Exploring The Wilderness

We just returned from what all four of us have coined “The Best Vacation EVER!” Think I’m exaggerating?  Read on and decide for yourself...

This summer vacation took us to the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells.  If you’ve never been to the Dell’s, this community is the textbook definition of a summer vacation locale. Salt water taffy, fudge, tourist attractions, waterparks, souvenir shopping and people.  Lots of people.

Nestled into the trees and centered around Lake Delton and the Wisconsin River, this sleepy little town lights up when the temps begin to rise. It’s a perfect summer getaway for those of us in the Midwest because a drive to the coast would be too far for most families.  Florida is 19 hours from our house…believe me, I've checked.  To put Brent in a car with me for 19 hours would be absolute torture - for him, not me.  So with the Wisconsin Dells clocking in at only 5.5 hours away, it's a no-brainer.

Choosing to explore the Wilderness was an easy decision after researching the resort online.  Since we are on a budget, we stretch our vacation dollars as far as we can, which is honestly why we were hesitant at first to book a room at the Wilderness.  It isn’t super cheap, compared to what we're used to spending on hotels, but after considering all that is included with the hotel stay, we knew we were getting one heck of a bargain based on the amount of entertainment that would be provided…and only steps from our hotel room door.  And even after pouring over the online photos for the past 4 months, we STILL weren't prepared for what the Wilderness had in store for us!

This place is HUGE.  Gigantic.  No wonder it's earned the title of "Largest Waterpark Resort in America"!  On the day of check in, the waterpark is available as early as 11am, although your room isn't guaranteed until 4pm at the latest.  Of course, we were excited to get started, so we arrived promptly at 11am – our room wasn’t quite ready yet so we grabbed our swim bag and headed in the direction of the closest outdoor waterpark (they've got fantastic locker room/shower facilities available).  When we walked through the hotel doors and into the Lost World Outdoor Waterpark, we almost dropped our swimsuits.

Everything about this place is beautiful. The swimming pools, the grounds, the landscaping and most important to adults looking for a place to relax – the padded chaise lounge chairs!

Want to know what else is beautiful?  Seriously, this is the best part of the whole place.  THE WATER IS WARM!!! The indoor water is warm, the outdoor water is warm, everything is warm!  Gone are the days of staring at lovely, sparkly blue swimming pools, only to dip your toes in and squeal.  There is just nothing worse to me than freezing cold swimming pool water.

Being in warm water isn’t just good for me though; it’s good for Owen.  He always gets shaky and cold when the water is chilly so I was so happy that he got to spend the entire vacation IN the water instead of sitting on the sidelines wrapped in a towel.  Plus, since Brent and I enjoyed being in the water, we got to spend all day playing with the kids instead of just watching.

Weather is always a concern in the Midwest, which is why we chose a week in July for our vacation. Typically, the temps and humidity are creeping into the 90's by this point in the summer so we were prepared to spend some steamy days lounging around outdoors by the pool. And for the most part, we got it!  Our last day, Friday, brought in some morning drizzle, which meant we were headed indoors. Were we upset?  Nope, because the Wilderness has 3 indoor waterparks at our particular location and one more at the Wilderness on the Lake location. One of them even has a glass roof that you can still get a tan through! Which also means the kids need to stay lathered in sunscreen.

Staying at the Wilderness makes for a disaster proof vacation since it offers both indoor and outdoor waterparks.  Weather is unpredictable, but at least with so many indoor activities available at your fingertips, a rainy day doesn’t have to mean a spoiled vacation.

Once we drove onto the Wilderness property, we were surprised to find that we had no reason to leave! Obviously, the waterparks will kept us busy during the day, but we were stunned to find out how much they have to offer when we were ready to be out of the water for a while.  Here's just a few of the things we did:

Indoor Ropes Course

Indoor 3-D Mini Golf

Lazer Tag

Outdoor Walking Trails

Save a ton of money by purchasing either a Wild Fun or Extreme Fun Pass for each member of your group.  These passes give you admission to all sorts of activities and are cheaper than paying for each attraction individually.  More info on the Wild Fun and Extreme Fun Passes can be found here.

With multiple restaurants, convenience shops and even an ice cream shop - we truly had no reason to leave!  And do you want to know what absolutely melted my heart?  Just outside of our hotel room door and down the hall about 30 paces was a coffee shop serving Starbucks coffee!  Padding down to the coffee shop in my pajamas and flip flops is definitely a great way to start the day, with an iced caramel latte in hand.

You're probably ready to start browsing through some photos of the actual waterparks - so here ya go!

This next photo is of some of the private cabanas that you can rent - you'll find these all over the resort as well, so you can pick one at your favorite pool.  This would have been an awesome experience - especially if you were traveling with a small baby that needed to be out of the sun or to have shade available if it was super sunny!  #maybenextyear!

From what I can remember, each waterpark had a zero-depth entry for very young children, which, as a parent, I LOVE!!  It was cute to see little babies getting their first feel of the water and I'm sure their parents were relieved to find the water was such a nice, warm, comfortable temperature!

