Galena Family Trip

We made our way back to Galena, Illinois this weekend. Brad and I were there previously in January for a little ski trip. We had an experience with the hotel that granted us a free stay. So, we decided this would be a great weekend to go. We took all the kids with us on Saturday to stay again at the Stoney Creek Inn. The kids were mostly excited about going swimming. Annaliese, in particular, was concerned that we had her "swimming soup". Bless her heart, she couldn't pronounce "suit" to save her life. Surprisingly, we ran into my dad just outside of Dyersville. He was in his Red Cross gear taking people to the airport. Had to get a picture.

After we arrived and had lunch, we took a few pics of the room. There were bunk beds in the room and our bed as well. In theory, this was a good idea. But in reality, six people in one room is never a good idea. We found that out about 12:30am, but we are keeping this pleasant, so... Here are a couple of us before we left for the day.

We headed to the Alpine Slide at Chestnut Mountain after lunch. The kids kept insisting we were lost and we should just turn around, but we kept going. Really, it's only about 8 miles out of town, but I am sure for them, it seemed like ages.


We bought five tickets and let each of the kids, minus Anderson, ride down with us. Taking turns proved to be time consuming, but since we are outnumbered by kids, it was the only way. Hailey and Jackson really enjoyed it and Hailey got to ride once by herself. The whole course is about 2,050 feet of slide and curves around the terrain on the way down. We took the ski lift back to the top.
After we finished at Chestnut, we drove back to town and toured the shops. Galena is an artist colony of sorts and there are lots of original, historic shops that line Main Street. We went into just a few, with four kids, it's kind of hard to "browse". Be that as it may, we did find a couple that were great for the kids. One of our favorites is 'Poopsies', a kind of eclectic gift shop that has all kinds of unique knick-knacks and gag gifts. Brad bought a note pad titled "Yo' Mama". It's a pad that gives comebacks to someone that you have had a disagreement with. A couple of his favorites are: "Dear so and so, I bet it takes you two hours to watch 60 minutes." And "Dear so and so, I don't mind you talking, as long as you don't mind me not listening." You get the idea - so watch out if you disagree with Brad, you just might get an official Yo' Mama notice...

Some interesting shots around town. The kids really wanted to do the trolley. Hmmm, maybe next time...

Annaliese insisted on pushing the stroller herself. And when I say "insisted" that is it! She wouldn't take no for an answer, so I let Brad deal with her and the stroller. Sometimes, you have to pick your battles.

We went to dinner at a place called Durty Gurt's. It's a really relaxed family friendly restaurant. We were in about 5:00 and it was pretty empty. That worked perfect for us, because we had our meal in about 10 minutes or so. It was great and the atmosphere was kind of fun. Got a few pictures of the scenery inside. The kids got a kick out of the place to take their pictures, it was right behind our table.

We finally made our way back to the hotel after dinner. The kids were thrilled to finally get to go into the pool. Of course, Annaliese wanted to wear her "swimming soup" and we all got ready, headed down to the pool only to have Annaliese refuse to get in the pool. Anderson wasn't too happy either, but Brad held him in the water long enough to make him stop fighting it. Hailey and Jackson learned how to do cannonballs. Very funny to watch!

To look at Annaliese by the pool, you would never guess how much she really, really didn't like being in the water.

This was Brad's demo of a cannonball. Of course, all I got was the splash. I would have liked to get him mid-air, but I'm not that great with the camera. The kids thought it was hilarious, and they had a good teacher. By Sunday, morning, they both had it down pat.
Overall, a good weekend. Great weather and lots of fun things to do. Still glad to get home though. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed and not having four kids in the same room!