Wax: Sun & Sand 2024 Box

 

Vendor; Kushner Kreations

Web; kushnerkreations.weebly.com

Facebook; www.facebook.com/groups/KushnerKreations

Owner; April Kushner

Sun and Sand Box

Non-Wax

Beach Ball (Not pictured)

Can Cozzy

Key Chain, Blood Orange Mai Tai Mix and a straw

Saltwater Taffy

Fly a Kite Perfume: A warm rich vanilla with basmati rice and soft sandalwood on a musky background

Turtle Bay Air Freshener: Pina Colada, White Sands, Frozen Fruit Bowl, Tangerine, Orange, Grapefruit and Lime

Wax

Sea Glass; Cherry, Orange, Lemon, Plum, Pineapple and Berry, Sea Spray, Vanilla Rum, Coconut and Ozone

Sapphire Sea: Fresh ozone marine notes which blend with romantic base notes of sheer musk and amber

Seashell Shore; Tropical Combination of Mango, Pineapple, and Coconut with Floral Notes of hibiscus, rose and violet

Starfish Stowaway

Salty Sunrise; Grape, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Apple, Pomegranate, Blackberry & Sugar

Coral Kiss: Acai Berries, Cherry, Plum, Violet Petals

Cabana Boy: Shaved Coconut and Vanilla Coconut Milk

Mermaid Tail: Juicy Watermelon, Grapefruit, Strawberry, Green Melon, White Lily, Ozone, Balsamic Vanilla and Fresh Woods

Sandy Feet: Dark Sweet Cherry, Violet, Sweet Coumarin, Pink Raspberry, Light Brown Sugar, Cotton Candy, Sensual Musk and a hint of French Creme

Overall Order Thoughts:

Everything was packaged nicely. Everything is also super cute!

Love that it's a mix between wax and non-wax items.

I don't like this peel and stick packaging. It's not my favorite. I also wish instead of the card the scent description would be on the label BUT that doesn't stop me from ordering.

Movie; Ricky Stanicky (2024) Caution Spoiler Alert

 Ricky Stanicky

Came out; 2024

Time; 1 hr 53 min

Watched: Prime

Rated: R for sexual material, language throughout and some drug content

IMDB Rating; 6.2/10

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Zac Efron as Dean

John Cena as Ricky Stanicky (Rod Rimestead)

Andrew Santino as JT

Lex Scott Davis as Erin

Anja Savcic as Susan

Jermaine Fowler as Wes

Story Line;

When three childhood best friends pull a prank that goes wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble. Twenty years after creating this "friend", Dean, JT, and Wes (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler) still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior. When their spouses and partners get suspicious and demand to finally meet the fabled Mr. Stanicky, the guilty trio decide to hire washed-up actor and raunchy celebrity impersonator "Rock Hard" Rod (John Cena) to bring him to life. But when Rod takes his role of a lifetime too far, they begin to wish they'd never invented Ricky in the first place

Thoughts:

This looked like a fun movie based on the previews. I generally find John Cena as a good actor. He's really fun to watch, although he really is starting to look like Ernst!

This was generally a good buddy comedy movie.

A chance meeting gives 3 friends a face to their fake friend who they've blamed all their troubles on since childhood. John Cena plays a bumbling idiot who pulls himself together to pull it off until one mistake is said.

All in all, this was a pretty good movie and gave me some hard laughs.

CAUTION; Major Spoiler Alert

Three childhood friends (Dean (Zac Efron), Wes (Jermaine Fowler), and JT (Andrew Santino)) prank one of their neighbors on Halloween Night (in 1999( by lighting a bag of dog feces on fire and leaving it on their doorstep. The fire spreads to the neighbor's scarecrow. Failing to put out the fire, Dean writes the name "Ricky Stanicky" on one of their costume pieces, leading police to believe that Ricky Stanicky, an out-of-town kid, was responsible for the prank. Twenty years later, the trio continued to use Ricky Stanicky as their excuse to forego life obligations and avoid getting in trouble.

