Wisconsin Dells, WI (State #11)-Arrowhead RV Resort Campground

The past two weeks were spent at Arrowhead RV Resort in Wisconsin Dells. We chose this campground because it is part of our Thousand Trails membership. As always, we aren't immediately thrilled by these parks but they begin to grow on us. The parks in Wisconsin fall under different rules in our membership and as a result some of the amenities we enjoyed for free at prior TT parks were for a charge here, like miniature golf. And I was certainly miffed when I got to the showers and saw that I had to pay!

But as I said, we enjoyed the park the longer we were there and came to realize that we had a pretty good spot and the location of the park was close to the local attractions.

There were many water parks in the area but after all of the fun we had in Minnesota, it was time for some down time. And I am not sure that I am ready to take both kids to a water park by myself. So we spent time at the pool often.

Swimming has been very different for us this year. When we have been at places where swimming is an option, the water has been so cold. Even now, at the end of August the kids are shivering! They have even turned on the pool heater!! Not quite what we are used to in Texas.

We started our school year this week

and took a field trip to Country Bumpkins Farm. It's a small farm and farmer's market that has added a petting zoo and kids play area. It is so cute and the kids had a fantastic time. We paid $4 per person and played there at least a couple hours until it began to sprinkle.

They fed the sheep and goats (which is their all time favorite) 

and checked out the other animals like this funny-looking alpaca.

I got to chat with the owner couple while the kids did some field trip work. The husband built all the cute little playhouses and other structures. He didn't even use any plans. 

He added some fun details in them (like this creepy guy in the outhouse) and Jacob and Jordan had a blast.

Their favorite was a little jail house that had a secret escape hatch to the outside of the jail cell.

We raced pedal cars,

rode tractors

and ran the obstacle course followed by the zip line.

And as we were leaving, he offered us a short FREE train ride as he went to park his 1943 tractor out of the rain.

The kids loved it so much that we went again during our second week in the Dells. We did all the same but also went through the corn maze

and picked raspberries. I would have never guessed that the kids or I would have enjoyed that as much as we did.

For a fun eating out experience, we decided to try Buffalo Phils. It got some bad food reviews on line but we knew it would fun since your food and drinks are delivered by train! The kids really enjoyed watching the train move through the dining area delivering its' load. And sometimes when there would be cars or stuffed animals on it.

And we were pleasantly surprised because our food was really good! Good enough that I would definitely go back if we were in the area.

Another place to visit if you are in the area is Devil's Lake State Park. It is gorgeous and it was PACKED! It was Labor Day weekend and I think the entire state of Wisconsin was there. Of course the majority of the visitors were at the beach and picnic areas so we were able to head off on a trail with less of a crowd.

The trail up the side of the bluff is not long but is pretty much stair steps all the way up. It is the Balanced Rock Trail which is part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The view was great.

I wish I could show you a picture of balanced rock but somehow even we missed it :(

So how about Devil's Doorway instead?

And of course there were a lot of steps to get back down!  My calves were trembling by the time I go to the bottom

For our last day, we took the Upper Dells Boat Tour. The day started out a little cool but turned into a gorgeous sunny day.

We boarded the boat on the Wisconsin River and while it was not as gorgeous as Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, it was still quite beautiful.

Below is Chimney Rock

and Black Hawks Profile (do you see the face?)

The boat stopped at two areas so that we could get off and explore.  The first stop was at Witches Gulch.   The water was as green as peas!

Then we strolled through Spooky Lane

At the next landing we visited Stand Rock where H. H. Bennett took the first picture ever taken with a stop action shutter that he invented.  This allowed him to catch his son in mid-air while jumping from one side to the other.  Nowadays, they have a German Shepard make the jump with a safety net below :)

Then we walked through some neat rock formations

and then under Visor Ledge

It was a beautiful area!  Next stop:  Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Apple Valley/Minneapolis,MN-Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground

This was a BUSY week! While here, we stayed at Lebanon Hills Campground. It was a nice campground with an awesome location. You felt like you were out in the country but we were only 2 miles from the zoo and 6 miles from the Mall of America.

