Fun Family Weekend

We spent a great weekend in Branson.

Friday evening we saw the "3 Redneck Tenors" show. (It was good... and gave us a little taste of what we would see later at Silver Dollar City. You'll see what I mean.)

We stayed at the Port of Kimberling Suites in Kimberling City (a tiny suburb of Branson). The next day I toured the marina property and the owners were nice enough to let us take one of their boats out. Unfortunately we didn't bring our fishing poles and it was too cold to swim. So we just cruised the lake.

Daddy taught the girls how to drive the boat. Notice how, after a short time, Allyson is telling Nicole "Go back to the right," as if she's the expert on driving a boat. (Little did we know...until later.)

Then it was Allyson's turn to drive the boat. Things got a little interesting here.

The next night we moved into one of the cabins. The picture is a little blurry (and messy) but you get the idea. There's a small bathroom in the hallway and a small bedroom in the back. In the front there is a deck with a small barbeque and firepit.

The girls were so excited about having their very own loft.

The next day we just relaxed in the morning and then went to Silver Dollar City. The girls love going there. Today was a perfect day with hardly anyone there. The weather was a little cool but definitely not cold.

As we were entering the park, we had a rather obvious reminder that we are living in the Ozarks and, sometimes, the stereotypes do hold true. Sorry guy, but when you dress like this you're just asking to have your picture taken ... and not in a good way!

It is Harvest Fest at SDC and they have tons of craftsmen there. One guy was building sand sculptures. It was unbelievable. He'd been working on this one for about twelve days.

After looking at a few shops we hit the kiddie rides. We were surprised to find that Allyson is now tall enough to ride some of the bigger kiddie rides...with an adult. And Nicole can ride by herself on all of the kiddie rides! That means we ALL got to ride the swings.

Warning: this video may make you sick.

Daddy got Dumbo duty. But he didn't seem to mind.

And, I don't know how, but Nicole roped us all into riding the Racing Regata. I can't believe Allyson was big enough for it and that she actually liked it. And I can't believe Britt and I didn't puke. 

(I didn't have a chance to take a picture but this is from the website.)

Allyson can ride this one by herself but she couldn't seem to figure out how to work it. 

So big sister helped. 

The kiddie coaster is one of Nicole's favorite rides. But it hasn't always been that way. A couple of years ago she freaked out as everyone was boarding and we had to get off. Now she loves it, can ride by herself, and thinks she is pretty hot stuff. 

(She's in the second car. You can see her better if you click "watch on YouTube" and see it full-screen.)

 I rode a couple of rides with the girls but Daddy won the trophy. After the swings, teacups, two times on the elephants, the racing regata, and a second trip on the swings, he was definitely done. And Allyson was not happy. Notice how she figures out a way around the problem. (It didn't happen, though.)

We can't end on this unhappy note. How about this quick little jig from the Barn Dance?