Branson Family Vacation

Every year, my parents take us on a week long vacation. This year, we chose to go to Branson, Missouri. It's a place we frequently visited when I was growing up, so it was really fun to be able to relive all my childhood memories with my own kids!

The first day we went to Silver Dollar City. All Abby wanted to do that day was walk which unfortunately she can't do independently yet. Luckily, there were enough of us, we could take turns!
Noah got to ride another train. There were plenty of kiddie rides (he loved the teacups!) and shops to browse through.

Noah loved the ball pit. There were vacuum hoses that could suck up the balls -- he got a kick out of that!



It was blazing hot the first half of the day, then in a matter of a few minutes, it cooled off and was incredibly comfortable! Then suddenly it started pouring on us! I don't think anyone complained though. It felt so nice after the heat! We crawled through the landscaping to find some shelter.

Here's one of my favorite parts of Silver Dollar City -- the winding and hilly streets.

Luke and Matthew participated in some kids games.....

The cabin we stayed in was beautiful! Every room had a big jacuzzi tub. The kids enjoyed bathtime more than ever! Abby would always drink out of the faucet.

I couldn't leave this picture out. Dad and Caleb (my brother) worked on bubbles for a couple hours seeing how big they could make them!

We spent a couple days on the lake. Cool Aunt Cindy has some friends with a lake house and a swimming dock. We rode in the boat, went tubing, and swimming all day. It was wonderful! The kids were stuck in their life jackets the whole time. But they eventually adjusted!

Noah and Luke went on the waverunner -- Noah was a big fan!

Luke lost his watch by toothpicking through the center of a tube. He came up with all kinds of contraptions and spent hours trying to retrieve it from the bottom of the lake, but all were unsuccessful. I think these pictures will always make me laugh!

Luke's big catch!

Here are the kids down at The Landing in front of the fountain show. I love the look on Noah's face!

There was a candy shop that had a train running around the top. Noah wasn't as interested in the candy, but the train -- that's what he wanted to see!

Noah's first mini golf experience.

The last night we all went to the Dixie Stampede. We cheered for the South and had a great time!

Noah's third birthday was on Saturday (the day we had to pack up and leave.) This was try number two for his birthday breakfast. The first time he threw up everywhere. But after an hour he felt better and wanted his cinnamon roll!

That's the brief version of our vacation. I seemed to speed through it the longer I typed! We had a wonderful and relaxing time and made some great memories!