We headed out of town for long 3-day weekend to Branson.
We originally booked this trip back in Spring Break – but the weather was cold/miserable so we decided to wait until the weather warmed up in the Spring. But who would have thought, in May, it would be pouring down rain and SNOW? Seriously. The weather has put a serious damper on the weekend activities…but not our spirits.
The best of trips just involve spending time together. My sister, Chelsea, and her family also came with. The kids were all instantly entertained and loved all the cousin time they got to spend together.
Here’s some memorable moments shared together:
Silver Dollar City
Anthony and Tanner braved the cold, rainy weather to visit this fun amusement park that is literally a blast from the past. The park transforms to life 100 years ago—and all the works are dressed in costume and activities centering around it.
Tanner’s favorite part was the roller coaster. This was the first time Tanner was tall enough to ride a “real” roll coaster. We honestly thought he’d be scared out of his mind, but Anthony kept talking it up and telling him how much fun it would be. Tanner totally agreed! While teenagers and even his older cousin Avery were freaking out and some even crying, here was Tanner enjoying every moment!!
Later that afternoon, I asked him what he thought of it. His response says it all “It was AWESOME! It’s like a train ride gone crazy. We went down these HUGE drops --it felt like my wee-wee was going up, even though we were headed down!” That’s one way to explain it…
Tanner also was so excited to tell me all about the cave—with real BATS! They climbed down the 600 steps to go on a tour of the Marvel cave. Tanner held on tight next to the 200 ft drop off points in the cave, but was absolutely amazed when the sleeping bats woke up [he’s totally into Batman right now—and this just fed his excitement even more]. He was totally exhausted after all the stairs/walking, but luckily, there was Daddy to help, and a lil cable train at the end that takes you the rest of the way up – and Tanner was shocked they knew their way back :) 
Anthony also had a good time – he LOVED seeing the cave as well – but he still says his favorite part was the train ride they went on where the workers totally stumbled over their rehearsed lines. Oh the simple things in life that make us all laugh :)
Brooke and I decided to stay back at the condo. It was her nap time – and it was on/off raining/snowing the entire time. When she woke up, was amazed she had the whole place to roam by herself. And once she found the remote, she was in HEAVEN! She sat there, all smiles, changing the stations, adjusting the volume, doing whatever the heck she wanted with it– a simple luxury Tanner would never let her have at home!
Still Waters Resort
We rented a really nice 2 bedroom condo overlooking Tabletop Lake and tree covered mountains. Scenery was beautiful!
When we got to the hotel room, the kids were so excited to be staying somewhere completely new. They checked out every nook and cranny, and were shocked when they found an edition of the “Holy Bible” in the nightstand. The favorite hangout spot proved to be the whirlpool tub in the master bath – followed closely by the murphy bed that folds down from the wall.
Perfect for these two lil monkeys. And yes, they did get to JUMP on the bed.
Uncle Brandon also happened to find a few “lumps” in the bed , but turned out to be a few misplaced kids, hiding in their “fort” of sorts.
Originally – we were looking forward to hanging out by decked out pools with slides and renting some wave runners on the lake, but the weather was way too cold. Instead, we went exploring in the lake on the paddleboats. The last day the weather cleared up, making it nice enough to enjoy some outdoor time.
The kids also liked feeding the ducks, it was too hard to resist when we saw them outside our patio all day long.
And while we didn’t get to use the pools, we played a few games at the local clubhouse.
Joseph
One night, the kiddos went to bed earlier and Chelsea and I got to go see this show. Of all the hundred live shows in Branson, this was rated #1 so we had to give it a shot. For some reason, I was thinking it was “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat” Broadway show, but this was a totally different play – as the sales lady informed me, based upon the actual biblical account of Joseph and his brothers. While I appreciated the spiritual touch and the awesome special affects – which included live animals on the stage, I would have preferred a better scripted songs and singing. It had be questioning, where is Donny Osmond?
The best worse part was the group of 20+ old women sitting behind us, one of whom was CONSTANTLY saying, Oh yeah!, Yes, Yes!, or Amen! to every single line spoken. Maybe I’m not use to this certain evangelical style of worship, but we’re not at church, so be QUIET already. Sheesh!!
Discovery Center – Children’s Museum
On the way down, we stopped off in Springfield for lunch and then headed to the children’s museum for a fun-filled activities.
Waterworks – anything involving splashing water is always a hit
Even Brooke could make this chair spin in circles!
Ever wonder was a Tornado going up to 80 mph would feel like – well, now they know!
Wind tunnel? Brook was loving it, and we just love the hair!
Want a drink? A bit perplexed at first, but then dives right in.
The budding scientist…father like son :)
Brooke touches anything she could get her hands on...and this proves it
World travelers. Tanner asked me later if Japan was a real place, and when I said yes, when we were going to visit. One day…
Instead, he’ll have to ask Uncle Kenneth all about it :)
We also loved watching Brooke “play house”, Tanner and Avery’s puppet show performance, Tanner forecasting the daily weather (if only he would have been right – we would have had sunshine!), walking through a MOUTH and learning about dental hygiene (Anthony’s personal favorite, of course, but having to point out every lil error – go figure!), and grocery shopping in the store. Pretty sure the kids could have played there forever, but we’ll definitely be going back. So much FUN!
Gotta love how my membership to Perot Museum get’s us in for free at every other science museum.
Road trip
Not that I would ever refer to the driving time, all 3.5 hours of it, as a highlight of the trip, but it always proves to have the the most memorable moments.
Brooke, this time, would NOT stop talking. She would incessantly repeat my name. “Mom, mom, maaaa-maaa, mmmmoooommm!” It was quite cute, the first 10 times, but after a 100, it got old. That’s when Tanner started pulling out the threats, “Brooke, you’re not going to get any BLUE ice cream” [a road trip tradition at Braum’s], or when she was repeating, “No mom, no. Mom, no!” Tanner declared, “Brooke do you want mom dead? Wouldn’t you be said? Stop saying that or you’ll be sad!”
But somehow we all survived…but the grace of higher power or junk food overload…we made it to our beloved destination.
But 3 days goes by way too fast. And we were pulling out and leaving town, Tanner, declared solemnly, “Branson, I’m going to miss you!”
One thing is for sure – we’ll have to go back again – and soon!
