Last weekend was our annual weekend at Christmas Mountain in the Dells with Grandpa Jeff, Grandma Marie, Auntie Sarah, Uncle Trevor, and cousins Gavin & Olivia.
It was a nice, relaxing weekend with lots of swimming! :) Unfortunately, though, we weren't able to do any sledding. The hill we used last year for the kids had ZERO snow on it. A completely grass covered hill in Wisconsin in February, not quite right! Of course, the kids are too short to go on the tubing hill, so we just stuck to aquatics this year.
On our ride to the Dells (which the kids did really well with, even though they had sugared up with Fun Dip less than an hour before we left...) we were jamming out to some sweet tunes. Nathan was trying so hard to snap his fingers along to the beat! :)
We arrived to the resort on Friday afternoon. We missed the first round of swimming, so we met everyone at the cabin. We had supper and the kids quickly found the cartoon channel! :)
Madeline & Nathan's sleeping arrangement. On Saturday morning Andrew and I woke to the two of them chattering. Mads saw Andrew roll over and she said to Nathan "Now's your chance!" and Nathan then started yelling "Daaaddddeeeeeee!" What a pair!
Saturday morning we woke up and leisurely had some breakfast and lounged until we went to the pool. Nathan had fun getting a horsey ride from Daddy.
Pool time! Mads ran right in and went over to the teeter totter with Grandpa.
Nathan wasn't real sure if he was ready to get in...
Mads hit up the froggy slide
while Nathan finally worked his way in (but only with a death grip on Daddy!)
Mads had a blast in the big pool where she did lots of swimming on her own. Those $3 floaties we bought last summer are the best things ever!
I tried to help Nathan feel a little more comfortable in the water.
and Mads was ready for the waterslide!
Nathan finally got comfortable in the water!
And then he started going on the waterslide, too. Once he was on that waterslide there was no stopping him!
Gavin had fun riding the slide by himself this year!
Mads thought she was a pretty cool girl when Daddy let her sneak into the outdoor hot tub for a couple minutes.
Mads even asked me to take a picture of her in the hottub because she thought it was so neat!
Back to the waterslide:
As long as you went feet first you could slide down anyway you wanted to. Mads went down on her belly a few times!
"Slide? Again?" :)
Video from the slide:
On Saturday afternoon the kids (and I!) took a nap. Once everyone was awake we made a plan to meet for dinner at 5. Andrew, the kids and I left a bit early to walk around downtown Dells and check out some of the shops. Andrew wanted to go into a popcorn store he had seen advertised, but they were closed. We did find a store that had some really yummy taffy, though! :)
We met everyone for dinner at MooseJaw and promptly donned our moose antlers!
Nathan bleating like a moose. (Does a moose bleat?) A moose call? Whatever noise they make, Nathan was doing a good job imitating it! :)
After dinner we hit up the arcade. The kids had lots of fun racing the cars. Nathan needed a little bit of help from Grandpa
Haha! This was an "electrocution" game to see how much electricity you could take. (They didn't really play it!)
Nathan uses the sight to perfect his aim on the hunting game:
Mads and Gavin take a turn
Motorcycle Nate!
It was bedtime for the kiddos when we got home. I went to bed early as well, I know, I know! :)
On Sunday morning everyone got up and we had a yummy breakfast of pancakes! After breakfast Andrew and I headed down to the workout room for 45 minutes. When we got back to the cabin we found that Nathan was taking a nap! Little dude was so tuckered out!
Once he woke up we headed down to the pool. Nate was off kilter for most of the morning, apparently his 2 hour morning nap wasn't enough. He didn't even want to be in the water. Poor little guy! :(
Mads was having fun doing her thing!
See, Nathan still isn't digging it...
More slide for Mads and Gavin!
We tried Nathan on the slide and he may have cracked a half of a smile.
WEEEEEEEE!
This was one of the very few smiles out of Nathan on Sunday at the pool:
Grandma and Olivia took a spin on the slide
Nathan tried a little bit of swimming with Grandpa and then he wanted to get out.
This is how Nathan sat until we left. He didn't fall asleep, but he just cuddled up and watched the other kids.
We went back to the cabin, had lunch, and the kids went down for a nap. Olivia was up first and she was having fun peeking at me around the coffee table!
When Mads got up she spent some time (LOTS of time) playing with Gavin's iPad. Thanks for sharing, Gav!
We had supper and then we celebrated Gavin's third birthday, which was on Tuesday the 21st. We had party hats and cupcakes that the kids had helped Auntie Sarah make!
Silly party face!
Gavin gets ready to blow out the candles!
THREE!
After cupcakes it was time for us to pack up and head home. We're already looking forward to next year! While I definitely enjoy the warm temperatures this winter has given us, I hope that we have some snow next year for the kids to sled on! :)
