THE GRAND GENEVA RESORT & SPA ANNOUNCES NEW DATES FOR SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

Grand Geneva is a great resort as it is but visit certain weekend this summer and you can enjoy some great music for free as well.

The AAA Four-Diamond Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, owned and managed by Marcus Hotels & Resorts, invites guests to revel in the sounds of the season during the second annual installment of the property’s Summer Concert Series. Held outdoors at the resort’s ski chalet, the season-long series offers lawn seating where guests can kick up their heels and enjoy a bevy of up-and-coming musical acts, including:

• Friday, June 28 – The Eddie Butts Band – a Midwestern favorite that plays a mix of soul, blues, and jazz classics.
• Friday, July 12 – Geoff Landon & The Wolfpack – Known for their powerful vocals, the band pays homage to today’s top musical acts and award-winning musicians.
• Saturday, July 13 – Bella Cain – This local country group brings their high-energy act to the Grand Geneva as part of their annual pre-concert event before Wisconsin’s Country Thunder festival. Concert goers will be able to enter for a chance to win sold-out Country Thunder Tickets, Brad Paisley Meet and Greet Tickets, and autographed guitar, and more.*
• Friday, August 2 – The South of Disorder Band – A suburban Chicago act that transports listeners to the islands with their renditions of classic rock standards from Jimmy Buffet. 

Doors open at 7 p.m. for each Summer Concert Series event, with live entertainment beginning at 7:30 p.m. Each concert will feature a variety of themed-menu offerings and drinks. Concert admission is complimentary for resort guests, and $10 for non-guests.

*For the Bella Cain concert only, doors will open at 6 p.m., with complimentary admission for resort guests, and $8 tickets for non-guests. Country radio station 106.1 will host a live broadcast from 6-8 p.m.; with live entertainment beginning at 9 p.m.

For more information or to reserve accommodations at the Grand Geneva, please call 800.558.3417 or visit www.GrandGeneva.com.

For more information on the latest news and updates from Marcus Hotels & Resorts, please visit: http://media.marcushotels.com.

About Grand Geneva Resort & Spa

Grand Geneva Resort & Spa is an award-winning all-seasons resort set on 1,300 acres in the legendary southeastern Wisconsin community of Lake Geneva, just 90 minutes from Chicago and 50 minutes from Milwaukee. The property features 355 guest rooms; WELL Spa + Salon; two championship 18-hole golf courses; The Mountain Top, a three-chair/18-run ski and snowboard facility; 62,000 square feet of meeting and convention space; three restaurants; and a 4,100-square-foot executive airport.

Grand Geneva recently completed property-wide renovations, which included improvements to all guest accommodations, the outdoor pool deck and WELL Spa + Salon, and the addition of Embers Terrace, an outdoor fireplace experience. For more information, please visit www.grandgeneva.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@Grand_Geneva).

I have not been compensated for this post.

Our Kalahari Resorts, Wisconsin Dells Stay Part 1

 Last Saturday I woke my kids up at 4:30 am and made them get dressed and get in the car, headed for an unknown destination.  I will regularly keep our plans secret from them just in case things fall through, someone gets sick, etc but we aren't usually driving three hours.  I have to say I was impressed with how well they did with the tight quarters (we took my compact car), long drive and early hour.

This photo is them seeing our destination...Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells.

There was a special little welcome at the front desk when we arrived.

And we had just a minute to check out our room before we had to go to breakfast.
We had a two bedroom, two bathroom suite.  This is the master bedroom.

 Check out the adorable towel elephant.

 The fabulous living area complete with a fireplace and large balcony.

 Master bathroom with large whirlpool tub that I tried out Sunday morning and didn't want to ever leave.  But having TWO bathrooms in a hotel was amazing.  I don't even have that at home and its so nice to have after getting back from the water park when everyone was wanting to change.

The second bath was small but plenty for the boys.

 We found some fun Kalahari shirts and toys waiting for us so we changed before we headed to breakfast.

