More Vacation

We went back and forth over what to do Tuesday night. Should we head home? The kids wanted to move from Great Wolf Lodge to Kalahari. I checked into that but the price difference was staggering. Especially if we wanted to add their "indoor playground" of rides and games. Our hotel checkout receipt (the one they slip under your door) had a cheap return offer. I went to the front desk and told them we were planning to leave and go to Kalahari, but if they gave me the return offer for tonight, we'd stay at Great Wolf. I wouldn't have needed to state my spiel, they gave me the deal and even offered to upgrade our room at no cost. That was nice, but the biggest bonus to staying another night was to NOT have to pack up and change hotels/rooms.

We headed into the Dells and found a shady miniature golf course right on the river. It was insanely hot so the shade and the breeze from the river were major benefits. I usually stink at mini-golf, but for some reason yesterday was "on." I won at only a few strokes above par. The kids really wanted to do go karts so we found a place we'd never been. It was only $3 per car and since the kids were too short to drive their own cars they were free! WHOOOOO!!! Six bucks for go karts! Yeah, shoulda known there'd be a catch... These were NOT big double-seaters, they were regular-sized karts with a smaller seat scrunched in. Kaylin and I were smooshed together with her body pressing my leg so tightly into the steering column I actually have a bruise! It was a rough ride and Gene felt sick afterward. Both kids were disgusted they didn't get to drive their own karts. Oh, well, at least it was only six bucks!

We returned to GWL and Gene took Kaylin and Logan to the arcade while I headed back out and went to the International Crane Foundation. They have (and I saw) all 15 kinds of cranes on display. My favorites are the (I think) sarus cranes that stand 6 feet tall. They're the tallest flying birds and are really cool. I got there just in time for a guided tour I stayed for part of, but then deserted because I had a time limit. I found Gene and the kids in the arcade and they had won enough tickets for Kaylin to get a giant crayon pillow and Logan a giant inflatable baseball bat. Ah, super... They were very excited and had a great time.

We've spent hours and hours at the waterpark. I'm thrilled that Kaylin loves ALL of the slides now. She used to be terrified of anything that went through an enclosed tunnel (pretty much ALL of them) because she thought they'd be dark. This trip she did even the scariest slide over and over and the times I went with her she complained bitterly because my weight slowed the tube down and the ride wasn't as good as when just she and Logan went. Logan has always been a slide junky and this trip was no different than usual.

Today we'll head home. I'm not sure if we'll swim or do MagiQuest or hit the arcade one last time or all of the above? I want to be home in time to pick up Duncan before 6pm and Logan wants to go to his baseball game at 5:30. We'll see...