Da Dells Part 1: Carter vs Poseidon

We are finally well-rested enough from our vacation to write about it. From Thursday to Saturday, our family was at Wisconsin Dells for our summer vacation along with the Maynes. Many thanks to Sheila for being our unofficial events coordinator and helping us find a $750 vacation for a mere $100.

For our readers that have no idea what the Dells are, imagine Las Vegas....now replace the gambling and gals with waterparks and cheesy museums. Now place it right over some beautiful lakes and rivers in the heart of the Midwest...voila! Wisconsin Dells, the waterpark capital of the world!

I was somewhat unsure about the whole vacation because I'm not a big fan of amusement parks, but it was an absolute blast. We kept the kids up much later than we should have, packed all three days chock-full and could have easily stayed a few days more.

This post and the following two are some of our highlights.


We spent all day Saturday at Mount Olympus Theme and Water Park. This was probably the least favorite of the three days as we spent a ton of time waiting in queues. It may have been more fun to just stay at the motel swimming pool, but there were still some fun moments. Like finding out that Jordan is becoming quite fearless and may soon join his mother as a thrill-seeker. He loved the roller coasters, the huge water slides, and anything else that got his adrenaline going.

One such thrill was Poseidon's Rage, the largest wave pool in the Dells. It sends out a 9 foot tall wave every 90 seconds that completely envelops a throng of people over the 100 foot width of the pool. I've been in wave pools before, but Poseidon means business. Perhaps that's why there's a giant painting on the front wall of the pool that looks like this:

oooh, I'm shakin'!

Jordan and Cyn were having a grand time getting as close as possible to be completely swept away by the tsunami. Carter and I were having a grand time being sane. We stayed WAY at the back of the pool - basically just enough for the dying wave to hit my knees and Carter's chest. Carter was having so much fun here that he was dancing and jumping around.

But, it was a bit overcast on Saturday and Carter started getting a little cold. I left the pool to put his t-shirt back on, and then we headed back in. This time though, I had to carry him to keep his shirt from getting wet.

Cyn was feeling the need for adventure and wanted to head in alone. No problem, I still had a free arm...I could hold Jordan's hand too. Cyn went WAY WAY WAY up front. I saw the wave, I heard the screams, and then I saw Cyn consumed by the epic wave. Man, that was scary to watch. So scary, that I didn't realize how close I was and I wasn't very careful about my positioning. I lost my footing. Jordan was swept away, I landed rump first in the pool, and Carter's shirt was now completely soaked. His merriment immediately ceased for the duration of our stay.

I did the only reasonable thing. I dumped the kids on Cynthia (along with my glasses) and tried my hand at Poseidon's fury. Same thing happened. I was enveloped and when I came above the water line, Cyn was down along with two kids...and my glasses. She scraped her back pretty well (drawing blood) and all three of them looked a little shell-shocked.

So Carter had now been dropped twice. Wearing his only shirt. In the cold water. And then it began to rain. I gave him my shirt, but he was still pretty upset.

If there's one person in our family you don't cross, it's Carter. He will come after you, your family, your dog, etc., until he feels better. He shot stern glance after stern glance to that painting of Poseidon and said, among other things, "Mommy, that bad man doesn't say sorry!"

30 minutes later in the car on the way home he continued his verbal retort: "When I change into a bad guy I will scare that bad man..." Watch it, Poseidon. Carter has a score to settle.