JT and his wife, Susan (Anja Savcic), are about to have a baby shower, and Dean and his girlfriend, Erin (Lex Scott Davis), have been setting it up. Dean gets a call from "Ricky" (who is really Wes), claiming that his testicular cancer is back, and that he is alone in Albany, New York. Erin and Susan encourage Dean and JT to spend time with Ricky. In reality, JT and Dean received tickets to see Marc Rebillet in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On their flight, the trio turn off their phones, post something as "Ricky", and write in their Bible of Ricky Stanicky, detailing all of what "Ricky Stanicky" has done.

While in Atlantic City, they meet Rock-Hard Rod (John Cena), an actor and impersonator who sings sex-based parodies of popular songs. Rod is a major mooch, and soon the friends tire of him and want to be rid of him. Dean feels bad about how Rod was treated and apologizes to him, and this is when Rod gives Dean his business card. Shortly after, Dean learns that Susan went into labor six weeks early, forcing them to hurry back. At the hospital, the trio learn that Susan already gave birth to a boy named Whitaker. JT's mother-in-law, Leona (Heather Mitchell), does not believe Ricky Stanicky is real. Wes almost tells everyone the truth, but Dean pivots by saying that Ricky lied in order to celebrate being 5 years cancer-free with his best friends. Leona tells the trio that Ricky is invited to Whitaker's Bris. It turns out that Wes has been using the Ricky gig to score some alone time for himself (at the pot milk farm) away from his partner Keith (Daniel Monks). Wes also told Keith that he dated Ricky (who he said was a bi), just in case he needed an out with Keith. While Wes believes that it is time for them to come clean, Dean decides to hire Rod to play Ricky Stanicky. The guys had a "Bible" on Ricky which had notes on every lie they told to their families about stuff they did with Ricky and share the same with Rod to bring him up to speed.

At the Bris, Rod impresses everyone with his personality and knowledge as "Ricky", including Leona, Carly (Erin's cousin), and Ted Summerhayes (William H. Macy) (Dean and JT's boss). Ricky riles Ted when he calls him an old school banker who works to make rich people richer. But Ted is also impressed when Ricky displays his knowledge of Ted's upcoming merger with World River. Ricky gives his stamp of approval to the merger. When Rod gives the trio the impression that he personally knows Carly's ex, Gary Polisner, they decide to drug Polisner with a Ketamine pill, but the Rabbi eats the pill instead. During the circumcision, the Rabbi Greenberg (Jeff Ross) has a reaction to the Ketamine, leaving Whitaker half-circumcised. Ricky uses Summerhayes' cigar cutter to complete the circumcision, causing everyone to celebrate.

The next day, Summerhayes reveals that in preparation for their merger with World River, a major company from San Francisco, he has hired Ricky Stanicky for $250,000 per year to advise on the World River deal. Dean and JT are angry as this is more than what they make. Erin also drops by, revealing that she scored a reporting gig for a local news channel's "Hero of the Week" segment, and is pursuing a story on Ricky and his alleged humanitarian efforts.

Dean & JT plan to get Ricky fired to get him out of their lives. Dean sets up Ricky to present his game changer idea to Ted for the World River merger. Summerhayes decides to start a charity organization per Ricky's suggestion and makes Ricky the head of the World River merger, replacing Dean. Ricky also tells Ted that he has an "Air-Dicking" habit when he gives presentations. Ted realizes that nobody listens to a word he says as they are distracted by his mannerisms on stage. Ted promotes Ricky as he believes Ricky tells him the truth. Rod has no idea about the merger and begins to record Dean to ask for advice. In anger, Dean tells him that he is Rod, not Ricky. Rod reveals that he legally changed his name to Richard Barbara Stanicky and tells Dean that he is thankful for being given a new life. Rod says that he cannot go back to Atlantic City as he will be killed for some things he did (including being in debt to some mafia types), which he doesn't remember as he was drunk. Dean is depressed, as he is going to lose his job and relationship with Erin once Ricky is proven to be a fraud.

