Good morning from Wisconsin Dells, the “Waterpark Capital of the World!”

We’ll be heading back to Chicago in a few hours, but wanted to recap our long weekend adventures here. We chose to come to Wisconsin Dells because of the waterpark attractions. Ishu loves all things water, so we figured this trip would be perfect.

The drive to Wisconsin Dells from Chicago is about three hours long. We left on Saturday afternoon, hoping he’d do his 2-3 hour nap in the car. He ended up sleeping for only half an hour, but was a happy little clam the entire rest of the way, singing and dancing to all the Elmo songs.

Ankur found a good Labor Day deal for the Great Wolf Lodge. It’s basically like a waterpark resort, having both an indoor and outdoor park. (I thought this was unique to Wisconsin Dells, but seems like they have them all over the country!).

After we checked in, we walked around and explored a bit before deciding to have an early dinner. We walked across the street to Buffalo Phil’s. The food was whatever, but I think people choose to go there because it’s fun for kids. They have a whole Lego town and a train delivers your food to your table.

For most of the dinner, Ishu kept saying, “Mo, mo tay” (more train) as it passed by our table, delivering water or food to the people sitting next us.

We ate dinner, walked back home, and quickly put Ishu to bed. Poor kid was exhausted and we wanted him to get enough rest for an action-packed day of fun on Sunday!

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning and went to Bella Goose Coffee for breakfast.

It overlooks the Wisconsin River and that alone would have been worth the trek. But, the coffee? AMAZING.

Ankur ordered a chai tea latte and I ordered a vanilla bean latte and we both agreed that they were both some of the best lattes we’ve ever had.

To top it off, the breakfast items we both ordered (waffle for him, avocado toast for me, and a cinnamon roll to share) were absolutely delicious. (Ishu drank green juice, ate some avocado and egg, and finished it off with strawberries in case you’re wondering who the healthiest one in the fam is).

Ankur and I both like to try different places when we visit a new town or city. But this one was too good to only come to once. So, as we were leaving, we called out, “See you tomorrow morning!” I knew we needed one more visit before going home!

When we got back to the lodge, we quickly changed into our swimsuits and went down to the waterpark entrance. We were eager beavers and got there an hour before it opened, so we walked around the arcade for a bit until they let us in.

Once we got into the waterpark, we walked to what I *thought* was the toddler area. There weren’t any rides or pools. Just a lot of falling water from different structures. So I put Ishu down and let him explore. Not realizing that, every few minutes, a massive bucket of water that sits atop the structure tips over and a huge gush of water comes smashing down from up above.

Needless to say, we traumatized Ishu before we even took off our shoes.

He didn’t get hurt thankfully. But the force of water certainly could have knocked him down. Luckily he’s a fast little runner and I was right there to scoop him up, but for the rest of the trip, we couldn’t go back near that area without him crying.

Traumatized for sure.

He didn’t want to be put down for the rest of our time there. And, well, I guess I take the blame for that one. (Though, if I’m being completely honest, a nice little sign would be nice that says, “Hey, watch out for that TSUNAMI OF WATER that will come outta nowhere!”)

We decided to cut our water adventures short and showered and got ready to go out and walk along the Riverwalk.

It was pretty darn beautiful. Parts of it reminded me of Tennessee. Especially the clouds. Ankur always laughs at me when I say that. “How do clouds remind you of Tennessee?” he asks.

I think it’s when the clouds are SUPER white and the sky is SUPER blue and it’s up against a backdrop of SUPER green greenery.

Anyway, the riverwalk was nice. The downtown is a little overrated. And store owners and people don’t wear masks. And there are shops that are super pro-Trump and anti-Biden and I didn’t really like that vibe very much.

Nothing like that whole wearing-a-mask-in-the-midwest thing to make you feel really unsafe. I mean, I didn’t feel totally unsafe. It’s crowded and nobody is gonna try anything. But we did get some weird stares. Like, who are these brown people with masks on?

I’m probably reading into it a little.

But, hey, that’s the colored person in me. Always a little jittery when you’re in a predominantly white town, y’know?

We definitely had no interest in sticking around downtown for dinner. So we drove back to the lodge and planned to eat dinner there. Which was perfect because there was a nice little dance party happening in the lobby area for all kids. So Ishu got some wiggles out and then we sat down to eat at the restaurant there.

