After a 500 mile whirlwind trip to participate in the swim/bike portion of the abbreviated Ironman 70.3 Muncie (Race Report HERE & travel/expo details HERE), it was time for vacation. Fortunately, the kiddos got to spend a few days at the lake with my parents and Mick and I had a few solo days prior to the chaos!
Mick and I took a trip into the city (Chicago) the day after the Muncie event – 100 miles driving.
We then spent a day deep cleaning the house and throwing things away in the playroom while the kids were away and nobody could scream or go thru the trash. Trust me, you don’t need a photo of that!
Then we headed to Saugatuck, MI for a day of fun in the bars sun with old friends – 150 miles.
Upon sobering up waking, we then took a cross country trip back to the lake to pick up the kiddos. The phrase, “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go”, never really meant as much until this little cross country jaunt with no direct route. 120 miles later we had our “babies” back!
We stuffed the “little ones” in the car and prayed they would nap for the trip to Wisconsin Dells for a few days of family fun! 350 miles
I’m pretty sure that we left very few rocks unturned at the Dells. 
We did the Ducks & Upper Dells Boat Tour:
Ghost Outpost, Lost Temple, Top Secret, & the WI Deer Park:
Go Carts (or “Gofe” Carts as Michael calls them) & Alligator Alley:
Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Thrill Show with Aqua the Clown & Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum:
Water parks small & large:
Michael’s favorite slides were these yellow & blue ones: 
Then we made the trip home with Michael screaming that he didn’t want to leave the “Consin Dells” and Aby pouting that we didn’t make it to the Mining Company – 225 miles, just in time for a bit of NMCA racing (Mick’s old car in second photo):
And the FNRC Splash & Dash, the kiddos ran a mile then hit the pool!
That was a very full 8 days of “vacation” which started with the Muncie race and ended with the Splash N Dash. I’m exhausted just reviewing it all!
Any family fun on your horizon?
PS – If you missed it, I’m giving away an entry to the Chicago Half Marathon on September 9th! Click to enter HERE. Good luck!
** Summer Lovin’ ** Amanda – TooTallFritz ** amanda@tootallfritz.com
TooTallFritz 
On 8/4 heading to Williamsburg, VA(Busch Gardens), VA Beach & D.C. road trip with the kids. Already trying to figure out how I am going to get a few runs in. I am thinking the beach days(mornings). Glad the kids will get to see D.C. Not looking forward to the drive.
The driving was hard but the kids were good. And working out while on vacation for me is nearly impossible. I also struggle with finding healthy food options in family friendly restaurants. Vacation is fun but also a bit stressful for those of us on the fitness wagon!
your vacation is making me tired! you must have the energy of three women in one, haha
I’m still exhausted and do you think we could get to bed at a decent time now that we are home? No, not really. I was awake but so exhausted, I couldn’t even pull my arse out of bed for a workout this morning. So instead, I laid there going in and out of sleep feeling guilty. Ridiculous. Now I have to hit the flippin’ gym at lunch. I have elliptical on the schedule……BORING.
Family fun in the horizon? Naw…I have no real family….all gone to the other side and the kiddies all grown up! I guess all you running nuts are my family!
Wow…cool pics and stories….a truly iconic vay-k that certainly included some of Wisconsin’s most famous tourist traps. The only thing missing was an excursion to Deadwood, South Dakota and maybe a stop at the Corn Palace in Iowa on the way out or back!
woo-hoo…the ducks at the dells and good ole Deer-Park! Deer in Wisconsin expected….alligators not! Is that a result of global warming or just another tourist trap? Is that an alligator or a crocodile? Hmmm….been awhile since messing with taxonomy of those two families, but I thought the crocodiles had the teeth that showed outside the jaws, but maybe that is on the lateral or side profile? Make that a question you ask those two kiddies of yours to do some research on and report back…. LOL!
Hey…great to hear ya out there having some fun….U certainly deserve it! Go TTF!
Running family definitley counts! And so many run families travel together for races. I know that a few Pancakers travel to a couple each year and Team In Training does the same! Jump on one of those options if the finances allow.
The photo may have been of a crock. I’m not really sure. We were at “Alligator Alley” where you could feed certain creatures, like that one. They also had snakes (big ones: anocondas, bermese phythons, etc), turtles, etc. It was a good one for the kiddos.
Pingback: Mount Olympus water park at Wisconsin Dells « Write on the World