The next day, there is a party between Summerhayes' company and World River, where they intend to watch the premiere of Ricky's "Hero of the Week" segment. Erin meets with Dean and tells him that she knows Ricky Stanicky is Rock-Hard Rod. Erin is heartbroken and says that it is too late for his apologies now. At the party, Summerhayes introduces Dean, who confesses to all the guests that Ricky Stanicky is fake, apologizing and promptly leaving the party.

The "Hero of the Week" story begins playing, and Rod tells the reporter about how he met Dean, and how the Ricky Stanicky Bible made him realize that he needed to change his life. As Summerhayes is about to fire Dean, the World River executives approach Summerhayes and enthusiastically approve of his choice to hire Ricky, ready to agree to a merger. Summerhayes asks Dean his thoughts, and they agree to the merger.

After learning the truth about Ricky, Susan tells JT he has to camp in the backyard for six months as punishment. Erin reveals to Dean that she decided to pursue the story about Rod becoming Ricky. Dean asks if she can forgive him. Erin states it will be difficult, but hearing Ricky's recording of Dean talking about his love and appreciation for Erin helps. At the party, Ricky tells the trio that Carly is now his fiance, and that they are all going to work on cleaning the environment on the weekend.

During the credits, videos and pictures are shown with Ricky and others cleaning, Carly donating her hair to children, Wes becoming a published author, JT brushing his teeth outside near his Porta-potty while Susan and Whitaker watch, everyone posing at Dean and Erin's wedding, and a viral TikTok remix made with Summerhayes' comedic jerking motions at various conferences.

House on the Rock

 The House on the Rock

5754 State Road 23

Spring Green, WI 53588

House on the Rock - Wisconsin Attraction | Resort | Golf (thehouseontherock.com)

Date of Visit May 16 2024

Tickets at the door:

Adult (18+) $33.95

Junior (7-17) $17.95

Child (6 and Under) $4.95

You can purchase tickets at a discount online. We save $22 with our group of 13. You will also need tokens!

There are also different ticket options, the prices above are for the Ultimate Experience which is access to the whole house and all 3 areas.

They do have hotels. The have a hotel for families and a resort for adults. If you book a stay they do give you tickets included.

They have season type hours so watch those on the site if you are planning on going. You will also spend a minimum of 3 hours here. This is literally a house in a rock, certain parts are outside and even inside the temperature varies. You will need good walking shoes, some of the floors are uneven.

All the information here comes from the site. It's harder to take pictures as several areas are really dark.

The Asian Garden and the Japanese Garden are outside and you will walk through them to get through the house.

You will start at The Alex Jordan Center which will tell you everything you need to know about this place. From old artifacts to stories. You will also find a map and the entrance to the attraction.

Section 1

The Gate House

A magnificent fireplace and dramatic stone walls dominate throughout, as does the Gate House Ensemble, a music machine that replicates a complete chamber orchestra

You will move quickly through this section, there really isn't much to see here

The Original House

The 13 rooms of the Original House are linked by common elements and moods – blue stained glass for a nighttime ambiance, or warmth and serenity from the sandstone hearth.

There is so much to see here, all the details of an actual house. It's a really neat experience

The Infinity Room

A room which extends 218 feet out over the scenic valley with over 3,000 pieces of glass.

This area scares me, you are so high up and there are no support beams under you. It will sway in the wind. It's a beautiful view if you can handle walking out here

After section 1, to get to section 2, you will have to semi backtrack.

Section 2

Mill House

Contains one of the world’s largest fireplaces and a glimpse of some of Alex’s special collections including dolls, suits of armor, antique guns and mechanical banks galore.

This area is a lot to see yet it takes no time getting though it.

