Branson 2016

Happy Monday! Or something like that, right? 😉

The great thing about getting home from a trip on a Thursday is that by the time the weekend is over, you’re done with laundry, the kids are somewhat back on their regular schedules, and your house and life are in order. (Kind of!)

My only expectation for our trip to Branson, Missouri was to spend some good quality time with my family. I hadn’t been to Branson in years, but I wasn’t counting on it being an awesome “destination spot”. Little did I know, we were about to have the best week ever–filled with fun activities and new experiences.

The best decision we made was to stay at a resort called Stillwaters on Table Rock. Our condo was super nice, the pools were amazing, and there were so many activities for families. We honestly could’ve spent a whole week there, not even leaving the resort.

The pools were by far everyone’s favorite place to hang out. I bet the kids went down the slides a few hundred times each…

There was also a playground…

Miniature golf…(aka try not to let Nash attack anyone with a putter)

Cane pole fishing…
(the highlight being when my sister got slapped in the face with a fish…LOL)

And lots of fun marina activities…

Also: Cheetos breaks.

The only tough part about our stay was the sleeping situation. Or should I say, Nash’s sleeping situation. We shared a room with my sister and brother-in-law (bless them)…and Nash woke up in the middle of night 1, saw us all asleep in the room, and decided it was time to party. We tried to keep him quiet so he wouldn’t bother our roomies…so lots of silent movies and youtube videos it was. It was a looooong night, but thankfully got a little better each night after.

I guess when you’re up all night, you need a nap by 8:30!!

Our first outing as a family was to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. It’s a dinner show that’s part rodeo, part stage performances. You drink out of mason jars and cheer on your team (either the North or the South)…and all of the food is meant to be eaten without utensils. My favorite memory was seeing Arden’s face when they plopped a full chicken on the plate in front of her.  I still can’t believe she actually ate some!

She tapped me in the middle of the ‘southern belle’ song and said, “Can I please be in this show when I grow up?” So sweet!

Since this was the only time on the trip we got “dressed up,” we thought we’d better snag a family picture to document it. All smiles would’ve been nice, but I actually think I love the one epic meltdown more 😉

And now for the main event. Silver Dollar City! It was a pretty safe place, but we thought we’d bring security with us anyway…

The hills were kind of crazy, but at least the cancelled out the funnel cakes. (Or at least that’s what I told myself!)

And Nash was just mad we didn’t bring his cowboy boots with the big heels.

He was a total trooper, watching most of the rides from the stroller, but we were able to sneak him on to a couple of easy ones.

And then there was Arden. The rollercoaster riding machine. When did she turn into such a big kid?!?!

Chris took her on a legit rollercoaster called Thunderation…and she LOVED it. Let’s just say, she does NOT get that from her mother (who gets nauseous on carousels).

My mom and I took Nash on a train ride around the park–and he was loving it!

Until I looked over and he was fast asleep! I didn’t want to wake him up by putting him back in the stroller, so I carried this giant child around Silver Dollar City (apparently with my sports bra showing the whole time…yikes!) until my arms couldn’t take it anymore. That’s when we met my dad for a show at the saloon, and Nash slept through the whole thing–fake gunshots and all!

It started to rain around 2:00 that day, which is when Arden’s brand new souvenir came in handy!

Lucky for us, once the rides were shut down for 90 minutes, we were able to turn our tickets in for free ones. So we may just go back to SDC in the fall! Seriously…we loved it that much!

As much fun as we had out an about at all of these activities, I have to say the best part was just hanging out at the condo with my whole family. We see each other often, but there are always bedtimes and reasons to get home…but not this trip! The kids played a million games of rummy, we watching a million hours of Fox News (thanks mom and dad), and we made millions of memories together. “Maren’s hair salon” being one of them…

Thanks for the memories, Branson! We’ll be back!