As I mentioned yesterday, Kalahari is not only a waterpark but it also has an indoor theme park with all sorts of fun things, like rides, an arcade, up-in-the-air ropes courses and climbing walls, mini golf, Go-Karts, bowling...you get the idea. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), it was a lot of fun!
The first thing we did was ride the Ferris Wheel.
Sam was a little nervous the first time, but he had his buddy Cruise Ship and his dad to help reassure him.
There were Kiddie Bumper Boats...
Sam and I went on the carousel a few times while Peter and John did things like mini-golf.
Photobombed by a nose-picker, ha ha!
John went on this ride without hesitation when he found out he was tall enough to ride it. It swings up and around and upside down and would have made me so nauseated, but he liked it.
Can you see him? He's on the top left.
There is a huge ropes course there that we've all done, except for Sam. But this time Sam was able to do a ropes course too because they now have a kiddie one. It was cute, and he enjoyed it!
Getting harnessed up.
And off he goes! He wasn't nervous; he just took off and did it on his own. His brother's bravery must have rubbed off on him!
We rode the Go-Karts, which was really fun. I haven't done those in years. John was ticked that he's not old enough to drive his own (and won't be for years), but rules are rules, kid! I drove Sam and Peter drove John. I started ahead of them but they ended up finishing before me because I had to slow down in order to avoid a collision with another car, and Peter took that opportunity to pass me. Dang it!
Don't judge my greasy hair too harshly in this picture. I'd just come from the spa where I'd gotten a seaweed body wrap and a head/neck/face/shoulders massage. From the spa to Go-Karts--such is life when you have kids, particularly sons!
Waiting for the green light so that we could take off!
Kalahari had re-done the climbing wall since we were last there, so it's a lot better now than it was. John did all three of the climbs easily and quickly. He is such a monkey and he's always been very good at climbing.
Rappelling down after reaching the top.
(I had to google that to figure out how to spell it. I was going to spell it "repeling" but that didn't seem right. I guess my copyeditor instinct is still alive and well. Anyway, on to the rappelling...)
And then the other wall.
At the top.
And finally, the lightning bolt, which I think was the most challenging of the three (although not for John).
The arcade was also a lot of fun. We spent more time in the arcade near the waterpark than the one in the theme park because it had an indoor playground and more kid-friendly games. Peter and John hit the jackpot of tickets at one of the games. John was so happy. They got a ton of tickets!
Peter at it again, winning lots of tickets. His inner kid and desire to win comes out at the arcade.
This picture is so funny to me!
This Spider Stompin' game was actually quite fun!
One of the days we ate lunch at Buffalo Phil's, our favorite restaurant in Wisconsin Dells. It is the perfect place for train-lovers like Sam. A train delivers your food and drinks to you instead of a waiter. Very cool!
Here comes the train and the food!
The poor Thomas train had a smushed-in face, which I thought was way funnier than it probably is.
I don't drink a lot of soda but I'm glad I did that day.
I ordered one of their homemade grape sodas and it was SO GOOD! A refill was definitely justified.
Sam's "dead" cars. He cracks me up with the things he comes up with, especially at places like restaurants where he uses his imagination in different ways as he sits and waits for his food.
Attached to the back of Buffalo Phil's is another indoor theme park/arcade kind of a place called Knuckleheads. We spent a few hours there because I guess we just can't get enough of this stuff. Or our kids can't, anyway.
Jumping pillows are apparently more fun than trampolines these days! (Safer too.)
John and Sam.
Sam loved this plane ride and went on it several times.
Look at that cute little smile!
He was so happy when John went on it with him one time.
This picture below and the one above are my favorites!
There was a train roller coaster that Sam also really liked (of course). Peter and I each took a turn riding it with him.
John got in the very last car because it goes fastest and gets whipped around the most. That boy's thrill-seeking never ends!
The train really did whip around the circle loops very fast!
John enjoyed the Bumper Cars.
There was a ropes course at Knuckleheads that John hadn't done yet, so up he went.
Most of the course was right over the Go-Karts driving range. Yikes!
He's figured out that the next level of "advancement" on ropes courses is to not hold on to the harness rope and truly try to hold your balance when going across the different obstacles, so he wants to start working on doing that next time. There were grown adults who got up there and had to come down because it was too high and scary for them (which I could definitely sympathize with--I've done it before, and it can be freaky up there). But John wasn't nervous and did it all with ease.
There was also one of those big indoor play forts that the kids loved and spent lots of time playing in.
Peter fell asleep while the kids were playing. He really fell asleep. I took some funny pictures of him conked out in the chair but I won't post them so that I can preserve some of his dignity.
Except for this one. Ha ha!
A few other random things we did during our trip:
Arts and crafts.
I got a banana split from the Sweet Hut (a deliciously dangerous place in the main lobby).
A beloved pair of blue eyes looking up at me as we wait in line.
My wristful of bracelets, branding me as a Kalahari guest.
Family pictures with this huge bronze gorilla on our last day. We took a family picture here two years ago too, so we'll probably always do that now whenever we go.
We also had our picture taken that morning with an adorable 10-week-old baby Bengal tiger named Mahaia. I don't have the digital picture and I don't feel like scanning it so you'll just have to visualize it (or come and look at the picture at my house!).
Wow, this turned out to be a very long post! The editor in me wants to cut out about a third of the pictures and words here, but the mother in me doesn't want to, so I won't. When it comes to good times and experiences, sometimes it's okay to be long-winded. We had a great time at Kalahari!
