It has been a few weeks since I blogged, first because I had a summer cold that knocked me out for a week, but before that we were on a family vacation that was AMAZING! I won't bore you with the sad facts about my cold, or tell you how many packs of Ricola cough drops I went through (admit it, you are saying "RiiiiColaaaaaaa" now, like the commercial.) Because as much as I love keeping things real, the most exciting part of my week of coughing and hacking was finding a three pack of tissue boxes with Minions on them and see, I just told you that fun fact and now there's nothing else to share. So instead, let's talk about our weekend at Crystal Springs Resort in Vernon, NJ.
This resort is nestled in Northern New Jersey, surrounded by hills and mountains and beautiful landscaping. And hey, look, a vintage truck!
The resort includes several pools with hot tubs, slides and the favorite with my family, "The ONE with the ROCK." Everyone jumped off.
And when I say everyone jumped, I mean that I jumped too. And yes, my son took my picture when it happened. And no, I am not sharing it. No one needs to see my middle aged self in a swimsuit, mid-air, screaming. But I will share the reaction of the little ladies who were watching me. Haha, they were appalled I think!
While the kids loved THE ROCK, I have to admit that I loved the infinity pool more. This one is located at the Grand Cascades Lodge and is accompanied by a vortex pool - basically the same as the old whirlpool you used to make in the backyard above ground swimming pool, remember those? There was also a slide, and a bar. Not a bad place to spend the afternoon.
Right in the same area, they have their wedding venue, which looked AMAZING. We got to see them setting up for a wedding, and I have to admit that I wanted to just sneak down to photograph some details because it all looked so beautiful. I settled for this shot, taken from the pool area.
We had a great dinner, work related for my hubby. A wonderful lady named Laura always takes care of Oliver's special dietary needs and since we have been there before, some of the wait staff even remembered us from last year. We are somewhat memorable, lol. Of course, the food draws the family together for a minute so I actually got a photo of the whole crew. Miracle!
A little fun on the lawn at Minerals.
I have to mention some of the activities they have. Besides several spas, horseback riding, swimming and golf, they have this game called Knockerball. Oh my goodness, this looks like so much fun! You can sign up to play at the resort. I wish we had made the time to at least watch a game of this, but sadly we missed it. We did, however, get to try out some of the equipment they had tethered outside on the lawn. Even hubby got into it.
And of course this guy always has to throw in some gymnastics.
Another fun option we explored - Archery! For everyone out there who has a Hunger Games fan in the family, this is a must do. We signed up and took the shuttle to the quarry for a morning archery class (age 10 and up). What a gorgeous location! You can fish here too.
My older boys loved competing with each other. I won't say who won. Neither one of them ever used a bow before but they managed to hit the target every time after a short lesson.
After our trip to Crystal Springs, it was rough coming back to reality. We enjoyed the food (the drinks), the spa, the pools and lots of activities. The good news is that this resort is so close to home, we can go again soon! Already looking forward to next time.