love sharing my life with you and that you share your life with me.
I really liked looking through old pictures of our Dells trips and watching how the kids have grown. And Bishop kids - y'all turned okay despite who your dad is. That's got to be some kind of miracle. And I'm thankful for that too.
I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!
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