We had a delicious breakfast buffet while hearing about the plans for our stay.

We preordered our lunch before we left breakfast.

 And then we were off to the waterpark. 

We were thrilled with Kalahari's indoor water park.  With a great wave pool (with a small play area in it), a lazy river, a huge water play area with about 8 small slides, a great play pool with floating lily pads and basketball hoops.  And Bryan's favorite was Tiko's Watering Hole which had a pint sized lazy river with small intertubes (with bottoms for the center) and small fountains and slides.  Of course there were also a TON of large water slides and the FLow Rider surf area.

After some free time in the waterpark we checked out the Flow Rider with their pro who took each of the boys out to try it despite their apprehension.  I MAY have bribed my kids with $5 for going on their tummy and $10 if they attempted to stand up.  They both did give it a go and used thier $10 to buy the photo of their ride.

 Timmy above, Johnny below

I was so proud of them for getting in there and givin it a try.  They originally wanted to go again but we ran out of time to do it right away and they were either too distracted or lost their nerve cuz they never made it back.

We then had lunch and a little more time to play in the waterpark before I hosted a twitter party poolside.

I will share about the rest of our stay next week.  But for now, if you'd like to stay at Kalahari Resorts, go enter my giveaway for a 1 Night Stay HERE.

Disclosure: Our family  was hosted by Kalahari Resorts in exchange for my posts. All opinions are my own.

KeyLime Cove Waterpark

As the snow continues to come down here in IL, we were getting a little cabin fever in our house.

It's been three LONG years since we've gotten to take a vacation and it SEEMS like its been that long since we've been able to play outside and run off some energy. So we took advantage of some deals at KeyLime Cove ("TV Special" and a facebook fan code) and packed up for a night.

We arrived around 5pm on Friday. It was pretty busy (my husband said an employee told him they were totally booked) but there were still tables in the water-park and plenty of room in all the pool areas. We spent about 3 hours Friday night in the water-park )before retreating to our rooms for some snacks I'd brought along.) The water park wasn't quite as big as I'd imagined. But it had an activity pool, with 6 or 7 basketball hopes in it. A large water playground (shown in the background of the first photo below) with several slides of variety sizes for kids. Plus tons of water guns and buckets to be dump on an unexpecting passerby. And of course the huge pineapple that dropped 250 gallons of water every so often!

They had 4 large water slides which none of us tried out, including 'the toilet bowl' which my brother in-law had tried on a previous trip and assures me was a ton of fun.

And a small lazy river that runs through a wave pool. The older boys LOVED the lazy river!! (Bryan wasn't comfortable in an innertube so he couldn't go.) And they ALL loved the wave pool. I spent MANY hours hanging with Bryan in the wave pool. (And I can still feel it my shoulder!)

They also had a small area, secured in a gated fence, with smaller wading pools and small slides.

And last but not least a large hot tub. I didn't make it in but my husband testes it out and assures me it was awesome! Maybe next time!

Saturday we were in the pool just after it opened at 10am and stayed until almost 6pm. The boys were all exhausted. Mission accomplished. Had fun, burned LOTS of energy and I think we may just be able to make it until the weather gets better now!!!

Edited to Add: Someone asked if my boys are good swimmers and if I thought KLC was a good place if they weren't. My boys can NOT swim. I guess I didn't get any photos of them in their life jackets but they were in life jackets the entire time, as it gave all of us some added security. But at 6 and 7 years old, the older boys could touch the bottom of any of the areas were in. I would say that I am a very nervous mom when it comes to my kids and water but once the boys thoroughly understood my boundaries (so I can see them, I have this issue water or not) I was really able to relax and just watch them have a good time. Because Bryan was happiest in the wave pool and that took some hanging on to him, I was a little sore from that but I was pretty confident that the older 2 were fine.

Here are a few photos of our fun. I didn't take many as I focused on just spending the time enjoying each other....