Last day of spring break chez mooncrawl. We've had a good one - low key, familiar. I'm starting to itch for a bigger adventure for us. Maybe next year. I want my children to swim in the ocean or see mountains or do something not so midwest.
Alas, we were very midwest, Wisconsin specifically, this spring break. We did our annual two night trip to a water park in the Dells (the Wisconsin Dells). We'e done this for the past 6 years with a group of families from our neighborhood. We've evolved into a very sweet little group. My guys are the only boys in the group, which tickles me. Our time together always starts off a little awkward (the girls are quite chummy and my boys have to figure their way in - which gets more awkward the older they all get), but after not-so-long, they were playing tag in the hallway and laughing about all sorts of nonsense. My oldest boy seems the most awkward in these situations, which is in part due to his age and in part due to his social insecurities (increased because of his age, I believe), but even he figured it out.
We adults share meals, so I only had to contribute to one meal for the entire trip. We ate well and always have enough. It is an easy vacation, and one that leaves us happy.
We were gone at the beginning of the week, so I squeezed a couple of days of work in. On Friday, I was feeling the urge to get out of dodge again, so the boys and I headed off to an adventure. We went to the House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI. This attraction is often listed as a "don't miss" on many Wisconsin tourism websites. I recall vaguely going there as a child, but had never taken my kids. It was pricey ($75 for 4 of us) but I felt like we got our money's worth out of the experience. We haven't stopped talking or thinking about it since.
It was wild. Wild and wacky and weird, and a bit creepy and curious too. The house itself was built by a man named Alex Jordan, who so loved this rock outcropping where he picnicked as a child that he wanted to build a retreat so that he could enjoy art and music there. He was a bit of a madman, I'm concluding. The house itself (only a small piece of the experience, it turns out) was cozy and unique, and we enjoyed it so much we walked through it twice. We fantasized about sleeping on the low couches in front of the several huge, stone fireplaces scattered throughout the house.
We left the house the continue on to Tours 2 and 3, and this is when it started getting strange. We ended up in these warehouse buildings full of collections of stuff -- guns, old fashioned cash registers, dolls, lighters, miniature ships, circus figures, doll houses, crowns and jewels from England, more guns, more dolls, manequins, decorative christmas plates, etc. And music - Alex Jordan loved his musical instruments and had dozens of instruments "playing" (mostly simulated) orchestra or circus music.
Alex Jordan's collections were neverending, it seemed. Wide varied and extensive. His crowning achievement was building the world's largest (so claimed) indoor carousel. It was functioning but we could not ride it. It was huge and chocked full of all sorts of animals; however, none were horses (the horses, it turns out, were displayed on a huge wall in another part of the building).
We were tired by the end. Tired and thirsty. I strongly recommend carrying in some water, as there were no water fountains at all throughout the journey and only one cafe selling food/drink. I asked the woman at the gift shop at the end how far we had walked, and she said we went 3 1/2 miles. It took us a good 4 hours. I felt like we had really accomplished something by getting through it.
I was talking about this at Easter yesterday, and my dad told me about a great family connection. Turns out my grandparents (my dad's parents) were friends with Alex Jordan. Alex gave them a key to the house, as well as the information about how to climb in through a trapdoor (no longer needed - but necessary in the early days). So, my grandparents used to trek out there to hang out at the house when they wanted to get out of town.
Even before I heard this story, I was intrigued with Alex Jordan. I am more so now, with this personal family connection. I ordered a biography about him online, and I am anxious to read it.
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Last day of our spring break, and we are quickly coming apart here. Kids are anxious to go out and spend their easter money, but they are squabbling and fighting and sort of ruining it for them. I do need to go grocery shopping, and they will have to join me - joy oh joy. I also have to remember that I work this afternoon at 4 pm.
Alright, the clamor is increasing and these children need a mother to attend to them. I guess that's me.
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