Wisconsin Dells

The Hoefer family enjoyed a trip to the Wisconsin Dells earlier in February. My parents were able to book two condos for a week through a friend's timeshare. Grandma, Grandpa, Gretchen and I, along with the nine kids, spent the whole week up there since we didn't have to be at work. Gretchen and I enjoyed the opportunity to get out of the house with our new little ones. Bill and Becky's family as well as John and Dan joined us later in the week for a long weekend together.

The beginning of the week was pretty relaxed. We headed to the water parks in the morning and came back to our room for lunch. The little ones napped while the older kids did some school work. Sylvia was a little jealous of her cousin's school work so I bought her some new coloring pages to work on with them. After eating dinner together and getting the younger cousins to bed, Grandma and/or Grandpa headed back out with Evan and Margaret for some more swimming.

Introducing the new cousins.
Our units had full kitchens so we did most of our meals in house. We did some prep at home so it wouldn't be as much work when we got there. The kids took turn sitting up at the bar.
Checking out the news.
We brought plenty of toys and activities with since we didn't know how easy it would be to take the kids swimming before the rest of the crew showed up. Sylvia, Raymond and Carl enjoying the tent that Grandpa fixed for us.
I was so impressed with my mom's patience during this game of sorry with two 4 year olds and 6 year old. I don't think I would have made it.
Another game with Grandma!
Eric and Raymond building towers with Dan's and John's supervision.
Playdough is a favorite for Eric...as long as I can keep him from eating it. Eric has been talking a lot about his Raymond since we've been home.
Learning how to play Mario Cart from her older cousins (and daddy).
Drake (12/9/11) and Philip (12/28/11). My baby can definitely beat up that baby.
Raymond (3/14/10)and Erickson (3/6/10). My money may be on Raymond in this one.
Drake getting some love.
Sylvia enjoyed sleeping in the king size bed...until mommy and daddy came to bed and moved her to the floor.
We could not have done this trip without our strollers! We did lots of walking and this is how the little ones were transported.

We didn't get many pictures at the water park earlier in the week since our hands were pretty full with all the kids. Plus, Drake ended up being sick part of the time so I didn't do as much swimming as planned. We took Drake to the doctor and the emergency room while we were gone and got a breathing treatments and steroid shots for croup.

We were at Wilderness Territory and there were lots of water parks to choose from. There were plenty of little water slides for Sylvia to do. The wave pool was also a favorite. Eric liked swimming but wasn't a fan of all the shooting water in the kid's areas.

Erickson and Grandpa on the "lazy stream" as Sylvia called it.
Sylvia lounging in the water with a few of her cousins.
The swings were a safe place to be...unless the big bucket of water was dumping. Sylvia got really scared the first time it happened but was excited to try standing under it on our last day. It ended up knocking her over and she cut her knee on the bottom.
Playing in the wave pool. I always wondered why parents made their kids wear goggles, water shoes and life jackets at places like this. I learned on this trip that it may not be the parents making that decision :) Drake enjoyed a dip in the wave pool on our first day but ended up getting sick and didn't do anymore swimming.

Sylvia was brave and tried out a few waterslides. It only took a few trips down before she decided she loved it.
The grin on this guys face lets you know what he thought about the water parks.

The whole crew went out for dinner at Buffalo Phil's on Saturday night where your food is delivered by model train. Sylvia sat at the kid's table with most of her cousins and did a great job. I'm recently realizing how much she is growing up.

Aunt Becky helped entertain Eric with her cell phone while we waited for our food to arrive.
After dinner we stopped in at Knuckleheads with some free tickets for the indoor train roller coaster. It wasn't the smoothest ride but Sylvia had fun.
Our kids enjoyed "playing" some video games. I'm such a cheapskate I won't even put money in those cars at the Coralridge Mall.

We stopped on your drive home to feed Drake and let the kids. Luckily, I remembered seeing a McDonald's playland on the way there and Drake was able to hold off until we got there. Sylvia made a friend while we were there and wanted me to take their picture. Yes, he was dressed as Spiderman at the McDonald's playland. I think that's why Sylvia wanted the picture.