Wilderness Resort Favorites

I have a very specific, family fun post for you today!  It's a checklist of all the awesome things you can do at Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells with your family.  I wanted to come up with a post that I could send to anyone wanting to plan a trip for their family.

We have been here several times and still have many things we have yet to get to do.  We have enjoyed the park all three kids before Leo could walk to now being an independent 2 year old.  It's a very family friendly place. We have visited in the Spring, Fall and Summer.  We loved them all, but it was really fun to be there in the Summer during the peak season with everything running at full steam.  The outdoor water parks are so cool.  You'll get tons of walking in everyday because it's a gigantic property. A few things are under renovation and set to reopen this Fall.

Wilderness Resort Must Do List:

1. Grab a coupon book at check in - all of those $1 off or 10% offs will really add up!

2. Eat breakfast at least once at Camp Social for their breakfast buffet

*3.  Wild Kids Club - Free and for purchase kid activities and crafts at the Kid's Club

4. Indoor Ropes Course - the course is above an arcade and best for older kids.

5. Arcades - they actually have pretty cute things in their claw machines.

6. Take Flight ride experience

7. Wild Abyss Indoor Mini Golf

*8. Check out every lazy river - they have two person floats with one side having a mesh bottom so you can bring along your smaller child with you.  Leo loved it!

9. Polka Dot Pots - paint your own pottery studio - they have lots of options of small things that are fun to paint, but won't take your kid forever.  They also guarantee things will be done by 11am the next day.

*10. Frozen Yogurt at Yukon Yogurt

*11. We loved all 8 water parks, but the Lost World, New Frontier and Lake Wilderness were our favorites.  There were tons of things for all three kids from toddler to almost 10 year olds to do.  Each water park has slides, climbing things, a smaller section for toddlers and lots of seating along with food options.

12. Take the trip over to Lake Wilderness.  They have an outdoor infinity pool next to Lake Delton where you'll feel like you're swimming on the lake.  It's amazing.

*13. If you have the option, stay on the Wyndham side of things for a quieter, roomier stay.

*14. Horse drawn wagon ride

15. Night swim - some water parks stay open until 10 pm

16. Get Nachos at the Tacolicious Food Truck at the Lost World Outdoor Water Park

17. Admire all the gorgeous flowers at every turn if you go in the Summer.  The property is so pretty!

18.       

*Really great for families traveling with babies or toddlers

 

We Can't Wait to Try:

1. Field's Fine Dining Steakhouse

2. Rent a Private Cabana at one of the outdoor water parks for the day

3. Zip line 

4. Play pool in the lobby

5. Try more local restaurants

6. Lost World Outdoor Mini Golf

7. Go to one of their outdoor movie nights

8. Go to the morning Ken-Ducky Derby race

9. Kevin golf their 18 hole golf course

10. Go on a horseback trail ride

11. Laser tag

12. Take the pontoon shuttle over to Lake Wilderness.  The shuttles closes at 4pm for the day.

13. Explore the trails around the property

14. Play BINGO at one of their bingo events

I hope that is helpful if you're thinking of planning at trip to Wilderness Resort.  They even have a location in Tennessee if that might be closer to home for you.  You can read even more details about the resort on their website: https://www.wildernessresort.com/

 

I'll add in a few photos so you can see some of our favorite spots in action:

 

Infinity Pool at Lake Wilderness:

The kids loved watching the boats, jet skis and tubers fly by.

The property and trails all around the resort are beautiful.

We love this view for the week!

The kids really loved making things in the kid's club.  The big kids made their own stuffed animals and decided we all needed matching glitter tattoos.

You all know that I love plants!  I'm a total flower nerd.  And their huge flower pots were just stunning.  I couldn't believe the variety and colors they packed into each pot.  I'm inspired.

Wear comfy shoes because you will be walking a lot!!  If you've got little ones - definitely bring your stroller for them.

Be prepared to have SO MUCH FUN!!

 

That's a wrap on my Wilderness Resort posts.  Email me or comment anytime with any questions.  I'd love to help (polkadottyplace@hotmail.com)

Happy weekend!  I hope you have fun plans with the people you love.

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Best Family Restaurants in Wisconsin Dells

I've gotten several messages wanting to know our favorite places that we'd recommend to people visiting Wisconsin Dells so I'm going to put together a few Wisconsin list type posts to help with planning a trip for your family.

