Branson Fun

Well hell. I'm behind on this blog, but I needed to tell you about our Branson trip from November, so forgive my tardiness.. But here we go.. . So with that said, I'm going to give you some Things you need to do if you are taking a trip to Branson with Kids.. Keep in mind my girls are 5 years old..

1) Dolly's Stampede-- This is so much fun for the whole family. Its a little bit pricey, but for the price you get dinner and a show! They have Trick Riders, stunt riders, fun entertainment, and of course.. DELIGHTFUL food.. that you eat with your hands! So its a 4 course meal made of magic.. we started off with a yummy bread and soup, then Corn and Potatoes, Pork loin and chicken, and of course dessert.. Its way more than you can eat, but you will spend some good time trying, because the food is good! The girls loved the interaction that goes on with the announcer and Crowd, and they loved all the horse tricks.. They even got to meet Skeeter After the show! Cross was sad they didn't sell Dolly Parton Dolls, lol.. they loved the show. They also have a lot of times to choose from which makes it easy if you need an early bedtime.

2) Raiding the Country Vault--This is for all my Country Music fans.. of all ages.. This is one of those shows that I had not heard about and a friend texted me while I was there so we decided to go.. Man I'm so glad we did! This one was one of our favorites things we did while there! You are basically taken on a blast from the past of some of the legendary country music songs of all time.. and they are performed by stellar artists like Billy Yates, Eric Heatherly, Michelle Poe, and more! Here's the summary:

"Raiding the Country Vault brings the history of country music to life, featuring classics by the biggest acts, including, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell, Waylon Jennings, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Brad Paisley, and many more. Raiding the Country Vault tells the story of country music from the 1960’s to the 2000’s and is performed by an all-star cast, many of whom have had their own chart-topping hits, have written major hits, or who have toured with the biggest names in the business."

It was so good! The Girls loved it because they sang Dolly and Willie songs, and my mom and I loved it because it was ALL GREAT SONGS! So make sure if they are performing, you get to go!

3) Silver Dollar City--Christmas Version--This is so much better to do when its not fully crowded. Last year we went really late (like left to get there by dark, so like 4pm) and we ran into an hour of traffic, no parking places left, and a MILLION people.. This year we went on a Thursday morning and it was perfect! It was rainy, so we all bundled up and the girls literally got to ride every ride as many times as they wanted! We did all the rides they could do, and they loved the rollercoasters best! It was chilly, but really nice because there were no lines, and we just rode and rode! It was also still cloudy enough to see all the pretty lights. If you stay past dark you will get to see the Christmas lights parade which is awesome, but if not, its still fun to go and ride the rides and see the lights! 

4) SAMSON at the Sight and Sound Theater-- Oh man. The girls are STILL talking about this one, and its led to them being OBSESSED with Samson! If you haven't been to the sight and sound theater for a show you are in for a surprise.. Its literally a million watts of lights, a massive stage with live animals, and a wrap around stage that puts you RIGHT in the middle of all the action. It was over a 2 hour show and the girls were GLUED to it the whole time. Londyn had to have a Samson suit after we watched this, and she still loves telling everyone about the show and how much she loved it! All of the characters come to life, the stage comes to life, and everyone loved it.. they do different shows throughout the year, so don't miss this one.. 

5) The Lodges at Timber-Ridge-- This is the place we have stayed the past two years.. because they have Lodges.. so this way we can all stay together. We stay in a 3 bedroom lodge with 2 fireplaces, an amazing balcony, kitchen, dining, washer dryer, and more.. We LOVE this resort.. Now don't confuse this with just the WELK Resort.. they are right by each other, but we love the Lodge way more.. You also get access to the game room (That has a Playstation, ping pong, pool etc) and an indoor pool with a slide and water spray area. The girls loved this, and its a nice thing to have when you have some downtime before you go to evening or afternoon activities. SUPER fun! They also have a Christmas Elf that will come in and Read your girls a Christmas story, give them cookies and milk and tuck them in a bedtime. Super cute! 

Other fun things to do:.. We loved the Butterfly Garden, going downtown to all the Branson Landing Shops.. We went to Mels Hardluck Diner where all the servers sing, and thats always a good time.  We love the Drive Thru Zoo, & eating at Landry's.. We Also went down the Branson Coaster and the girls LOVED it. The Go-karts were closed, but everyone has told me those are super fun too. We had a Great trip! So if you are thinking Branson sounds "Old" or you won't have things to do with your kids, you will.. there is PLENTY to do. We went on a Tuesday Through Saturday and that was enough time to do all the fun things we wanted to do. We had a blast and my girls are the happiest when they are with us and grandparents, so its a win win for a trip like that if you are planning one in the future! 

Ok.. now that I'm caught up on Branson, I'll write a new blog about 2018 as a whole.. I've realized that as I'm getting older.. things don't work like they used to.. blargh.. More to come! 

Branson Vacation Magic!

Hey Everyone! We've been busy at my house.. A few weeks ago we all piled into Dolly (my Sweet Mini Van) and went to Branson with Gigi & Pa..

WE had an awesome time! Drive there was pretty and I'm not sure if I made us stop more to pee, or the girls.. but the beauty of having girls is I can blame it on them either way.. The girls watched Wizard of Oz and I read my book.. Overall not a bad drive with twin 4 year olds!

