#jansensloothaakvacay

We had THE BEST vacation with the Sloothaak family! We had this Wisconsin Dells trip planned for a long time and we were eagerly awaiting a full week with great friends at an amazing location! We stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness. The Sloothaaks have a time share there and invited us to spend the week slippin' and slidin' with them! Jill and I hadn't spent more than 24 hours together in over a year, so we were more than ready for some much needed and long overdue bonding time! 

We met the Sloothaaks near my parents house and caravanned up to the Dells. It is about 2 and a half hours away. I hopped into Jill's car with Trey and Rowan in the back. And John joined Mark and the boys in the Pilot. Jill and I were determined to make the most of every last second together! And we sure did. We talked non stop the whole way! 

When we got there, we checked in, brought our bags up to our room, put our suits on, and headed right out to the first pool! Glacier Canyon Lodge has 3 outdoor and 3 indoor water parks. The first one we went to had a dinosaur theme which the boys loved! 

Heath hopped right in and had a blast! He sure was brave and was so excited to try every slide! 

Nolan warmed himself up with smaller slides like this one. We had to strongly encourage him to try some taller, bigger ones. And we may or may not have had to peel his hands from the bar and push him down a time or two! But really, after the first couple slides, he was a pro! He loved them all and had the best time! We were so proud of him for overcoming his fears! 

Here you can see what Nolan looked like the first time he would try a slide. Legs spread to slow himself down and holding on tight! But he did them! And then would go over and over and over again! 

This outdoor park had a lazy river that had a slide portion to it! Super fun! 

And then Mark tried this scary blue one! He's crazy! The floor drops out from beneath you and you zoom! 

Here the boys are waiting for him to get down. 

If you slow yourself down you can get stuck in the slide and not make it around the loop. We saw it happen to a girl and she slid back down and had to be taken out through a hatch door. I mean, come on! Never!  

The boys were so proud of their daddy! He loved it! 

That night we ordered pizzas and put the kids to bed early. Then Jill and I ventured out to Walmart in the pouring rain! 

Two wild and crazy Mommies on the loose! 

Boy was it an adventure! We were soaked, the store was crowded at 10 p.m., there was no food, and there may or may not have been a man walking around in socks in the produce department! But we stocked up for the week, dragged the bags back to our building in a down pour, and laughed the whole time! 

 Day 2 started with a new, fun, outdoor park. This one ended up being our favorite outdoor park of the week. We spent a lot of time here! 

We all enjoyed a lot of relaxing Hot Tub time during the week! 

We spent the morning outdoors and the afternoon indoors. The Wild West also ended up being our favorite indoor park too. 

These two slides were favorites of the week…really fun and fast body slides! 

We also had some down time in the room after lunch! 

A selfie with my girl! 

After everyone was well rested we headed back out to the dinosaur park. 

It was so fun watching these two get to know each other and play together throughout the week. 

That night we cooked up a yummy pasta dinner with salad and plenty of garlic bread for our hungry kiddos! 

After dinner we went out for some dry fun! 

This is really what the kids looked like down all the resort hallways. They ran and had the best time "leading the way"! 

This is the dry play area. It is really incredible. I've never seen anything like it. Three levels of climbing, sliding, swinging, and ball blasting! This place really was a hit during the week. 

And we stopped for a little FroYo before bed! Yummy! 

Trey, Rowan, Nolan, and Heath shared a room. It was so sweet watching them buddy up in different pairs and groups. 

The next morning we woke up and headed out to the Ducky Races! 

Each kid gets to pick out a little rubber ducky. Then the lifeguards toss them into the lazy river and you cheer your duck on. The first 3 ducks to cross the finish line are the winners! Rowie and Trey both WON! Lucky ducks! But at least all the participants get to take home their rubber ducky, so everyone's a winner! 

Next stop…the Water Dome! 

This family slide was a blast for all! 

Here Trey, Brooks, Jill, and I took a turn…a turn for the worse! Jill and I collided heads at the end resulting in a swollen and bloody nose for her. I guess I have a hard head. Like you didn't know that already?! Ha! Jill said it took over a week for her nose to feel back to normal. But despite the bump, we had a great time! You could always hear Jill and I screaming down any slide we were on! Nolan took it as a challenge then to NOT act like his mama and wouldn't make a peep down any slide he went on. Until he made it down! Then he'd be shouting with adrenaline and excitement, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" 

Heading out to the wave pool! 

That afternoon we checked out another indoor water park: Klondike Kavern. 

Mark and Brooks took a whirl around the Lazy River. 

And the big boys checked out the body slides. 

Nolan and Rowan had some Ducky Fun...

Love these two imaginative souls! 

Dinner at the counter

And a little evening fun out by the duck pond. 

I took an unbelievable amount of photos on this trip. So I'll be breaking them up into 2 posts. Just WAY too much fun!