We tried more local spots and more variety this trip to Wisconsin.  Kevin likes to find local spots for us to try and there are tons of Door Dash restaurant chain options - Culvers, Dunkin Donuts, Noodles and Co, etc.  I brought groceries with us - the basics of milk, snacks, fruits and veggies.  And then we enjoyed a mix of restaurants at Wilderness Resort and others nearby.  We never traveled more than 10 minutes away for food so there are plenty of good options close by!

1 // Summer House Bar & Grill

They have an amazing patio and are located right on Lake Delton.  The wait time was close to an hour for a table on the patio overlooking the lake when we arrived for an early dinner.  We opted to eat inside and enjoyed their darling decor.  Everything felt very fresh and new.  We got a mix of fish tacos and burgers and chicken tenders.  The food was all good.  I bet it's even better with a lake view. 

Most restaurants have some form of cheese curds on their menu.  So keep an eye out for local dishes!

2 // Dunkin Donuts

It's just up the road from Wilderness Resort.  We Door Dashed breakfast, ran through the drive thru on our way to an adventure and loved having this handy breakfast option when we didn't want to go and sit down for breakfast.

3 // Pizza Ranch

Kevin found this new spot for us.  Kids eat free on Tuesdays and it was such a fun spot!  They've got a fried chicken buffet with potatoes and veggies and chicken.  Along with a big salad bar and another bar full of pizza.  They ask that adults help the kids go through the line and they restock the pizzas nonstop at dinner time.  There was always something hot and fresh to try.  They even have a dessert bar with dessert pizzas, cookie pizza and ice cream.  We all really enjoyed this new restaurant.

4 // Mr Pancake

This was such a fun breakfast spot!  The building is in the shape of a large boat and everything looks very nautical on the inside.  The food was delicious.  It's very busy so arrive early and it'll be worth any wait.  Our waitress was busy but very attentive.  We all licked out breakfast plates!  They also had really unique place mat kid's menus that held the attention of our big kids so well.  There were words games, coloring, mazes and more.

5 // Food at Wilderness Resort

The food is very solid at Wilderness Resort.  We decided to eat at our favorite spots and then try new places this trip.  We love the frozen yogurt shop.  Sometimes the older kids go down with Kevin in their pjs to get ice cream at the end of a busy day.  We like to order a pizza and bread sticks to eat in the room and if you go during their busiest season - Summer - there are lots of food truck options at all the outdoor water parks.

The biggest food star at Wilderness Resort is the breakfast buffet at Camp Social.  Everything is so yummy and there really is something for everyone!  I grabbed a tray of things to share with Leo.  We all fill up and then eat a lighter lunch on those days.  This buffet is open every day during the summer and just on the weekends during their off season.  Definitely go here if you stay at Wilderness Resort.

It was a yummy week!  Message me or comment if you have any specific Wisconsin questions!

S'mores in a Cup

I'm excited to share one of of favorite Summer treats with you.  

We actually enjoy it year round because my kids don't enjoy traditional melty, ooey, gooey smores.  We make it at home for a snack, make it in ziploc bags for a snack on the go and even set up a s'mores in a cup bar to enjoy with friends.  The kids loved making their own cups of s'mores.  The adults enjoyed this snack, too!

You just need 3 or 4 ingredients and a snack cup.

1 box of Golden Grahams

1 bag of mini marshmallows

1 bag of chocolate chips

M&Ms (optional!)

Set up your S'mores bar like this:

I left the packages behind each bowl so that the kids would know what they were eating.  Then I dumped the ingredients into bowls with spoons.  The kids went through the line and served themselves a time or two :)

Do you have any family or friends that would enjoy this snack?

 

I loved that I could grab all the ingredients at the store, it didn't require any baking or much prep at all and everyone loved it!  I hope you can try it soon.

Happy Anniversary!

Kevin and I celebrated our 18th anniversary yesterday!  It really feels like we just got married a few years ago, but we've squeezed a lot of life, a lot of adventure and a lot of love into the those years.

We celebrated with the kids and made sure we did our favorite things - a special dessert (Derby Pie), pink roses, fancy dinner at home on our wedding china, looking through our wedding albums with the kids and just reminiscing about the day.  