Streets of Yesteryear

A stunning recreation of a 19th century street, the red-bricked avenues include a sheriff’s office, a carriage house and hundreds of antiques.

This area is truly a site to see, it's like little shops that you can look it. Everything in here is perfectly set up and the cobblestone floor gives you that feel of walking though a street.

There are opportunities to use those tokens I told you about, but my advice is to skip putting them in these, although super cool they aren't as exciting as what's to come.

Heritage of the Sea

Over 200 model ship displays, a Titanic display, and a 200-foot-tall sea creature that is as long as the Statue of Liberty is tall.

This area is crazy! It will have you thinking “How did they do that” the entire time. Once you realize that all the ships are models, that someone had to put them together your mind will spin! This is a great area and you will probably spend some time here

P.S. It's too dark to get a good picture with the beast

Tribute to Nostalgia

Features vintage automobiles and other marvelous means of movement

You have to walk thought this area to get to the next. There really isn't much to see here and you can just keep walking. You will also have to walk through the restaurant to get to the next area. This is by design to get you to stop and eat

Music of Yesteryear

A dazzling display of music machines including the Blue Room with a mechanically operated orchestra and the overpowering oriental music of the Mikado.

This is where you could potentially spend all your time and tokens. I wanted to watch every single one of these. It's just amazing in here. Everything sounds amazing and it's just a neat place to be.

The Red Room: This area is part of the Music of Yesteryear however it's one room for a reason. You have an entire orchestra. There's sitting room, so sit down and enjoy!

Spirit of Aviation

Includes a sky filled with model airplanes and a display which highlights key moments in aviation history.

This seemed to be a quick walk though area, everything is a bit jumbled together here

Carousel Room

Two carousels are filled with handcrafted dolls in a variety of shapes and sizes. Each is imaginatively costumed and accessorized to create a mesmerizing parade of detail and delight.

Another room that's huge for a reason. You need a big room for a big carousel right?! Don't forget to look up. There's also benches here for you to sit and enjoy the sights!

Section 3

Organ Room

Featuring three of the greatest theatre organ consoles ever built, surrounded by walkways, bridges and spiral staircases

I referred to this as the Alice in Wonderland room. My kids were suddenly on the cat walk above me! This room has an attendant that will give you a bunch of amazing information. You will have to go back through this room to get to the next.

Inspiration Point

This rest area provides a view of the House on the Rock and its Infinity Room from below. Journey a long the outside walkway that provides an impressive new perspective of the Infinity Room.

We stopped here for bathroom use. You will need to go back through the Organ Room to get to the next area

The Doll Carousel Room

Two carousels are filled with handcrafted dolls in a variety of shapes and sizes. Each is imaginatively costumed and accessorized to create a mesmerizing parade of detail and delight.

This is smaller than the other carousel room, but this carousel is full of porcelain dolls.

The Doll House Room

One of the world’s largest collections of miniature doll houses with styles from Colonial to Victorian, each with meticulous, handcrafted details.

There are so many doll houses, so many shapes, sizes but all furnished and all the type that someone at sometime had to build. This area is crazy

Circus Room

All things circus, from miniature circus displays to the enormous circus wagon with an automated 40-piece band and an 80-piece orchestra. The pyramid of the elephants is also a long-time favorite.

Literally all things circus, so many circus related toys! Don't worry, if you don't like clowns, there aren't many. You will mostly see big tops and trains

The Galleries

The collections are exotic and gathered from all regions of the globe. They range from ivories to armories and feature unusual firearms, an armor collection and lavish crown jewels.

Ending Thoughts:

The pictures I've attached are from Google Images. It was dark inside and harder to get good pictures, even with the flash. We tried.

There are only certain areas that you can get to if you have major mobility areas. One of them thankfully is the music room.

This place is seriously in the middle of nowhere so expect no cell service. You will spend the majority of section 1 & 2 outside/inside and all the rest is inside. This entire place is beautiful and one of the attendance made a good point, “There's a fine line between genius and mad man” You will feel this walking though ever part of this.

