Sunday, August 26, 2012

Summer Trip to Green Bay

To celebrate the end of summer we thought it would be fun to take the kids on a mini-vacation.  Nothing with a long drive and only a few days away.  We decided on Green Bay for no other reason than we could go to Bay Beach (people have told us about it for years), they had a hotel with a water park and we could tour the stadium. 

We left on Thursday morning and our first stop was at Bay Beach in Green Bay.


All the girls riding the Merry Go Round

And Sarah on rides her size:
This looks fun...Mom don't leave me...hmm water...phew it's done!


While Bay Beach was fun we determined that our kids aren't really that keen on rides.  Sarah never got into the little kid rides and she was too small for the big kid ones.  Caroline and Julia enjoyed the tilt-a-whirl and the swings.  We all rode the train which was fun but short.  Going on a Thursday meant the lines weren't long which was nice.



After our afternoon at Bay Beach we went to the Tundra Lodge (our hotel).  The water park inside is on the smaller size which we've found out is the right size for our kids. There were two water slides, a lazy river, basketball area, ropes and a splash pond for the young kids. 

The older girls loved the ropes (or whatever they are called):

The lazy river was a hit, except with Sarah who only went on once while screaming the entire time!  Of course, it was her Mom that put her on her Dad's lap.  That wasn't repeated the rest of the trip.
 

So, instead Sarah spent a lot of the trip either in the splash pond or like this.
 
 
After swimming we needed to find somewhere for dinner.  We asked the hotel maintenance guy if he could give us a recommendation for a family friendly place to eat.  He asked if we wanted a chain or something local.   We said it didn't really matter, but would love to try something local as long as it was kid friendly.  After mentioning the hotel restaurant (even thought he hasn't eaten there) and one local place (which was good but a little pricey) he also told us there is an Old Country Buffet and Golden Corral in town.  We thanked him and decided to ask at the front desk for other suggestions. 

Because the front desk of a hotel should have a list of good places to try either local or chain.  Right?  Wrong.  After stumbling on his words the front desk person told Brian about the Golden Corral in town.  Wow.  While we aren't people who demand a lot from their restaurant experience we were hoping for a little better than OCB or the Golden Corral. 

We ended up at the "pricey" restaurant Krolls.  Brian thinks it should be on the Restaurant Impossible show on the Food Network, but I reminded him that show was for businesses who are going bankrupt and while Krolls decor was from the 50's they are far from going out of business.  I looked at their website to link it above and on there they state "Krolls is a family-owned restaurant that has prospered for over 70 years in the Green Bay area, and we are nestled in the perfect location across from Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, it is itself a landmark, known both nationally and internationally."  Our meal was ok and by our big city standards wasn't expensive - $39 for all five of us.

The next morning we went to the water park and left around lunch time to go to Curly's Pub inside Lambeau Field and take a tour.  In sharp contract to the night before, Curly's had great food and was a fun atmosphere.


After lunch we went on the stadium tour.  It was awesome to go behind the scenes and learn more Packer history. 


Below is the tunnel the players walk through.  One cool thing they do is as you walk through the tunnel they have a recording of the crowd cheering and the announcer introducing the Green Bay Packers!


Other pictures from our tour:


And Julia had one of our camera's and here are the pictures she took:


The rest of the afternoon was spent at the water park.  And again we had to find somewhere for dinner.  A quick Google search on my phone for "Green Bay Restaurants Kid Friendly" brought up a whole bunch.  And wouldn't you know...Golden Corral wasn't even on the list. :)  We opted for Sammy's Pizza Restaurant.  Local, good food and what kid doesn't like pizza!

At dinner after a long day.  Sorry about cutting your head off Brian :)

The next morning we went to the water park one more time before we said good bye to Green Bay and our vacation. 

In the hall between our room and the water park was a huge stuffed bear.  Sarah was scared of the bear and would hold our hand while using the other hand to cover her eyes as we walked past.  It was super cute, but I never thought to get it on film.  On the last morning Brian took her down to meet the bear with the older kids.  (The bear was a complete fake.  Almost like a large stuffed animal, but I can see how it would be scary when you are only 4 years old and not very tall.)


Sisters being silly...meeting the bear with Daddy...still not so sure...

It was a successful trip and we all had a great time with many memories to share.

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