The Mischnick Family Mystery Trip

A few weeks ago we got a notice from GE that said they had some REALLY good off-season deals for the Wisconsin Dells. The Dells are not our normal idea of a relaxing vacation, but the price was literally too good to pass up. Matt and I then both got this idea in our heads that we should make it a mystery trip for the girls :)

Wednesday night after they went to bed, I sneaked back into their rooms to grab clothes to pack and we packed up and hid our own bags. Thursday morning we went to Bible Study as usual, and then I told the girls that I had packed our lunch along because we were going to (1st surprise!) pick Matt up from work early. On the way to get him we talked about what we might like to do in the afternoon. After getting Matt, he suggested that we take a trip together. Everyone thought it was a good idea so (2nd surprise!) we decided to go home, pack up some supplies, and leave. We got home, got out the bags and (3rd surprise!) they were already packed :) So we threw everything in the van and left. About an hour later we arrived at (4th surprise!) Mt. Olympus in the Dells.


On Thursday we played in the water park, went out to dinner, played at the indoor theme park, watched TV, and went to bed. Friday we played some arcade games, ate food, played in the water park again, ate more food, and went back to the theme park in the afternoon before heading home.

A few memorable moments include:
*Kate LOVING going down the kiddie water slides with Matt.
*Kate LOVING going around the lazy river.
*Being the only people in the restaurant for the first 1/2 hour on Thursday night (gotta love off-season!).
*Anna wanting to ride on any and all rides at the indoor theme park for which she was eligible.
*Playing in the compressed air powered ball play area. (I think Matt may have had the most fun at this one.)
*The long and involved bedtime fiasco on Thursday night.
*The early morning for Anna on Friday morning.
*Finally convincing Anna to go down one of the big waterslides with Matt, and then doing it again, and again, and again for the next hour and a half.
*Having Anna fall asleep before we got on the interstate on the way home, and Kate falling asleep within the first 5 minutes of interstate travel.


There were definitely some rough spots in this little mini-vacation, but we all came away with good memories and it was a nice chance to break our normal routine for a few days.