It's also impossible to tell what's real and what's a replica. You will not know.

I would encourage everyone to go, take your time, touch everything (Because you can) and enjoy!

Wisconsin Dells Family Vacation 2024

 Wisconsin Dells Family Vacation

May 12-May 16 2024

6 months of planning

Only 3 hours in the car

13 People

We stayed in the 5 Bedroom Retreat Cabin at The Wilderness Lodge. We had 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room, family room and a full kitchen. It had an amazing deck and we were only close to one other cabin. We watched Deer and Turkey in the woods and the birds chirped all morning. The kitchen had everything we needed.

The Wi-Fi was super slow and it took almost 2 full days for the air conditioner to kick on. The entire cabin is in need of an update BUT it was perfect for everyone. We had a shuttle on demand to any of the onsite waterparks

They have 3 indoor waterparks. The two main parks are open every other day.

Klondike Kavern Waterpark

Bonanza Brook: a 400 foot lazy river

Thoughts: This is the laziest river ever. Most will have a great flow that will send you around. This one was terrible and you had to make your own flow

Bonanza Bluff, 50 play & spray features, a 750-gallon tipping bucket, a 20 foot body slide and a 4 foot side-by-side children's slide

Thoughts: We didn't really go into this one, however it's in the middle of the park. It looks really fun for younger kids

The Hurricane, extreme thrill slide, a 4-person family raft ride

Thoughts; First you will claim so many stairs to get to this one, by the time you get up your legs are burning! Second, this was super scary at least for me! That didn't stop me from going back up several times

Mine Shaft Drop, two twisting 300-foot body slides

Thoughts: Only one of these was open, the line design is terrible as you go up the same as another tube slide, but there are separate lines. It was super fun and the only body slide at this park

Claim Jumper Challenge, two 400-foot tube slides

Thoughts: Only one of these was open and this was the tube slide that shared a line with the Mine Shaft Drop. This was a super gentle slide but fun

Sulfur Springs, Indoor/Outdoor hot spa (No children under the age of six.)

Thoughts: This was nice and the indoor/outdoor was really nice, however the kids will swim in this, it's a bit irritating and I only went in once.

Ore Shoot, Indoor/Outdoor basketball activity pool

Thoughts: My kids, both big and small spent some time in this one. They had a blast! This area has an attendant that will blow the whistle

INSIDER TIP: Shortcut From Klondike Kavern to Wild WaterDome:
Look for the enclosed skywalk at the back of the Klondike Kavern (near the Hurricane stairs) that connects this park with the back of the Wild WaterDome. Avoid the hotel hallways and get there quicker for more fun!

Wild Water Dome

The Great Wave: The nation's largest indoor wave pool.

Thoughts: I didn't go into this, the kids that did said it really wasn't anything special

The Dueling Mammoths family raft rides

Thoughts: I walked all the way over from the other park and up the stairs to go on this one. It was really fun

Wild West Waterpark

Ransack Ridge, children’s play & spray feature

Thoughts: This looked the same as the other park with a different theme

The Black Hole is an adrenaline-pumping thrill slide with a big descent, followed by plenty of spins before you are dropped into the unknown

Thoughts: This was a single rider and a few people in our group were over the weight limit. This was the type of slide that shoots you into a bowl

High Plains Hot Springs, indoor/outdoor hot spa (No children under the age of six.)

Thoughts: Like the other one, people let their kids swim in this!

Fantastic Voyage, a 4-person raging raft ride

Thoughts: This was fun, it wasn't a thrill type slide

Twisted Trails, dueling tube slides

Thoughts: This was fun, you raced the person next to you.

Warped Wagons, dueling mat racers

Thoughts: This was a belly slide that you went down on a mat, it was fun if you don't mind all the water in your face.

