The Lovelands do The Dells.

We've had a lot going on in our family lately and when I'm off, everyone's off. A quick family getaway was long overdue. we really just needed some actual family time away from distractions and chaos. I was scoping out things for our family to do. Museums, Aquarium, Zoo... but then I remembered a theme park not too far away often had deals. Turns out for $50 we could have a room with 2 queens plus a bunk bed and two days at the park for a whopping $50. SOLD. This past weekend it happened. And it was glorious and just what we needed.

I spent a couple days prepping with cleaning, grocery shopping, packing, and planning. It's the Type-A in me. And I'm not even ashamed. I'm a control freak. Ross handles it perfectly. Everyone should give him a pinch and tell him he's fantastic. Ross got home, we threw everyone in the car and ate sandwiches on the way and it was great.

We got all checked in and settled in our room. And immediately the fighting over who was the blessed child that got to sleep on the top bunk commenced. We diverted by reminding them about the water park awaiting them.

We've been to this park only once before, when we first moved here almost 4 years ago, but we didn't stay the night. They have a great little kid's area with a pirate ship and little slides and some 'splash paddy' things. Perfect for kiddos. I was looking forward to taking them down the big water slides and before we arrived they were excited about it, too. But then they got distracted by the kids area. Neither of the girls wanted to go down the big slides that you ride tubes down. So being the great parent I am, I grabbed Tiegan and hauled her kicking and screaming up the 10,042 stairs in one arm and our tube in the other. There's no way I was the first parent to do such a thing. The lifeguard gladly pulled our tube from the waiting area to the opening of the slide with my clearly abused 2 year old in tears as we started down.

We made our way back to Ross and the older girls where she told Ross she did it and lied through her teeth when she said it was fun. We didn't make her go again, but after she did it the older two were interested and took turns going down with either me or Ross while the other authority figure held Emms and watched the other kids play.

Emma was fantastic. She was bug eyed the entire almost two hours and just enjoyed sitting in the water with whomever was holding her. She was silent and content and my little dream baby. The second we put her in her car seat she was out. It was magical. We played for almost two hours before heading to our room for second dinner and bed.

Once the girls were reminded of our room and the single top bunk the blessed child debate commenced. Claire ended up winning because she cried the least. Aoife cried more upon hearing the verdict. It didn't help her case.

Claire said our family prayer before bed and added in, "And please help me go on roller coasters..." It took the girls a while to fall asleep. Claire was on the top bunk with Aoife on the bottom. Emma and I were in one bed for a while until I called room service to have a pack and play brought over. And Tiegan and Ross snuggled. At one point, Tiegan was laying in bed in the dark singing primary songs to herself. Claire sat up and got really angry. (She gets it from me.) There were giggles and tears and eventually all four children were sleep.

Claire talks in her sleep. And it's hilarious. Except she was having water slide nightmares. "No, Dad. No. PLEASE!!!" We know her dreams were about water slides and not another form of torture because of other things she said, but I'm grateful she was dreaming that she was going down them with Ross and not me.

The parks don't open until 10 AM. Which is great for lazy mornings, but it's a long morning with little excited children. I walked the halls with the girls while Ross watched soccer and Emma napped. We got everything repacked and into the car and headed out for the day.

The roller coasters are right by the entrance. Which is great. We threw Claire on one before she could even second guess it. Going to theme parks in the off season is fantastic. There weren't really lines for anything. Claire went on the roller coaster with me. And she had a blast. When the ride pulled back up, the attendant asked if we wanted to go again, so we got to go for another round without even getting off.

Most of the little kid rides weren't open, which was a huge bummer for Tiegan and Aoife. We found a smaller roller coaster that Aoife could go on and she and Claire rode together too many times to count. Tiegan could go on go karts with an adult, so Ross and I switched off with Tiegan while the other sisters rode the roller coaster together and the other adult hung out with the stroller.

Then Claire wanted to go on this swing ride. It went up stupid high and spun around. Ross doesn't do heights and argued that it was my turn to go on a ride anyway. So I went. Normally I love rides and have no fear. However, in the past my life was not dependent on a chair with no sides, hanging by only four chains. We went up. And it was windy. And we started spinning. Claire giggled the entire time and said "This isn't even scary!" While I said my farewells and prayed the chains were stronger than the wind. We came down and Ross laughed at me and I vowed to never go on that ride ever again.

At the car we had lunch before checking out the indoor rides. Tiegan could go on all of these and I'm so grateful we checked them out. It was the best time watching her squeal and grin and go on ride after ride after ride. I guess that's when you hit official parent status: when a vacation is great when you see your kids having the best time. She was so funny, though she did not like the bumper cars. tea cups, hot air balloons, planes, and swings that you would not die from if you fell off. Maybe mildly injured, but still alive. It was a blast. We spent another couple of hours there before grabbing a snack and finishing up at the water park again.

It was a lot more crowded than the night before, and the girls weren't terribly interested in the tube slides. We each went down once, but spent most of the time in the kid area. I'm not sure what the best part was. The girls giggling going down slides, Aoife shamelessly picking wedgies after slides, Claire being a mermaid, Tiegan just prancing around and splashing, it was awesome. And we were exhausted.

Once we got back home, Ross unloaded everything while I pumped and had a quiet minute to myself. Emma was still asleep in her car seat, the older girls watched a movie. We lit a fire and enjoyed for a while. Emma went down at 6 and didn't wake up again until 7:30 the next morning. The other girls went down a little before 7, I crashed at 8, Ross read by the fire until late, and it was amazing.

We were only gone for 25 hours, but it was so great to have so much time together, having fun and taking a break from everything going on. Now we're back to Monday and back to reality. Ross is leaving Wednesday for his grandfather's funeral and I'll be solo parenting until late Monday night. Everyone wish me luck.