We spent a week at the Wisconsin Dells at the end of July with Karen’s parents at the end of July. Sadly, Cole couldn’t join us for this trip, but we had a great time.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the condo at the resort, which was something all the grownups needed. The resort, Wilderness on the Lake, was really nice. They had some nice water play areas there, although the boys – particularly Zach – weren’t too sure about it because they didn’t like the spraying water. Alex warmed up to it after a while and really had a good time.

While they weren’t too excited about the water, the boys loved the trains at the Riverside and Great Northern Railway, a organization that both Joe and Dad B belong to, and the deer park, a Dells institution where you can walk among and feed deer. They also had a blast at Paul Bunyan’s, a family-style restaurant where we celebrated Dad B’s birthday. Here Zach and Alex had corn on the cob and fried chicken on the bone for the first time – they really liked that and did really well. Zach finished one cob of corn and made a good dent on another!

Joe and I also got a little time alone and played a couple of fun rounds of mini golf.

Check out the Dells 2007 album in the Vacation album for all the great pics.

Tags: Dells, family outing, train, vacation

At the beginning of the month, we took the three boys out to visit Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie, and Auntie Mary Ann in LA and Grandma Marilyn, Grandfather Dan, Great-Grandfather, and Auntie Amy in Tucson.

It was an interesting trip to say the least. I would highly recommend avoiding traveling with 2 small children when they are sick, teething, and overtired. Alex cried for about half the flight out to LA and a good part of the car ride out to Tucson. Both got treated for ear infections about halfway through the trip. We switched hotels after trying to put the boys down to sleep the first night in LA because of water problems and the need for a suite so we had a place to go when putting the little guys down (lucky for Cole, he stayed with Grandma Pam), and then they were up every couple hours. We took the boys on drives up the 605 to get them to take naps.

From a travel perspective, it was the trip from hell. But honestly, it was a fantastic trip. Cole had a great time going to the beach with Auntie Katie and Auntie Mary Ann – he found a huge shell there, the kind you rarely find on the beach. He played lots of great games and pool with Grandma Marilyn, Grandfather Dan, and Great-Grandfather. And Zach and Alex were able to meet Grandma Pam, Auntie Katie, Great-Grandfather, and Auntie Amy for the very first time. For as many challenges there were, it was worth every second of that to spend it with family.

Check out the photos from the trip in the LA and Tucson 2007 album in the Vacation album.

Tags: chaos, funny, LA, Tucson, vacation, Vandermark family

Joe and I just got back from a little weekend get-away to Vegas, and we had a fantastic time. We traveled with Mark Kantor, a poker buddy and former co-worker of Joe’s, and his wife, Yvonne, and Rich Kanter (no relation to Mark), a long-time friend of Mark’s, and his wife, Yukimi; we stayed at the beautiful Bellagio on the Strip. In addition to the obvious poker and slot machines, we saw the Blue Man Group (very unique show), toured the Strip, checked out the Ansel Adams show at the Bellagio’s fine art gallery, and took advantage of the fabulous salon and spa (I had two massages, talk about being spoiled!). We didn’t do too well at the casino, but hey, we had a great time!

Check out the pics we took in the Vegas ’06 album in the Vacation gallery .

Tags: friends, Joe, Karen, poker, vacation, Vegas