Rockin' The Dells

Everyone should travel with an almost 4-yr-old at least once in their lives!  My family (hubby, adult son, his daughter & our own daughter) packed up the car and drove off to the Dells (wisconsin, that is) for an extended weekend.


Downtown Dells

 We chose a resort that was family-oriented, and chose one close to a camping atmosphere.  They offered nightly campfires, s'mores buckets, pools, kiddie water park, along with such outdoor activities as tetherball, badminton, etc.
Besides spending a LOT of time relaxing at the pool and kiddie water park, we have been to Circus World, where Bella exclaimed that she wanted to "be a clown".  We went "mining" for gem stones, and passed on cutting and polishing the "emeralds, rubies and quartz" that we "discovered".
We took a steam locomotive train tour, that I thought (silly me) was going to be a full-sized train and ended up being one of those kiddie-sized trains.  We went shopping for moccasins and towels and fudge.

Astronaut Bella

We went to Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory and Robot World, which hasn't changed since we brough tour 25 year old son here around 1990. 
If we had come here without the grandchild, it would have been a bit of a disappointment, but looking at these attractions through the eyes of a 4 year old brought new wonder to old attractions.  The clowns were funnier, the excitement when we "found a big one" at the Mining Center was palpable, and the interactive science games at the exploratory were more entertaining than going to a show.


Mining for gem stones











Even roasting marshmallows at the campfire, or sharing a bag of popcorn while sitting in log rocking chairs in the lobby while watching Tangled seemed more magical.

I have kept my photos organized since coming here, and add a few each day to my dells album.  I will be more than ready when we get home to take my own little vacation to a crop so i can get these memories scrapped.