Branson Trip

Hey, y'all!  I, finally, weeded through the hundreds of pics that I took of our short, little trip, to Branson, Missouri, earlier this month and wanted to share a few of them, with you all, today.  Ezekiel had a homeschool band event the Friday evening before we left.  So, we got a really late start to the drive and arrived, at our destination, at Table Rock Lake, in the wee hours of the morning, on Saturday, October 1, 2016.  We didn't let our lack of sleep, however, stop us from getting an early start, to Homeschool Weekend, at Silver Dollar City.

Kaden was tall enough to ride many of the attractions with an adult.  Although, I wouldn't have taken him on Fire in the Hole, if I'd known anything about the ride.  We didn't think anything about it, being as he met the height requirements; but there were a few too many steep drops, and because it was dark, you couldn't tell when they were coming.  He didn't cry; but while he wanted to go on all the other rides again, when asked, even though he said it was fun, he did NOT want to try that one again.  He still talks about it.  He says, "I got wet.  Mommy got wet.  Daddy got wet.  Adina got wet.  Ezekiel got wet.  Bumpy, bumpy.  I fall down.  Scared me."  Poor baby! 

Adina could ride just about anything she desired this year.  You may remember, from our trip to Worlds of Fun last year, that Adina was loving the roller coasters.  So, my hubby and I were looking forward to swapping off between riding with her and looking after Kaden; but you may also remember, especially from our last visit to Silver Dollar City, that Ezekiel refuses to ride any more roller coasters.  Well, he got into her head on the trip down there this year; and we were only able to convince her to go on one.  Don't get me wrong.  It was PowderKeg.  So, it was a doozy; but my hubby got to go, and then, she wouldn't ride any more.  Sigh.

Oh, well, we still had lots of fun riding the other rides...

and visiting the vendors...

and we had to pry everyone, especially Kaden, out of the ball house, in Fireman's Landing, in order to take a special, informational, train ride, for all the homeschoolers, to end the day.

We stopped for dinner, at Pizza by the Chef, on the way back to our cabin; and while the pizza was pretty tasty, the service was horrible!  Y'all, we were there nearly two hours and left just as quick as we could swallow our pizza, as it was late when we stopped and long past my kiddos' bedtimes by the time we left.  It came highly recommended, especially for their vegetarian selection; but I was unimpressed to say the least.  It was brutal watching the wait staff take thirty minutes to clear a table, and it took nearly that long to even get glasses of water for our table.  Ugh!  Plus, the live music was so loud, we couldn't hear one another speak across the table.

We didn't let it ruin our day, though.  After baths and a good night's rest, we got ready for another day at Silver Dollar City.  We started the day with a tour of Marvel Cave, which we understood, beforehand, to be different from last year's tour; however, it was the same.  The only difference was that we chose to let my hubby stay above ground, with Kaden, this year; and I actually got to hear what our tour guide was saying.  LOL!

We got to visit more of the shops on Sunday.  Ezekiel and Adina took a taffy-making class, which ended up being the same demonstration any visitor can see, and got a bag of taffy to take home, which they loved...

as well as dipped their own candles; and Adina got to weave a bookmark, while the big boys rode a few rides.  All in all, we weren't impressed with all the "homeschool classes"; but we love Silver Dollar City!  I swear their staff must have to take a friendliness test, before they get hired.  We only ran into one unfriendly person, in two days, in the entire park; and we couldn't have asked for any more perfect weather for the weekend.

Oh, and I couldn't resist throwing in this one of Ezekiel's ornery grin, while watching people's faces as they came down the five-story drop on American Plunge...

or this one of my cutie patootie just being a cutie patootie.  I swear that I'm going to put a brick on his head to keep him from growing up ;).

On Monday, we hung out at the lake, recovering, exploring, throwing rocks...

fishing, and swimming (yes, in October).

Our little cabin on the lake wasn't anything special; but it freed us up to just be a family and relax, and the views were breathtaking.

Tuesday brought hot pancakes and bacon for breakfast and packing up, while we waited for our showing of Moses at Sight and Sound Theater to begin.  Gosh, I just can't say enough good things about Sight and Sound.  We're always so impressed with the overall production and friendliness of the staff.  This was Kaden's first trip, and even he was entertained.  It's, without a doubt, a must stop on any future visits.

It was late heading home, but we couldn't pass up Lambert's for dinner.  SO GOOD!

We were really hoping to make our stay in Branson the beginning of a week-long vacation to Oklahoma, as well; but while my hubby had the entire week off, the costs involved in an emergency appendectomy, ongoing issues with my hubby's Jeep, the continued need for a kitchen remodel, and even braces in our forecast, we chose to cut things a bit short.  It was still such a great week and nice to have my hubby's uninterrupted (Well, almost uninterrupted, work does have a way of not being able to leave him alone.) attention.  I'll be back tomorrow with this month's Friday Faves roundup.  Until then, thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a truly fantastic start to your weekends, friends!  Hugs!