It was also not too far from the Edina office of Mattersight, that Greg works for. So for 3 days, one of the employees picked Greg up and took him to the office.

On Tuesday, Jordan and I headed to the Mall of America to take advantage of the Back to School sales and get some cooler weather clothes. As a bonus, I learned there is no sales tax on clothing and shoes in Minnesota! 

And then I had a couple of surprises for Jordan. I had made reservations to have lunch at the American Girl store. She loves that store and giggled with joy at every display.

We had a fun lunch and the food was surprisingly very good! Jordan was in her favorite dress and Emma (her doll) was dressed for the occasion as well. And I got a surprise too! It was toddler Tuesday and 5 and under eat for free! Woo hoo!

Then we were off to the next surprise: getting her ears pierced! That very morning, while shopping, Jordan was complaining that her ears were not pierced and asking when I was going to let her get them done. I wanted it to be a total surprise, so I was a little disappointed when she began asking about it, but on the other hand it was good to hear that she still wanted it.

We had it done at a piercing store and they used needles instead of a gun. I was nervous for her and it is definitely a little intimidating when they lay all of the equipment out on the tray right in front of you! She did so well! She was nervous but so brave. There was no crying and it was over very quickly. Now for the long aftercare process. But she looks so cute :)

The next day, I took the kids to the Minnesota Zoo. It was a pretty typical zoo and the kids enjoyed it as they always do.  Here are a couple pics of the kids favorites..

Then, because we spent enough money shopping, we got free tickets to Nickelodeon Universe, the amusement park in the mall! The kids and I went in the morning and then Greg joined us after he got off work.

It was great fun! Jordan was JUST tall enough to ride the majority of the rides. 42” is the magical number and she is probably 42 ¼”. The lines were short and we rode the rides over and over. Then when Greg arrived we rode everything again plus a few of the rides that Jordan couldn't and Jacob didn’t want to without one of us.

And Jordan got to meet a few costumed characters.  Her eyes light up any time she sees one and then she runs to hug them and have her picture taken.  It's so cute!

On Friday, Greg was off work and we went to the Minnesota State Fair. 

We should have better planned out what demonstration and shows we wanted to see and do but we still had a pretty good time. It was a HUGE fair! I think you could get anything you wanted to eat on a stick, including bacon, pizza and smores. Ironically, though, they did not allow drink vendors to hand out straws.

We tried a deep fried Milky Way (on a stick of course). It wasn't as good as I hoped. I wanted some bacon on a stick but not enough to pay $4 for one slice. Smores on a stick were fine but really just a chocolate covered marshmallow with a graham cracker coating.

Looking around, it seemed like EVERYONE had a big bucket of cookies and they looked so delicious! I cannot recall the name of the cookie place, but the bucket they put the cookies in is about 1 ½ times the size of a big tub of butter and they don't just fill it to the top. It was mounded with cookies! You had to eat about a dozen cookies just to be able to walk away and not have a bunch of your cookies fall off! Well it looked like fun and pure yumminess but we decided to go for the smaller cone of cookies. Imagine a cone cup a little bigger than the one you would find at an Ozarka water bottle station. And then imagine 12 cookies going into it. Their balancing acts were impressive!

The cookies were very gooey and warm! And what goes perfectly with cookies?? How about ALL YOU CAN DRINK MILK for a $1!

Jacob guzzled down his milk and went back for two refills ;)

So while we were enjoying our cookies and milk we turned to find that we were standing in front of a stand that sold Poutine (that's the dish we tried while in Canada). The guys talked us into trying theirs since it was actually made with cheese curds like it is supposed to be. It was definitely better than the first one in Canada, but still not on my list of faves.

The kids rode a few rides (but it was so incredibly expensive and there was no all you can ride wristband option like we usually find at fairs) and we took a look at many of the booths that had items up for sale.  (BTW that is Greg and Jacob in that roller coaster car.  It was a really cute ride but a little hard to see in the picture)

Jordan got to meet Smokey the Bear

And Jacob's favorite part was observing the fish in the pond at the DNR (that's Department of Natural Resources for those of you, like me, who cannot read that without thinking that it stands for Do Not Resuscitate) Visitor Center.

