Saw the Mississippi in Dubuque on the the Mississippi

It turns out that Gabe loves to say Mississippi. He said it every chance it made the slightest amount of sense. We had a good time on our little vacation. The main idea was to enjoy the water park, but we found the Mississippi River Museum to be a great addition to the trip.

When we got to Dubuque the first place we went was the museum because we were early for our hotel check-in. They had a great exhibit about how sand and other things get picked up in the rivers and carried down; Gabe was quite the expert after to listening to the explanation. Malachi loved the fish. He just kept running up and pointing and exclaiming in his wordless way.

They had a section where you could feel stuff, and each of the boys touched a crawfish. They also had a tank of sturegons that you could pet (and I say pet because they were very funny, like dogs trying to get a good petting). Gabe put his hand in the tank but got scared. I should say that you have to put your hand in and wait because they don't like sudden movements so it takes awhile before they'll come to you. And these were huge, sort of scary looking fish. I had trouble waiting too. But I tried again and was able to touch one...it was a big high. Conquering fear and all that. Chi would have gladly gotten in the tank, he was just pointing and splashing, but they stayed away from him...too much movement. Chi also wanted to pet the alligators, but they were behind glass.

We also got to tour an old steam boat; everyone enjoyed that. Gabe asked the guide a good question, so the guide helpfully pointed out all sorts of stuff to us even though it wasn't the guided tour time. I loved the captain's bed, the desks, the chairs, basically I was wishing I could furniture shop the boat.

The water park was a lot of fun. They had a tree house like structure with cargo nets and steps and slides and water shooting out of everywhere. Gabe had no fear with the water slides. I asked him the first time, "Do you want me to go with you?" He put his hand up, "No, mom. I can do it myself." They had a small kids pool which was good for Chi, but he loved the water raining down in the tree house part too even though he was too small to climb up it. It was definitely enough to wear them both out. Chi kept flirting with all the lifeguards, even the teenage boys were falling all over him. Every time we were near a lifeguard Chi would start trying to show off until they cooed over him. We are thinking of making him a shirt that says on the front I ♥Lifeguards and on the back And Lifeguards ♥Me.

We also had very nice weather, so we were able to walk on the riverwalk. We also walked into the historic downtown area for lunch one day, but we found the food overall to be a disappointment. But food aside, it was a great getaway!