There were waterslides at each park for kids that were a little bigger, and thrill rides that were popular with the teenagers (and Brent).   For the most part, the lines for rides are short because the waterparks are exclusively for resort guests.

It wasn’t unusual for me to lose Brent shortly after we entered a new park – as he would happily skip to the water slides as quickly as he could. At one point, I just found him randomly floating down a lazy river!

And speaking of lazy rivers - this one had a conveyor belt to take you from the lower lazy river to the upper lazy river!  I felt like a piece of candy in a factory, ready for my coating of chocolate.  Pure Awesome.

Each waterpark had eateries and snack bars as well, so we never had a reason to pack up to go find the kids some lunch.  And, is it just my kids that say they're hungry again only 10 minutes after they're done eating??

Remember how I told you how huge the Wilderness was? After 2 nights and 3 days, we STILL didn’t get to play at all of the waterparks, I know of at least two outdoor parks that we didn't even get a chance to set foot in!  There was so much to do in a short amount of time that we had to be really diligent about keeping Owen moving, otherwise he would fall asleep on the first soft spot he could find.  If you're a parent, you already know there are very few times when you prevent your child from taking a nap, and this was one of them.  The kids definitely slept well each night!

This was a vacation that the kids and Brent and I won’t soon forget.  Next summer can’t come fast enough, as we are already getting excited to plan our next vacation to the Wilderness!  But this time, we're staying for at least 3 nights (probably more) so we can enjoy EVERYTHING the Wilderness has to offer!  You have to check out their website to see some amazing photos of the rest of their waterparks!

*Disclaimer - A HUGE thank you to The Wilderness for providing us with 4 Wild Fun Passes in exchange for this post, no other compensation was received.  All opinions are our own.

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5 Vacation Travel Tips

Well, the yoga sessions have increased in frequency and intensity, the fruits and vegetables have come out and the cupcakes have been put away (just kidding on that last one – I can’t banish cupcakes from our house for ANY reason), which can mean only one thing…SUMMER VACATION IS ONLY A FEW DAYS AWAY!

Our destination again this year is the Wisconsin Dells...where we'll be staying at not just one, but TWO different resorts.  Two nights at the Great Wolf Lodge and then two nights at The Wilderness.

This is the one big thing we look forward to all year long, so it would make sense that we spend lots of time preparing for it.  Here are some of the Kruse's vacation tips:

#1  Set a Vacation Budget

Booorrrriinnngggg – I can already hear your whispers.  Look, vacations are expensive, whether it’s just a little out of town weekend trip or a 2 week hike through Europe.  I’ve found that if I come to grips with how much the WHOLE thing is going to cost in advance, we can adequately save for it all year and then not feel guilty or overwhelmed when the vacay expenses start adding up.  Not even kidding here, I actually figure out on paper how much all of our expenses will cost.

We don’t make enough money throughout the year to throw caution to the wind and enjoy a $10,000 vacation, so for us, to make a summer vacation work, we still have to manage our dolla’s.  My list includes hotel, gasoline, food and fun money.  Before our trip, I fill 2 envelopes with cash – a food envelope and a fun money envelope and throughout our vacation, it’s easy to see how much we’ve spent and how much we’ve got left to blow.  There’s nothing worse than coming home from a relaxing vacation and feeling terrified to pull up your online banking account to assess the damage.  Just thinking about it makes me a little lightheaded!

#2  Pack Healthy Snacks 

Vacations are meant for splurges – so for each family this is going to be different.  Eating out at restaurants is not a splurge for us but riding go-carts, going to the movies, and walking to the ice-cream store for a treat are.  Spending $50 for a meal we could have prepared at home isn’t worth it to us.  Plus, let’s be honest – if we do go out to a restaurant, the kids just order chicken strips.  Not exactly gourmet fare.  So to save our bucks for entertainment, we pack most of our meals and snacks.  Here are some samples of our vacation stash: String cheese, individual yogurts, trail mixes, sliced cheeses, peanut butter, fruit, veggies, homemade hummus, greek yogurt dip & bottled water.

If it isn't obvious...we REALLY like nuts.  

This granola is incredible - plus no high fructose corn syrup!  It's great mixed into trail mix, sprinkled onto yogurt or as a breakfast cereal.

Overall, our main goal is to give the kids high protein snacks to hold them over between meals, since the waterparks require so much energy.  When we do eat at a restaurant, Emma and Owen will share a meal and Brent and I share a meal – that way we aren’t trying to bring left-overs back to the hotel where they are most likely not going to get eaten.  Plus, if you don’t stuff yourself like a turkey at dinner, there’s room for ice cream or some other dessert afterwords!

#3  Get in Shape! 

Since our vacation revolves around waterparks, the thought of spending 7 solid days in a bikini (no, not Brent) is a huge motivator to undo the damage that was done over the winter.  Our weight doesn’t fluctuate much, but its easy to get a little, shall we say, softer, over the winter.  During football season, cream cheese and sausage make up the bulk of our diet, which doesn’t exactly make for a svelte physique.  And so enters our Summer Slimdown in late March to shape up for swimsuit season.  No, it’s not a diet, we just try to increase the amount of fruits, veggies, lean protein, nuts & water while cutting back on the desserts and starches.
Nothing crazy, but we found if we consistently do this for about 2 months before summer, we can slowly but surely squeeze back into our Speedos.