This one was a little unique because our life has taken some unexpected twists and turns this past year.  We got married on the campus at University of Evansville and now Kevin is working at UE walking past our wedding chapel most days.  Our lives have not gone exactly how we planned.  God had better things in store for us!

I'll forever and always love the idea of registering for china or nice dishes for your wedding.  I LOVE mine so much! 

I was thinking about wedding gifts that we still use today.  Here's my list of gifts that have last us for the last 18 years.

A luggage set

Pyrex sets

Tons of Pampered Chef pieces and gadgets

Kitchen Aid Mixer

Framed art

Regular Dishes and a set of China

 

What wedding gifts are you still using years later?

Wisconsin Favorites

Happy Friday, Friends!  I hope you've had a nice week.  It's been hot in Indiana so we spent a lot of time relaxing indoors.  Much to my dismay, Summer seems to be flying by so fast and we are trying hard to soak in the lazy days of Summer before the kids go back to school.

I have been looking forward to sharing our Wisconsin Favorites with you!  

These are all MUST DO activities when you visit Wisconsin Dells.  We stayed at Wilderness Resort.  We've been several times and have yet to do everything we would like to do. We'd 10/10 recommend this trip!  I'll try to put together a post with a checklist of things to do just at the resort.  Stay tuned.  

1 // Wilderness Resort

We have visited here 3 different times with our whole family and have enjoyed it each time.  We prefer going through Wyndham and staying on that side.  They have 4 indoor water parks and 4 outdoor water parks with a million different things to do all around their property.  We really have yet to do it all.  The property is so pretty.  We love this spot!

2 // LOTS of swimming!

The kids all enjoyed the water.  We even had a few chilly days which seems crazy to me since it's been so so hot here.

3 // Wilderness Resort Kid's Club

This was our first time to check out the kids club.  There were lots of free things to do (foam fridge magnet kits, balloon animals, coloring, beads for bracelets and necklaces, race tracks, movies and play camp sites) and make and lots of fun things to buy (build your own stuffed animal & glitter tattoos).

Look at the cute art contest winners for the day!  Olive & Fletcher!  They both got a free glitter tattoo and were SO proud to have their art work on display for all the kids to see that day.

4 // Wisconsin Scenery

Have you ever been to Wisconsin??  It's the most charming state.  Their are farms everywhere and the prettiest rolling hills.  We walked over to this field after dinner one night.  There were deer in the field and we enjoyed watching them.

5 // Water Slides

The kids all found water slides to go on that they really enjoyed.  This was Leo's first trip to get to do several big kid things with his siblings.  It was really sweet.  And I'm definitely framing this picture!

6 // Cheese curds!

I ordered cheese curds any chance I got!  This Cheesehead burger came with cheese curds on it.

7 // Animal Encounters!

We went on a horse and carriage ride on a nearby trail and found ourselves at the Wisconsin Deer Park again.  We enjoyed both of these so much!

8 // Dinner on the Lake

Kevin worked hard to find us cool new local restaurants to try this trip.

9 // Paint Your Own Pottery

Kevin and I both took turns doing fun things with the big kids during Leo's nap time.  He'd go and do all the wild and crazy adventures - ropes course, arcades, water slides and golf - and I did fun things like kid's club and paint your own pottery.

 

10 // Smile!

When we ask Leo to smile, he makes this face.

11 // Outdoor Water Parks

It was so fun to see the big kids try new things and learn new skills on this trip!  Fletcher powered through and was doing the obstacle course all by himself in no time.  Leo was also very determined to do as much as possible on his own.  And Olive was Ms Independent as usual.

12 // Favorite Travel Buddy 

We make a good travel team!  He's adventurous and fun and I make sure everyone has what they need to make the week comfortable and fun.

13 // Gorgeous Flowers

I admired the flowers all around Wilderness Resort all week long. 

14 // Wilderness Resort on the Lake

Kevin found the coolest spot for us to go swimming.  We took the shuttle over and swam in their infinity pool on the lake.  The view was stunning.  We watched boats zoom up and down Lake Delton.  I hope we remember this moment forever. 

15 // Fletcher lost his first tooth!

Fletcher's first tooth went from barely wiggly to falling out so fast.  We scrambled and the tooth fairy found him when we were out of town :)

16 // Sunsets

We enjoyed this pretty view all week long!  Wisconsin has the prettiest sunsets.

I hope you get a chance to visit Wisconsin one day!  It's our happy place :)

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