WE did a bunch of fun things.. But here are a few of the highlights.. First the place we stayed was incredible. IT was called The Lodges at Timber ridge.. From the Welk Resorts.. Holy Moly.. Awesome. 3 bedroom lodge/type place, 2 fireplaces, giant balcony, big Porcelain Tub.. I mean it was just beautiful and awesome..and we all loved it! The other great thing they had.. was tons of stuff to do, including a Christmas Elf that came to tell your kids bedtime stories, and gave them Cookies & milk! The girls loved that.. and even though the elf mispronounced "Rendezvous" (which made us laugh secretly at her because it was a rhyming story and she said "Ron-Dee-Voss).. she was still pretty awesome.. And the girls loved her. So that was amazing..

The Butterfly Garden was also great. We had bought a Groupon before we went, so it saved us a little money.. And we had a great time. Now, I realize in these pics the girls look like Snow White.. just welcoming Butterflies to land on and love them.. however, that was not entirely accurate.. Cross may or may not have swatted and ran from them at some point.. Londyn liked them pretty good and she was not bothered by them.. but Cross didn't like them swarming her (which they do b/c you are holding a nectar flower up to them) so there's that..

They showed a cool litter Monarch Butterfly Movie and the girls got some butterfly treasures that they liked.. Londyn is still talking about it..

Next Stop was the Drive-Thru Zoo.. (WHO KNEW).. The Drive Through Portion was not as awesome as the part where we got to get out. Cross got to see TWO huge live Owls.. which made her day.. Later that night when she was saying her Prayers she said "Thank you God for those owls".. lol.. We got to feed Kangaroos, Goats & Camels..

The weather was nice, so we just walked around and enjoyed the animals.. Next Stop was the singing Diner.. Mel's Hardluck Diner is in the Grand Village Shops, and the wait staff all sings songs while you eat.. Well one of the waitresses of course found Pa to sing too.. (this always happens to Steve.. they can sense fear and discomfort and go right for it) and the girls thought this was amazing.

Then we had to go to the giant Chair and let the girls sit in it.. (because thats what everyone who visits Branson does) 

We also happened to run into Santa and Mrs. Claus while we were there.. He was a really good Santa, and Mrs. Claus had Candy canes, so winning! There was a lot of times on this trip we heard "Are they twins?"..........Me-- YES.. "REALLY???".. We get that a lot.. 

WE saved one of our evenings for the Dixie Stampede.. Let me tell you Jordan was less than enthusiasitc about this.. He thought it was going to be a Dolly Parton Concert.. which would have been fine with me.. but we all had so much fun! The show was awesome, food was awesome, service was aweosme and the girls loved it! They bring you out chicken, bread, potatoes.. all to eat without utensils.. which yes, does get messy, but it was really good food! They did a really moving Nativity Story and some really funny horse-riding racing fun! It was great! 

The girls also got to sleep in a big Queen bed together which they thought was awesome.. I tell you, they may fight.. and tattle.. and everything else, but their sweet little bond makes my heart happy! Did I mention that our Lodge also had an Indoor waterslide? YUP! So Saturday we spent swimming and going down the giant waterslide 223 times.. I saw WE.. I mean Pa and Jordan.. Mom and I supervised from the side-lines.. But the girls had a blast with their daddy and Pa catching them at the end of the slide! 

Oh.. and did I also mention that we all dressed alike one day? Yeah.. how could I forget that magic!!! (Watch for matching PJ's at a later date) 

On Saturday we went down by Table Rock lake and looked at all the sites.. they had a Riverboat Party Cruise.. but it was docked because the wind was blowing really hard that day.. but it was pretty scenery.. the leaves were changing and everything looked pretty. We had pretty good weather the whole time we were down there.. 

The only Schmowy, ruiney portion of the trip was Silver Dollar City.. A cold front moved on and it was COLD.. Now I realize this is probably user error on our part.. But I was calling it bad named that rhyme with "City" by the end of the evening.. WE didn't leave to go out there until around 3..and there had been a wreck on the main highway to get out there.. so traffic was backed up for about 1.5 hours.. in which I had to pee.. and I couldn't hold it.. so yeah, I had to pee on the side of the road.. #country And by the time we got to the front of the line for 'Preferred parking".. they were SOLD OUT and sent us on down to the commoner parking.. which was about 982 miles away.. in which we had to get on a BUS to get to the entrance.. so after we do that it was almost dark and we got in line to ride ONE ride.. That ALSO closed once we got to the front of the line #thisshouldhavebeenasign... But we powered on.. by then it was very dark.. lots of awesome lights, but we have no idea what we are doing, or where to go.. so we ended up staying for the Light-up Tree, and the Lighted Parade which was really good..  But overall.. we would do something different with that.. go earlier.. stay later.. etc.. We will be ready next time! 

ON Sunday morning we got up to go have Breakfast at this great little Place called Grandma Ruth's Cinnamon Rolls or something like that.. and it was great.. and we even had a guy.. at EIGHT O CLOCK IN THE MORNING performing.. He sang "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and Londyn was an instant Fan! She jumped on stage with him to help him finish and he gave her a picture.. it made her day.. 

Now.. why is he singing at 8? No clue.. Was he on key? Not really.. But.. We appreciated the effort.. What we didn't appreciate was Crosslee spilling her 'coffee' all over the floor..then somehow flipping out of her chair and into the floor.. Because that was NOT ideal.. but #kids  So there you go.. It can't be perfect ALL the time.. But we did have a pretty perfect trip. The girls loved it, and we also had a much better time than we thought we were going to have! We will be ready to do it next year.. 

Now we have moved into the Christmas Season.. Hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving.. ours was EVENTFUL.. but I'll write about that next week.. b/c too much drama for one post.. see you then!