Our Dells Vacation....

Was so fun! Dan and I got up there around 7:30 on Friday night (everyone else came earlier). Dan H. grilled out and made hamburgers and hot dogs, which were really good. We just kind of hung out that night, played some cards, and generally just enjoyed being together.

Saturday we got up and spent most of the day at the pool. Dan, unfortunately, spent quite a bit of time in the lobby working on his final project for his summer class, but he was still able to spend some time with us in the pool. It was so hot out, so being in the pool felt wonderful. Rori is turning into such a little swimmer; she will swim a little ways to someone all by herself, and it's so cute that she's so proud of herself! Dan, Kirsti, Rori and I also enjoyed playing Marco Polo, and either Dan or I would hold Rori so we could go in the deeper end. That worked quite well, except Dan decided it was a good idea to use Rori as a human shield so that he didn't have to be it :) That's ok, though, she really liked being it, and we just moved to the shallow part for that round.

Saturday night, we went to Ishnala, which is this GORGEOUS supper club in the Dells. We went to celebrate Kirsti's 13th birthday (which was actually on June 1st, but because of the issues with my grandparents and their hospitalization, we weren't able to celebrate until now). She's very into Native American things, and Ishnala actually means "By Itself Alone" in Winnebago. So it was the perfect setting for her celebration. I'll post pictures when I get home, but you can get quite a good idea of the setting by clicking on all these links :)

The food was absolutely delicious; I had filet mignon and shrimp, and it was honestly some of the best steak I've ever had. Kirsti's uncle Greg came up, as did her grandmother Roberta, her grandpa Marty and his wife Carol, and good family friend Kerman. They're all so nice, so we enjoyed hanging out with them. Afterwards, Greg, Kerman and Roberta came back to our condo to watch the wedding video; we wanted them to see it since Rori and Kirsti are in there (not to mention Dan and Tracy). We also watched Kirsti open her gifts (her favorite by far was an ipod nano, which is THE thing to have in middle school!) and afterwards we played a game of Euchre.

Sunday was spent just relaxing as well and then Dan left early on Monday morning, since he had class. I took the day off work, however, so we spent the rest of the day just lounging by the pool (you can use it all day, even after you check out). It was a lot of fun; we just encountered a *slight* problem when Dan H. was loading up the van, and he realized that we wouldn't have room for all the people AND the luggage. So my Dan actually had to drive back up to come get my mom and me, but that's ok :) The Dells are only 45 minutes away, so it wasn't a big deal.

All in all it was a great vacation; I'll post pictures soon!