Our Trip to Dubuque

 As part of the kids Christmas present, we planned to take them on a little getaway to Dubuque, Iowa to stay at the Grand Harbor Resort which is right on the Mississippi River. We had a trip planned similar to this last Christmas but when Ali got sick we had to postpone it until this year. We decided to make it part of our Christmas present to our kids by ending the scavenger hunt with a clue that told them where we were going and when we were leaving. They were pretty excited to go on a little trip right after Christmas. Our hotel room had a great view and it was pretty cool to be right along the river! The afternoon that we got there we put our suits on and checked out the waterpark. Blaine is still pretty timid about going down the big slides, but he had fun in the lazy river and hot tub! Ali tried the big purple slide and loved it! Bryce of course went on every slide over and over again! That night we found a really good pizza place called Shot Tower Pizza. Bryce loved it, but of course Blaine and Ali were not fans. The sauce was pretty sweet and they were not used to that. We got back to the hotel and purchased some arcade cards for each kid and we had a great time. They decided not to spend all their money and they saved some for the next night. The next day we woke up and after eating some Dunkin Donuts, we headed back to the water park for a few hours, got cleaned up and headed across the street to the Subway. After eating lunch, we headed across the street again and went to the Mississippi River Museum and spent almost 3 hours there. It was a very cool museum that covered over 14 acres. Blaine got to see his otters and one of them even followed his hat back and forth through the glass. He was in heaven! We got to see an alligator, a bald eagle, a hawk, ducks, turtles, snakes, and several fish. There was also quite a bit that was interactive which was very fun for the kids and mommy and daddy too! We got back from the museum, relaxed at the hotel for a little bit and then went out for supper at Texas Roadhouse. On our way back, we stopped at a super cute light display and then headed back to the waterpark one last time before leaving the next morning. It was a great family trip and it was fun to try a place that we had never been before.