Where Did We Go Wednesday? Noah's Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells

This is our 2nd year of going to Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells and meeting up with some family there. Noah's Ark is dubbed "America's Largest Waterpark" although, after looking at a post about best waterparks in the world I have to wonder if it is bigger than the ones in Florida. It may have been the largest at one point and is probably still the largest in the Midwest, but not sure if it is still the largest in America anymore. Regardless, it is so much fun and there is only one ride (the Scorpion) that my son can't go on because they have a minimum weight. This year he wanted to be "really brave" and go on everything and did go on a couple that he was too scared to go on this year. He was really proud of himself.

I don't have any pictures from inside the park because we choose not to carry anything around with us, which prevents anything from getting lost, forgotten or stolen. And this year we all had aqua socks so we didn't have to go to the shoe corrals after every ride. I highly recommend having water shoes to make things easier and more efficient. I heard someone ask about wearing their Keen sandals on the rides and they said it depended upon the ride and some they may be asked to take off.

Another thing I recommend is paying the extra $3 for premium parking (only if you can get there before they open so you can get a close spot). That $3 makes it easier to go out to eat snacks and meals at your vehicle which will save you a lot of money from having to buy it inside the park. Plus the entrance for the premium parking is right by the bathroom and is in a central location allowing you to choose which of the 4 major areas of the park you are going to as the other entrance (regular parking) bring your in to one of the major areas and you have to do more walking when you want to come/go to your vehicle.

It has been a fun trip to meet family there for a weekend vacation and gives my kids the opportunity to create some memories with family in the summer. To save some money, I had signed up for the newsletter from Noah's Ark and bought BOGO tickets (good any day of the season) in the spring. Read about last year's trip to Noah's Ark here.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Faribault Water Park

I told getting season pass oftentimes other places like outdoor water parks have season passes as well. We do not have a season pass to this water park but I do like to be able to take the kids to a few different water parks to play throughout the summer.. this one in Faribault, MN is one that offers season passes. We went to this particular Waterpark for two reasons. The first reason is that our city pool didn't open up until the next day and it was 90 degrees out and we wanted to be wet. The second reason was that when I signed my kids up for the Faribault Public Library reading program they were each given a pass to go to this water park for free period so comma I only had to pay for my admission and snacks while we were there. They had a ton of fun and as it turned out there was several other families from swim team who were there to enjoy the day. It seems like all our little fishies want to be in the water as much as possible.

I wanted to make a couple of comments on the picture that you see above there for those that know us personally they may wonder what is going on in one of the pictures. My daughter has been wanting to hug her brother more often maybe because she wants hugs or maybe because she knows he doesn't want hugs and when I asked them to stand together closely so I could get a picture she took that opportunity to hug him and he was throwing his arms up in disbelief. Also you should look at my son's funky new goggles that he has to use at the water parks this summer. They are pretty creepy when they catch the sun right. These are the ones he will use for the summer at water parks and the outdoor pool, they have different goggles that they use for swim team.