Devil's Lake & Wisconsin Dells with the Kids

We wanted to surprise the kids with a weekend in Wisconsin - hiking at Devil's Lake in Baraboo, sightseeing, letterboxing and ending our time there at Wisconsin Dells.  We figured that we wouldn't do anything in the Dells other than eat at Buffalo Phils - they have small trains that travel around the restaurant and deliver your food.  We did this a few years ago and the kids LOVED it.  It was the highlight of their trip in 2010!  Will occasionally asks "When are we going to Buffalo Phil's again?".

 

We really wanted to go up north in October.  We figured we would be able to enjoy the beautiful leaves as well as have cooler temps for our hikes.  We realized that Columbus Day was a school holiday so we planned to take the kids north on that Sunday and Monday.  We found a great hotel in Portage (found out that it was the same hotel Matt & I stayed in for our time at Devil's Lake in 2012!) and planned our time away.  All as a surprise to the kids.

 

You can imagine the real surprise when I mentioned going away for the long weekend to a friend that Friday...and the friend told me that the kids had school on Columbus Day!!  We quickly pulled up our calendars and confirmed that yes, there was school (for the first time in MANY years!). 

 

As soon as I got home, I got online and checked to see if the hotel had availabilities on Saturday night.  We got lucky!!  Not only did they have open rooms, they were the same price!  Disaster diverted!

 





We loaded up and were on the road by 8 Saturday morning.  Our first stop was at the Wisconsin Welcome Sign on Hwy 61, just north of Dubuque.  Here are Will, Kaitee & Alex re-enacting a picture that Matt & I took many, many years ago (before kids). We set the camera on the top of the car, I ran up the hill and positioned myself so Matt could figure out the position for the camera.  He then set the timer and ran up the hill.  You can imagine the laugh we had when we got our roll of film back - a picture of me standing by the sign and Matt running up the hill. (I really need to find that picture!)

Here are 3 of the kids by the sign - Maddie didn't want to walk up the steep slope in the tall, wet grass.

We stopped in Belmont and took some pictures with the cows! 

Next stop - House on the Rock.  We drove through the parking lot and showed the kids all the neat "junk"!

Another few miles up the road, we stopped at the scenic overlook.

We stopped in Spring Green for lunch and then continued to Baraboo to hike at Devil's Lake. 

We were shocked when we drove in and saw a sign stating that the north parking lots were full.  We continued on towards the Ranger Station to purchase a park pass.  We waited almost 30 minutes in line to get in to the park!  We were in disbelief at how many people were visiting the park that day!  When Matt & I visited 2 years ago, we literally had the park to ourselves!  We maybe saw 50 people the whole day!  It is amazing what 10 extra degrees plus sunshine will do!  Everyone was out to enjoy the day.

After waiting in line, we drove around all of the parking lots with no luck.  We decided to try the big lot one last time before heading to the south side of the lake...we got lucky!  Someone was leaving just as we were pulling around!  Woot Woot!!

We used the restroom then hit the trail.  It was too busy for our liking.  We still ended up hiking the full lake (about 3 miles) but there were too many people to share a trail with!

Will found a frog while playing near the lake.  Kaitee named him "Hopster".

The kids loved climbing on the rocks and were in awe of the beauty of the park.  We look forward to going back another time and enjoying the bluff trails with them. 

We left the park and headed into Wisconsin Dells for dinner.  We were asking the kids where they wanted to eat...of course, they didn't see Buffalo Phil's and it was never mentioned!  They were all disappointed as we drove past Denny's, Burger King, Subway and Taco Bell.  It was worth it though when we pulled in and they all realized where we were! 

After we sat down (with no wait...even at 5:00 on a Saturday), Will looked at me and said, "Thank you Mom!  I love this surprise!"  That right there made my day!

Getting our food delivered by train

Buffalo Phil's gave us a free ticket to ride the train.  It was a miniature roller coaster that was in the back of the building at Knuckleheads.  Alex & Maddie were both apprehensive at first, but asked if we could do it again afterwards!!

We left the Dells and headed to our hotel to check in and swim.  The kids were the only ones in the swimming pool the whole time we were swimming!  They loved being able to jump and splash without consequences!

After showers and getting ready for bed, the kids quickly drifted off to sleep - as the pictures show. 

I love the peacefulness of this picture!

We left the next morning and Will quickly spotted this character across from our hotel. 

We drove south towards home with stops in Madison for some letterboxes.  We were successful with all but one!  We all enjoyed some beautiful trees and sunshine.

Elvis Presley Fight Scene in Madison

We were all pretty tired when we got home Sunday night.  We had a great time though and were so thankful that our plans were flexible and that the hotel hadn't been prepaid...and we were able to switch to Sat/Sun!  The kids were surprised and loved the all that we did.  A success!

The Girls in Becki's Wedding Gown

Matt was telling me about an organization that accepts wedding gowns and makes them into baby gowns for babies who have died prematurely.  I knew right away that I wanted to do that with my wedding gown.  I decided to think on it for a month or two before making any decisions. 

Matt & I discussed the wedding gown again last week and we both agreed that Angel Gowns is a wonderful organization to donate my dress to. 

My mom brought my dress over last week (had been in storage the last 15 years) and I asked the girls to try it on so I could snap some pictures of them wearing the dress and veil before I donated it. 

They were beautiful!  I hope that they enjoy looking at these pictures when they grow up!

If you are interested in donating your wedding gown, do a search for Angel Gowns in your area.  There are many chapters popping up around the country.