And our final surprise for the kids was on Saturday. Jacob has a few DVDs that are from Animal Planet's Growing Up series. Two of the episodes on bears and wolves were filmed about an hour north of where we were staying at the Wildlife Science Center. So on Saturday we drove out there. The taping was done about 10 years ago and so many of the animals on the video are no longer there but it was fun to see some of the familiar things and they provided a great tour as well.

I feel like I have walked about 50 miles in the past week! We were on the go everyday! I am ready for some relaxation time. We'll see if I get it as we head to the Wisconsin Dells and our next school year begins!

Park Rapids, MN (State #10)-Itasca State Park

We stayed at Itasca State Park for two weeks. This park is BIG. It is Minnesota's oldest state park and has more than 32,000 acres and 100 lakes. And one of the coolest things is that within the park are the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

The kids can now say that they have WALKED across the Mississippi River!

It was also a fun area for the kids to play and swim.

We had a nice campsite with just the right amount of shade and close to the bathrooms and showers. The showers were soooo warm which was awesome after 5 weeks of tepid showers in Michigan.

There was a playscape nearby and a bike path that led to the bike and boat rental, the swim beach, a bigger playscape and eventually to the headwaters. The bike path is 6 miles long and runs from the lodge to the headwaters but a good portion of it was closed while it was being resurfaced. It was scheduled to reopen while we were there but the date was pushed back to a few days after we would leave. Of course!

The kids and I took a hike with the park interpreter to see one of the fire towers that remains in the park. It wasn't too far and then we got to climb to the top. The view from the top was fabulous (forgot my camera, again) but it was also a bit scary! The tower steps and sides were made of metal see-thru grate type stuff which although it was completely secure and safe, my mind had trouble with it. The steps got narrower and the landings got smaller the higher we went and before we reached the top, Jordan and I were ready to run back down. But we kept going!

The interpreters talked to the kids about safety, had them recite a pledge and then once they climbed the tower, they were inducted into the Ancient and Honorable Order of Squirrels! Ha ha

The park interpreters offered various programs daily and they even had programs for the 5 and under age group which is great and quite unusual in my experience. We participated in the minnow races

and since one of the companion Christmas trees for the US Capitol will be chosen from Itasca State Park this year, the kids got to color a decoration which will be laminated and hung on the tree in Washington, DC. How cool!

After we finished coloring and after Jordan talked the interpreters ear off about our travels and where we are from and how the next time he comes to Austin he should come visit (her instructions were that we live in the house by the circle), we went to check out the visitor's center. The kids really liked it and it had several fun things for them to check out. They had the best time putting on a puppet show from inside this tree.

Later, we checked out the Peace Pipe Vista (I tried to find out why it was called this but no luck)

and spent some time at the beach area.

BUT the best time was had fishing! We rented a row boat each weekend and went out on Lake Ozawindib. Jordan and I went a couple times and the boys went out each evening and morning, getting up at 5:30!

They caught northern pike, bass and sunfish.

Jacob had a fantastic time and cannot stop talking about it.

Have any of you ever heard of an ice fishing trailer?? Since we live in Texas, the thought of ice fishing doesn't cross my mind much but I never dreamed there was such a thing! While walking through the campground one day, we noticed a trailer that sat right on the ground and was called Ice Cabin. So later, I got online to check it out. Very Cool!

During our second week, a couple with one pulled in right next to us and we got to check it out! The husband built this one himself. They have electric jacks that lower them to the ground (or the ice).

According to them, most cabins will have wall bunks that fold up and down for sleeping. He built these bench sofas that jack knife into beds. And you can see the ports that open in the floor to drop your line through.

They fish through the night by putting bells on the poles. They also talked about the loud cracking sound of the ice that can startle you from sleep. He said that it was the sound of ice FORMING. Well that could be true but I am not totally sold on that yet!

One last fun thing we did was to go to Evergreen Fun Center. It was a small amusement park where we got to drive power wheels, ride bumper boats, test our skills at making it through laser light mazes without setting off alarms, jump and flip on trampolines and race go karts.

It was a fun evening and for the three hours there, we were the only family! No waiting in lines!

Next, we are headed to Minneapolis!