A couple of weeks ago, my aunt Chris sent out an email inviting the adults in the family to head to Vegas for a big family trip, some gambling with Grandpa. We, however, already had plans for our first-ever family vacation, so we had to decline. Chris offered me some parting advice: "You're in for a treat traveling with the brood. I speak from much experience.... Hint: you'll need a personal vacation after the vacation!"
As usual, she couldn't be more right. We packed up the people mover and set out on the 5.5-hour drive to Wisconsin Dells Thursday morning. Since Chicagoland was about at the halfway point, we stopped in Schaumburg to check out the Legoland Discovery Center, which I have to admit was pretty awesome. They had a miniature Chicago all made of Legos. Plus plenty of other impressive creations. The boys were positively giddy running from place to place. They even went on a roller coaster ride (in the middle of the building!) with Mike. We actually managed to time it just right so that we got there in time to have lunch and run around the place before it got too crowded, then got back in the car just in time for all three boys to crash out for some long afternoon naps.
So, the "resort." We booked the space suite as an extra treat for the boys, and it turned out to be, um, much less than we expected. The boys didn't seem to notice that the whole place was held together with black electrician's tape and magic marker, and they were definitely impressed by the four-person jacuzzi tub. They were more impressed with the brand-new indoor waterpark, where we spent most of the day Friday. There was a zero-depth entry where Henry and I mostly hung out (though I did manage to go down a water slide or two myself), some shallow water with fountains and squirters and tiny slides that was perfect for Max, and a big climbing area with all sorts of shooting water and different tall slides for Liam. Liam was also a big fan of the croc walk, a thing where he had to swing from pad to pad to get across a pool. We took a break for lunch (in a cafe inside the waterpark!) and then Mike, Liam, and Max went back for more watery fun while I took Henry back to the room for a much-needed nap.
On the way home, we stopped at the best possible place for lunch and a traveling break: Mark and Katie's house in Wheaton. The boys were thrilled to see Linus and Leo again, and Linus was pretty excited to have some friends to wrestle around with for a while. We let them all run around until they were wiped out again, then piled back into the van for the rest of the trip back.
Overall, I'd say it was a pretty great trip for the boys, though Mike and I were flat-out exhausted from all the fighting, misbehavior, and putting out fires that you get when you travel with three small boys. It's definitely true that we are relieved to have them all back in school today, and that we could both use a couple of days to recharge on our own (sadly, that's not going to happen). But this trip was also partly a test run to see how they would handle the car trip (better than expected, especially Henry) and being away from home (again, pretty well) should we have the opportunity to take a longer vacation sometime down the road. I think in that respect we have a lot of ideas for how to tweak things to make them smoother. On the other hand, I think it'll be a while before Mike and I have recovered the mental wherewithal to do anything more than a weekend trip with these monsters. We'll just have to see.
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