Family – Page 30 – Not Content to Crawl

KR @ WD

Posted onAugust 22, 2008November 30, 20082 Comments

That tiger cub photo is the highlight of our two-night stay in Wisconsin Dells. I’m by no means a water park fan, in fact I’ve never really been to one, and I’m still not a fan after our little trip. It wasn’t horrible, but I would have been happy with one day at the Kalahari Resort instead of two.

After checking in on Wednesday afternoon, we headed to the outdoor water area where I managed to injure my back halfway down the first water slide I went on. When I got to the bottom I went under because I had a hard time standing up due to the pain. I will admit, it freaked me out a little since I had just watched one of those Primetime Medical Mystery shows about Surfer’s Myelopathy recently. Luckily the pain has subsided since then!

After spending an hour or so outside, we spent a couple of hours in the indoor water park. It was better because there was no sun beating down on us. Plus it has a hot tub which I love (even though it wasn’t as warm as most hot tubs since kids are allowed in it). The indoor park also has some nice water slides you go down on in rafts instead of a body mat like the slide where I hurt my back. Their lazy river is fun, yet annoying because of the waterfall areas where you get drenched. Due to that, you spend more time worrying about getting soaked than enjoying the ride. The pool where the lazy river ends is pretty cool since it generates waves every so often.

Wednesday night we had dinner at Buffalo Phil’s Grille and then went to the arcade for a bit. Since we got the cheapest (which is all relative since it was not cheap at all) room available, we all went to bed at the same time. Or I should say tried to go to sleep since ignorant people (adults as well as children) were running through the halls and yelling after 10 pm.

Thursday morning we had breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s. I only recommend it for the atmosphere because as far as buffets go, it was ridiculous. $40 for breakfast for four people? That is insane! In fact, all the food in Wisconsin is terrible; it doesn’t taste good and it’s ridiculously overpriced. We ended up having lunch at Wendy’s on Thursday just to save some money. Then we spent four hours at the indoor water park and had pizza for dinner. The pizza was reasonably priced but wasn’t really good.

This morning we stopped at a place called Denny’s Diner (not to be confused with Denny’s) which was inexpensive and good. They have homemade bread which is super yummy. Better yet the bill was under $20!

In all, I’d say Wisconsin Dells ranks right up there with Branson, Missouri. You have to go once just for the hell out of it but you should never go back. Not unless you enjoy bending over in the name of “entertainment”. Even the miniature golf is over priced!

Next year we’ll be taking the kids to one of the local water parks for the day. It would even be cheaper to pay Great America’s outrageous prices.

Some photos from our stay. I didn’t get any of the water park since I didn’t want to leave my camera unattended.

Exercise & Nature

Posted onAugust 10, 2008August 10, 2008

Friday evening after a healthy dinner of grilled chicken, potatoes, and veggies, we took the kids to Mallard Lake forest preserve to get some exercise. To make it fun, I gave them each one of our old Nikon digital cameras so they could take photos along the way, which they enjoyed. The only one who didn’t entirely enjoy the walk was Joe since the mosquitoes love to dine on him.

Saturday morning we bought the boy a tennis racket and played Pictionary Jr. and Disney Scene It while waiting for the rain to pass. We managed to fit 45 minutes of tennis between rain showers but ultimately had to head home when the lightning siren went off. The rain finally went away in the evening so we took a walk around the neighborhood after dinner.

After dropping off the kids this morning, Joe and I headed to Willowbrook Wildlife Center to check out the new sandhill crane exhibit. You can’t get good photos of them, or any of the wildlife they have on site, as a matter of fact, due to the way the cages are designed. We mostly got flower photos instead. They do have a butterfly garden but it was more like a bee garden today. Not that I mind – I love the bees. Oh, and we saw a baby raccoon as well.

We stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home because I wanted one of their pizzas. $47 later we have pecans, almonds, dark chocolate covered raisins, tapenade, orange chicken, garlic chicken, chicken fried rice, bananas, sea salt, and some other stuff I can’t remember right now. We usually don’t buy that much stuff there but it all looked so tasty, probably because we hadn’t eaten breakfast!

After dropping the cameras and food off at home, we went to the mall where I finally found a bathing suit. It’s a lot more colorful than I usually go for, but it will do. Joe bought more stuff than I did which was a bit annoying. I couldn’t find any clothes I liked at New York & Company or Kohl’s, except for the bathing suit. I did get a cute Nike tote bag, though. I’m all about the bags, much to Joe’s chagrin.

I even got a new bag for my work laptop at Target. I hate the Dell one that comes with it, as do all of my colleagues who have laptops. It has sections to hold other stuff as well so I’m not dragging around several bags and feeling like a pack mule.

After dinner we’re going to go play tennis again. I forgot how fun it was until recently. We used to play regularly when we lived in the apartment but stopped for some reason after we moved.

Obsessed with video games

Posted onMarch 22, 2008March 22, 2008

The kids couldn’t get enough of the video games today. If they weren’t playing the Wii, they wanted to play the PS2, GameCube, or Nintendo 64 (those are just the ones actually hooked up; we own way too many gaming consoles). The boy is particularly addicted. After we told the kids we were done with the video games for the night, he kept asking, “Can I play [insert system name here]?” Apparently five hours of the Wii wasn’t enough. ;) Although at least with the Wii they were moving around. It’s probably the most exercise we’ve all gotten in a week. :)

We played between 5-8 games of Pictionary Jr. (I ended up ordering it from Amazon.com since none of the local stores were carrying it anymore) after we took a Wii break because the kids really liked it. We also fit a little Easter egg hunt into the mix. To say the day was full would be an understatement.

Yummy in my tummy

Posted onFebruary 23, 2008

Move over Pot Of Gold, there’s some new chocolate in town

I don’t remember who in my family gave me these for Christmas, but they are best truffles I’ve ever had and there’s only one left! *Cry*

No instant potatoes for me, thanks

We tried these mashed potatoes for dinner last night and I was really impressed. They are real potatoes with real butter, the serving is big, and they’re only $1.99. I’ll definitely be buying more because making mashed potatoes from scratch is a big pain in the butt and the kids love them.

Wii had a great time

Posted onJanuary 27, 20083 Comments

Last night was my company’s holiday party but I opted to skip it and go to my parents’ instead for a game night. We tried Cranium WOW which was a bit disappointing (probably because I didn’t win).

But the most fun of all was playing on the Nintendo Wii my brother found for my parents this week. Wii bowling is definitely my favorite, although the little games on Wii Play are fun too. I like how the Wii remotes now have a removable silicone sleeve for better grip and cushioning. I also like how Nintendo provides them for free (even to people who purchased the Wii before these jackets became available) instead of trying to capitalize on them by forcing people to purchase them separately.

I want a Wii now!