Branson 2010

We decided to take a break from all the painting and projects and spent May 14th-May 22nd on vacation in Branson, MO. Branson is 13 hours from Michigan, so in order to break up our trip and as an excuse to visit Trevor's Uncle and his family we spent the weekend in Bloomington, IN. We had a fun time with them, as they are great with the kids and spoil us with good food. They have 11 acres of land including a stocked pond complete with paddle boats and a beach. The girls had a chance to go fishing and both caught fish. Kianna's fish was so large it almost pulled her into the water with it, but as she likes to say "I was too strong". I think their cousin Broderick may have saved the day on that one! The girls also had fun riding on the paddle boats and feeding the fish with Aunt Tracy. Trace's highlight was most likely playing with the curtain rod he found and drug all over the house. I guess he is easily amused!

We drove the remaining 8 hours to Branson on Sunday. The kids are pretty good travelers overall. Kaylee keeps herself busy in the back row watching lots of movies, reading books, and coloring. We barely know she is in the car. Kianna has a little problem with asking "Are we there yet?". In order to deal with this we have begun giving the girls $1 each at the beginning of the trip and every time she asks the dreaded question she owes us $0.10. It is amazing how motivating a little money is. She went from asking every 5-10 minutes on the way to Iowa to only asking 3-5 times on the way to and from Branson. I guess our little trick is working. Thanks Jamie for giving us this idea! It is funny though because the girls are pretty smart and have begun trying to ask the question in different ways to avoid losing money. It is cute. Trace is not the greatest traveler. He doesn't take his usual naps and instead fusses. He just really doesn't like being restrained in his car seat, but we manage. It isn't anything a little "Praise Baby" and snacks can't cure. Well at least for part of the time...

We met Trevor's parents and sister, Sam and her family in Branson. His parents rented a 4-bedroom house for all of us to share as a way of celebrating their upcoming anniversary. We had a great time with our family. Here are a few of our highlights:

• Getting duck whistles while riding the ducks.
• Dixieland Stampede- We had a great time watching the show and the food was super yummy. Thanks Bob and Becki for treating.
• Silver Dollar City- We got a two day pass to SDC. I was surprised at how much fun we all had there! The girls had a blast riding the rides with Kaylee's highlight being riding a medium sized rollercoaster. She was a bit hesitant at first but afterwards had a huge smile on her face and ended up riding it 3 more times. Kianna's favorite ride was the little rollercoaster. She road it multiple times. It was the first rollercoaster she had ever ridden. She was pretty proud of herself. Trace was only big enough to ride a couple rides and the ones he did ride he was none too thrilled with. In fact, he cried through both of them. Trace's favorite activity of the day was playing in the ball area. It was a really neat 3-story complex in which older kids were on the upper two levels shooting balls out of air guns. The balls fell to the first level where Trace had a blast playing with them and having the vacuum suck them up. Fun times! Trevor's favorite ride was one he went on with Mike that went in circles while going up and down a pendulum. My favorite ride was Tom and Huck's Water Adventure. We all were on a raft floating down a creek. We had waterguns in front of us to shoot at people along the walking path. They also had waterguns to shoot at us. It was basically one huge watergun fight. We all left drenched and were laughing hysterically. It was so much fun!
• Small Umbrellas- We told the girls they could pick out one thing from Silver Dollar City as a souvenir. They both had there hearts set on some adorable umbrellas which came in two sizes. The large size would be perfect for them to use on a rainy day and the small size in my opinion were cute but useless. So which umbrella do the girls choose to buy, the little ones of course. Despite multiple attempts on my part to convince them that the large umbrellas would be much more useful I was unsuccessful. Not even the downpour of rain could convince them otherwise. They had their little hearts set on small umbrellas so they could use them for their dolls. For the record, I have not seen them played with yet since returning from Branson. However, they are cute and are each personalized with their names. Silly girls!!!
• Titanic Museum- Upon entering the recreated ship each passenger was given the name of someone who had been on the actual boat. It was neat seeing the actual rooms for the various classes of passengers. I really enjoyed walking up the stairway just like in the Titanic movie. The girls thought the museum was really boring other than being able to slide down the different inclines showing what the angles felt like at different times while the ship was sinking. They also enjoyed sticking their fingers in the cold water representing how cold the water was the night the ship sank. We each found out our passenger's fate prior to exiting the ship. All of us survived other than Trevor, who sadly died just like many men that fateful night. Kaylee's passenger was "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" so we all knew she would survive.
• Dinosaur Museum- Now this was the kids' idea of a museum. No stopping to read signs, they just glanced at all the large dinosaurs that had been recreated and walked/ran quickly all the way to the end. At the end of the path was a fossil dig, which they all enjoyed finding what was hidden underneath the sand.
• Swimming- The kids had fun swimming in the indoor pool.
• Spending time with family- The kids all had a great time playing with their cousin, Bryker. He is such a cute little guy with a fun personality! Trevor had fun going to two "guy" movies with Mike and his dad. I had fun shopping on several occasions with Sam and Becki. I found some cute workout clothes, so was pretty excited about that. Trevor and I taught Becki, Sam and Mike how to play Peanuts, a fast card game my family enjoys playing. They were good sports, but apparently not into speed games...
• Branson Landing- A really neat area filled with shops and restaurants right on the river. It is a beautiful area and we had a great time eating there several nights.

We got a little adventurous on Saturday and decided to drive all 13 hours back to MI in the same day. It was a little sporty, but we made it. I think we both agree that 13 hours with 3 little kids is definitely our MAX. It was a great vacation, but as always it feels good to be back home. Boxes here we come...