We spent the most amount of time in Klondike Kavern just based on when we had waterpark time. We definitely purchased overly priced resort cup drinks and refilled them (They are really delicious)

We of course ate food. We went to traditional places like Hooters and the The Cracker Barrel, both which are always delicious. We did eat out at new to us places.

Buffalo Phils Grille

Train Delivered Food at Buffalo Phil's Restaurant in Wisconsin Dells (buffalophilsgrille.com)

This place is connected to Knuckleheads and it's an easy walk through to each place. We only ate here.

A member of our group found this place via tick-tock videos as the atmosphere is very neat. There are lego's everywhere and they literally have a train that brings most drinks and food.

You will pay tourist area prices for this place and get mediocre service and food. I wish we would have gone in for just drinks as the drinks and lego's were amazing.

Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty

Home - Paul Bunyans - Wisconsin Dells (dellspaulbunyans.com)

We ate here on our way out of the Dells. I had low expectations and I don't normally eat breakfast. Since you have to pay before you can sit and it's all you can eat I dove right in.

I was not disappointed at all! This place is delicious and it's not pricey. You eat at picnic tables and all the food is served family style so you pass bowls aren't.

They have an amazing gift shop that I got the best squirrel from!

Downtown Dells Activities

Olde Abe's Old Time Portraits

Old Time Photos Wisconsin Dells | Old Abe’s Old Time Portraits WI (oldabes.com)

With many old time photo studio's to choose from we came here. We had the most amazing time and the staff was super friendly. This place is pricey as I'm sure they all are but 100% worth it

Top Secret Attraction

This is part of Mount Olympus Park. The sign claims “$5” and there is a reason why it's only $5 as you will get through this in 5 minutes. The coolest thing is the transformers in the parking lot. Don't waste your time, it's dirty, the floors are uneven and half the lights don't work.

Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf

Pirates Cove (piratescovewisdells.com)

We went mini golfing with a group of 13 and choose the hardest course.

This is a very reasonably priced place with about 4 or 5 different courses to choose from. We had a great time and it wasn't busy at all.

Alligator Alley Adventures

Alligator Alley Adventures

I wanted to start by saying this place was super suspect. The lady working was very friendly and knowledgeable. It's very small and they have about 16 alligators in the smallest tank ever. In fact, almost all the animals are in too small of tanks.

You can pay extra to feed the alligators and some snakes. They have a two headed snake which was interesting.

It's a very short attraction that doesn't cost too much to go through however I'm on the fence as to weather we should have supported this place with admission.

We went out to Go Cart. We understood that we were here during off season and everything wasn't open yet, however one place in particular stated they were open, verified by owner 7 days prior, we drive over and they were in fact not open. I'm talking to you Yeti Yard!

Adare Go Carts

They advertise as the “Fastest carts in the area”, they were indeed pretty fast and super fun! It was about $6 and we paid for double. They let us ride for over our 10 minute limit!

The carts are good sized for both tall and shorter people, they are comfortable and ride very nice. The course is also super cool

Big Chief Go Karts

These were open and also very reasonably priced. The track wasn't as big as the Adare.

These carts were a bit harder to drive for both short and tall people.

The day we left the Dell's, we drove to The House on the Rock. I will have a separate entry for this as I feel it deserves it!

Ending Vacation Thoughts:

We planned this as a group with some of our kids friends. This was all fine however there was some turmoil before hand that carried over a bit during. All in all it wasn't too bad and everyone was able to get along for the week.

We chose the Wilderness because they have cabins. It doesn't appear that any other resort has this option. They have several different options. The one we chose was only next to one other cabin of the same type. It was secluded otherwise and the woods were our backyard. It was super cool to watch deer just walk through.

We had access to a shuttle to all the things available in the resort. We called, told them how many people and where we wanted to go and they picked us up and dropped us off. It was really nice, although dispatch was something else! They always sounded like we were bothering them when we called for the shuttle, the drivers were always super cool.

We drank the overpriced drinks and enjoyed every second of it!