Incorporating some serious yoga has been our other secret weapon.  Brent started hearing rumblings about a yoga program with a nod towards the gentleman in the household.  Commonly referred to “Bro-Yoga”, “YRG – Yoga for Regular Guys” and the official tag line – “This ain’t yo mama’s yoga!”  I would describe it as yoga on steroids.

Totally for women as well as men, but I’ve found that Brent really relates to it since it’s former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page that created the program.

#4  Check In With the Chamber of Commerce

Before your trip, check out the websites for the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitor & Convention Bureau.  They will mail you a vacation guide full of area attractions and coupons to use when you visit.  Last year, we were mailed 4 free passes to a waterpark that would have cost us $120 to purchase - that was an amazing value that we definitely weren't expecting!

#5  Enjoy the Drive 

Luckily, we only have a 4.5 – 5 hour drive, which is incredibly manageable.  Even for someone like me that doesn’t enjoy long car rides.  Our best tip here is to take advantage of REDBOX!  As a treat, we check out a few new movies for the kids at the REDBOX kiosk near our house and as we’re chugging along the interstate, we’ll stop and return them at another kiosk when they’re done watching them.  Sometimes we pick up another one, sometimes they are sick of watching tv so we’ll give them other activities.
***Important Irrelevant Side Note - the kids didn't even flinch when we marched them up to Wal-Greens to have their photo taken next to the REDBOX machines.  All of these odd picture requests are becoming a normal part of their childhood.  Fail or Win?

These Elephant and Piggie books are the best for our family right now because Owen thinks they are super funny and Emma enjoys reading to her brother in the backseat.

Brent and I pass the time by listening to podcasts.  Some of our favorites are Dave Ramsey, Jillian Michaels, Dan Miller & Andy Stanley - I guess they sort of cover every aspect of our lives...Finances, Health, Career & Faith/Family.

So we'll be checking back in next weekend with some preliminary vacation photos.  Where are you going on vacation this year?

Before we visited the Dells last year, we exposed the true cost of our vacation after we returned.  If you're curious...check this out!

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Show Me The Money...What A Vacation Really Costs.

Wow!  What a week!  The resort was amazing.  We don't have one negative thing to say about Great Wolf Lodge.

Brent and I had just as much fun in the water parks as the kids did!  Everything there was geared towards kids and families.  Nightly story time, balloon animals, face painting and character appearances made the evenings fly by.

The restaurant in the hotel had sub par kid's food, but Emma and Owen didn't seem to notice.  The only meal they had there was a little pizza and some fries.  Brent and I shared a Thai salad and some cheese curds, which were all really good.

As a parent, I was most impressed with the lifeguard staff.  There are multiple lifeguards at every pool and they do not take their eyes off the water.

One day was overcast and chilly, so we were the only ones in the outdoor pool for awhile.  Even without anyone in the pool, the lifeguards were constantly scanning their heads side to side across the pool.  And they were all so nice!!  I felt so comfortable by day three, that Emma and Owen were allowed to venture to whichever water park they wanted.  So long as they stuck together and they needed to come tell us which park they were moving to if they wanted to change it up.  Brent and I got to lounge at the outdoor pool while they were busy playing at the inside parks.

Did it feel weird not knowing where they were every second?  A little bit, but we knew with Emma in charge they were fine and it was important door them to do some exploring on their own without us hovering over them.

The best part of our stay, in my opinion, was the Starbucks in the lobby!  I can't sleep later than 6:30am, so each morning I would go down and get coffee for myself while everyone else was asleep.  Sipping a dark roast on our 4th floor deck with the sun coming up and a book in my hands was pure bliss.  Usually after an hour, Owen would come find me and snuggle for a bit until asking for a nutritious breakfast of pop tarts and yogurt.

By now, you are probably pulling your hair out wondering if we came in over or under budget!  

Here is our original budget with our actual $ spent next to it.

Hotel:  Budget $541.83

           Actual $541.83

Gas:  Budget $200.00

         Actual $148.61

Food:  Budget $400

           Actual $300

Emma Fun:  Budget $40

                    Actual $27

Owen Fun:  Budget.$40

                    Actual $0

Family Fun:  Budget $220

                     Actual $175

TOTAL TRIP BUDGET: $1,441.83

ACTUAL TRIP COST: $1,092.44

Not bad, considering we were gone from home for 8 days/7 nights.  Luckily, we got to stay with my very generous sister and brother-in-law for 4 nights, which only cost us a few hugs and lots of laughs.  

We also feel good about only eating out at restaurants 4 times the entire trip.  The rest of our meals were either prepared at sis's house or made up of snacks from our hotel room.

Will we be doing this again a year from now?  Absolutely!  We just have to decide if we are going back to Great Wolf or checking out a different resort!