Yes, it's possible!
I know, because this is how my weekend played out!
Well, almost. It wasn't peaceful the entire time; my children are not perfect little angels. Nor do I expect them to be. But, even with the occasional grumpiness and meltdown, we still had a "beary" fun and memorable time.
Jellystone Park Camp Resort in Caledonia, Wisconsin is a fun, family-friendly place!
I overheard a lady say to one of the rangers this morning that out of all the Jellystone Park campgrounds she's been to with her family, this one was the best. She said she likes how the staff here is so friendly and really caters to families and especially to children.
Now my family and I have never been to any other Jellystone Park campground, so we can't compare. But we have been to other campsites and this one is, by far, our favorite!
One year, we visited Jellystone park about a month after visiting Disneyworld. And guess what?!
Yep, my girls all agreed that they had more fun at Jellystone! Seriously!
Maybe it's because our family really enjoys camping! Yes, even roughin' it and sleeping in a tent! Well, personally, I prefer sleeping in a hotel or a cabin... But my girls really do enjoy sleeping in a tent.
The nice thing about Jellystone is that you're not completely roughin' it here. This is the part where my Army brother-in-law shakes his head. When he camps, it's out in the deep woods - with no outhouses, much less bathrooms or showers.
At Jellystone, there are bathrooms and showers! Hallelujah!!!
They keep 'em clean, too! Yay!
They also have cabins with bathrooms for those of you who really do not care for any kind of "roughin' it".
Besides giving you and your family a healthy dose of the outdoors, Jellystone Park also provides a multitude of activities to keep your children entertained.
If you have little ones, they will enjoy waking Yogi Bear up. My youngest, who is now 7, still enjoys this. At 9:05, the children gather around Yogi Bear's cave (which is really more of a little house) and then they all yell as loudly as they can to rouse the bear. Once he's awake, a staff member helps Yogi read his mail and then the kids get to take photos with him.
At night, the children can tuck him into bed and read him a bedtime story.
If you have older kids, those two activities might generate some eye-rolls. My 11-year-old and 13-year-old are now too cool for the wake-up and bedtime fun. But they are absolutely not too old for Candy Bar Bingo!!!
A regular-sized candy bar buys you a Bingo card. And a Bingo wins you a stack of candy bars! Woo hoo! What makes it even more fun is the different versions that they play like Loser Bingo, Yogi Bingo, and Black-out.
My 7-year-old was lucky enough to be a "Loser!" During Loser Bingo, the staff member calls out a number and if you have that number on your Bingo card, you have to sit down. The last one to stay standing wins.
(We later used my daughter's Bingo winnings at Georgie Porgie's in Oak Creek which is a less-than-ten minutes drive from the campsite. We bought a quart of vanilla custard and then each of us chose a chocolate bar to use as topping for our custard. Yummm!)
Another activity my girls unanimously agree on is jumping on the jumping pillow. They could jump on it for hours! I guess it's the same appeal as jumping on a bed. Simply fun.
There's also the pool with water slides and a water balloon fight area.
There's a game room, mini-golf, archery, laser tag, giant chess, playgrounds... Like I said, a multitude of activities!
I almost forgot to mention the hay rides! This weekend, there were two - a "Wet & Wild" one and a glow-in-the-dark one. For the wet & wild hay ride, a select few rode around the campsite spraying campers. We were told to feel free to "fight back" and luckily, my youngest happened to have her squirt gun in the car!
Cindy Bear also made appearances throughout the weekend. My girls noticed that Cindy Bear usually was the one that showed up when there were sweets involved. Cindy Bear was the one who delivered milk and cookies to the campers that signed up for them. And she was the one who was there for the decorating of doughnuts and for the ice cream social.
Speaking of food, there is a snack shack onsite as well as an ice cream shop. There's also a coffee shop for those of you who need that caffeine nudge in the morning.
There are also a bunch of restaurants in Oak Creek. (Less than 10 minutes away, remember?) There's a Noodles & Company, Subway, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera, Papa John's, and also a Starbucks.
Now if you're like me, you'd want to point out that part of the camping experience is grilling your own food. True. But hey, if you get tired of grilling, there's no law saying you can't leave the campsite to get some food!
If you decide you want to stick with grilling though but then run out of food to grill, no worries! There is a full-service supermarket called Woodman's nearby. They've got meat, veggies, fruits, candy bars for Bingo, and liquor... Everything you need to get your camping party going!
Oh, while you're at Woodman's, might as well pick up some laundry detergent. I don't know about you, but I hate re-using wet towels! I know, I know, we can hang our towels to dry on a make-shift clothesline tied to the trees, but Jellystone has washers and dryers! Might as well use them, right?
Jellystone is a pet-friendly camp resort. They even have a little doggie park where you can let your canine companions run around.
What did I tell you?! Fun for the whole family!!!
Jellystone Park is a wonderful place for families, because it mixes the right amount of camping/outdoor experience with modern amenities and enjoyable activities. It may not be for die-hard, true-blue campers, but for those of us with little ones (and not-so-little ones), this is the ultimate place for family fun!
Life is short; enjoy it, enjoy your family, be a happy camper! :)
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