He ended up falling asleep pretty quickly when we returned to our room. And Ankur and I followed shortly after. It’s much easier to stick to his bedtime when there isn’t a living room to escape to. (Which, of course, I’m a-okay with because early bedtimes are my jam).

Yesterday morning, we woke up bright and early and, as promised, went back to Bella Goose Coffee for breakfast. It was in the 40s when we left the lodge! CRAZY. Is this fall weather starting? I want to be pumped for it, but I’m also so terrified of winter. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO FEEL.

Oof. It’s nice to feel cozy in a sweater. But I also feel this impending doom that is going to settle in on us and I don’t even have a winter coat yet. HOLD OFF ON THE BELOW 40s PLEASE. At least until I can get some boots and mittens and a couple jackets.

Okay, back to breakfast. I opted for coffee instead of a latte. But I definitely stole a few sips of Ankur’s chai tea latte. It tastes so rich and flavorful and I’m pretty sure I could drink one of those every morning for the rest of my life.

I didn’t get a picture of our breakfast this time around, but let’s just say that everything they make is delicious. You really can’t go wrong. Before we left, we thanked the cooks and also got some tips on how to make their delicious eggs (hint: move it around in the pan so it stays fluffy and also stir it a ton before dumping it in the pan).

I’d like to go back there one more time before heading back to Chicago. But, also, it’s in the opposite direction of where we need to be going. So, I guess we’ll just have to plan another trip. Even if it’s not for the waterparks and solely for their chai tea lattes.

After we left breakfast, we went to a nearby playground to kill time until the Wisconsin Dells Deer Park opened up. We decided not to rush Ishu into the water stuff again. And to spend the morning out, exploring the other attractions in the area.

This turned out to be a GREAT idea because if you know Ishu at all, you know how much he loves animals and the outdoors.

So, going to a park where the deer randomly walk up to you and the goats try to lick you through the gate? Well, that’s pretty much his dream come true.

We made it through the entire deer park in 45 minutes. We could have stayed there for longer, but we also wanted to check out the Country Bumpkin Farm a few miles away!

This place is incredible. They sell produce and do berry picking and have a petting zoo. But they also have 3 acres of land dedicated to their play village. This is not your average playground equipment. It’s like someone really freaking creative has repurposed old materials to make swings and kid-sized buildings and little pedal carts and slides and zipelines. You name it, they’ve made it.

They had an area where they laid out a bunch of instruments and Ishu loved banging on the drums and playing the guitar.

(Actually, hearing the music was the only thing that pulled him away from throwing the basketball up and down the hill. He would have been perfectly content doing that all day).

There is truly no way I could sum up how amazing this place is. Now all they need to do is set up some picnic tables and sell some wine or beer. There’s a recipe for happy kids AND happy parents.

I feel like we could have been there for hours. But we knew Ishu needed to nap so we decided to head back after an hour and a half.

He ended up sleeping for two hours and then we wanted to give the waterpark a whirl again.

He didn’t want to go back to that scary section. But was very content playing in the wave pool and all the other swimming pools. Especially the pools that had the basketballs.

After our hands were extra pruney, we decided to head upstairs to shower and get ready for dinner. Ankur found this place close by called Mac, which specializes in Mac & Cheese.

Ishu’s favorite. We are pretty sure we’ve NEVER seen him shovel down food as fast as he did last night. Either he was starving or this place was amazing. Maybe a little of both.

Few things we appreciated.

You could get a “MacDaddy” which is a bigger, dinner portion. Or you could get a smaller size. And with meals this rich, getting a smaller size is preferable.

High chairs galore.

Kid friendly.

And, best of all, a bottle of Sriracha on every table. It’s like they don’t even give you any others to choose from because they KNOW Sriracha is best.

My kind of place.

After dinner, we went to the mini dance party in the lobby again. And then Ishu fell asleep, Ankur fell asleep, and I stayed up to upload the pictures and get started on this post.

And, also, to finish this book. Which, eh, I feel whatever about.

Now, we are off to try a new restaurant place. I can already tell you it’s no Bella Goose Coffee, but I guess this is the transition back to reality we need, y’know?

Hope you all had a great weekend!