Fall Mini-Vacation '12

Spring Green, WI

Jameson took a half day on Friday and we headed east on our 2nd (annual?) fall mini-vacation. He planned it, so I had no idea where we were going, except that he was looking at a skid loader on the way east of Waterloo about an hour, and that we'd be swimming at our place of lodging. I wasn't surprised that we continued east toward Dubuque, but after driving through Dubuque into Wisconsin I began to get curious. As I was getting hungry and hoping we would be arriving soon, we arrived at The House on the Rock Resort.

 The Resort is a hotel located on a GORGEOUS golf course. The trees were full of fall colors and I don't think you could find a much better view out of your room anywhere in the midwest.

After checking into the hotel and looking around we headed back into Spring Green for supper. We ate a delicious supper Arthur's. Our waitress was a very sweet lady and she brought us a tasty round loaf of bread to start with. We had fried pickles as an appetizer and then a chicken and fish buffet which included tasty sides of garlic mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and a few other things. Since the girls were under 5, the waitress said they could eat off our buffet for no additional cost. If she knew how much 1 year old Anna can eat, she would have stated otherwise! :) Both girls ate very well and thus we were all able to enjoy the food and nice atmosphere.

After supper Jameson needed to fill one of our tires up with air. There was a car wash at that gas station and he decided to wash the car (which was thick with dust from a few months of living on gravel). Alice obviously had no memories of being through a car wash before and was terrified! I'm pretty sure her faces and gestures were the same as mine when I went on the Jaws ride at Universal Studios in high school. At this point I think it's fair to say she won't be interested in theme parks, taking after both of her parents.

After the car wash, we returned to the hotel and went swimming. Anna has no fear of the water yet and had a great time. Alice has what I'd consider a healthy fear of the water, knowing she couldn't touch the bottom. She had a good time but wanted to be close to mom or dad at all times.

We returned to the room for baths and girls bedtime. The 'room' had two separate bedrooms so after we put the girls down we got to stay up and watch a little TV. In the morning we slept in a little, gave the girls a snack to hold them until breakfast, and leisurely packed up. We went back into Spring Green and had breakfast at a charming little hometown cafe.

 Jameson ordered pancakes with raspberries, walnuts, and chocolate chips and I got an incredibly tasty omelet with mushrooms, cheese curds, and other tasty things which I can't recall. We seated ourselves in the back corner of the 'porch' which overlooked train-tracks  and beautiful trees. I could have sat there all day chatting or reading and drinking tea.

 Understanding that time before the girls needed sleep was limited, we headed to House on the Rock. We stopped at a scenic overlook on the way and snapped a few pictures.

 The House of the Rock. It was a very interesting place, to say the least. Some parts we really enjoyed, other parts we found interesting, and others parts just plain weird.

 Overlooking the infinity room which seems to point, as the name suggests, to infinity.

 The 2nd and 3rd section of the tour include a lot of music ensembles in which statues are automated to play the instruments. My favorite one was a piano and 4 violins which we played using a round bow, but we didn't get a picture of that one. Alice has a new found interest in 'marching bands', although her knowledge of the is quite limited, so she enjoyed all the bands.

 At the end they have a Japanesse garden you look through. Alice also really like waterfalls, so she enjoyed that.

Anna was a trupper and made it through the whole thing. She was exhausted by the end but refused to fall asleep (or have any interest in being confined to the stroller we brought for her once she had to get out for the 1st section of the tour). She wanted to walk through it, so she did so holding my hand through quite a bit of it and rested in my arms between times.

About 2:30 we completed our tour and headed down the road. We planned to have a picnic 'lunch' but after two minutes at the picnic table freezing cold, we decided to picnic in the car and continue on towards home. We assumed the girls would both fall asleep on the way home but Alice stayed awake the whole time and Anna only napped for about 20-30 min. Thus when we got home we got the girls to bed and then unpacked and relaxed ourselves. All in all it was another wonderful mini-vacation and good time spent as a family. Once the kids are older and can help with things and don't require naps we look forward to trips further from home. At this stage in life, it seems most relaxing and fun for all of us to take short 1-2 day trips that require less planning and preparing and get us home before we are overly exhausted. I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband and my precious girls and I love traveling in the fall- God's creation is particularly beautiful this time of year!