Thursday sneaked up on me this week. Matthew and the kids left today to go visit his family in Maryland for the weekend. I cried. It will be my first time alone for the weekend (at home) in about four years.
As I was flipping through on old photo album (the same one that I found the lemonade stand photo from last week) I found this photo of my mom, sister and me at Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells.
When we were growing up Noah's Ark was America's largest waterpark. I noticed on their website that it no longer claims that, but it is still pretty massive.
We went to Noah's Ark every summer. It is one of my favorite childhood summer memories. We didn't take extravagant vacations growing up, but I never felt like I was missing out. My parents made Wisconsin Dells feel as amazing as going to the beach.
We would pack a picnic lunch and stay at the park all day and night.
I love this photo because it represents so much happiness. It was taken in the Wave Pool, which was one of our favorite things to do at Noah's Ark. I also love that my Mom is with us. Because of a car accident, she was never able to do many of the water slides, but the wave pool was something she could enjoy with us.
The lighting makes me think that it was at the end of a long, fun day at the park. We usually would do the wave pool a few times before we went home. I can hear my mom saying, “one more time.”
You can also really see our personalities in this picture. I was always the ham and posing (on the right), while my sister was more the tomboy.
This photo makes me think a lot about family summer traditions. What will my children remember about summers in our family?
Jessica N. Turner
Founder at The Mom Creative
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Cute picture! I have never heard of that water park. But I grew up in Florida- we went to the beach:) How does the link party work? Do I just add a photo, or do I need to do a post on my blog with my TBT story and link it that way??
Hi Ali, you blog your TBT photo + story, then link up the post in the linky. Hope to have you join in!
Love You !!
Such a fun summertime photo. Thanks for sharing, and for hosting! Have a great day.
Great memories! We didn’t take big vacations either. But we almost always went to Kennywood, our big local amusement park, every year. We looked forward to that!
I live only an hour from the Dells and have many of those same memories. Our family didn’t take extravagant vacations either, so Noah’s Ark was just about the greatest place! Having gotten older and the chance to travel a great deal more, I still remember those long summer days (and picnic lunches!) at Noah’s Ark. Thanks for the memories.
My husband and I honeymooned in Ontario, WI, and spent a day at the Dells. It was such fun, though we never made it to a water park. I am looking forward to when our girls are a bit older so we can go as a family!