Trip to Branson

We spent last week on vacation in Branson, MO with my parents and younger brother and sister. It was such a great time...just not long enough!
Monday: We left at about 8:30 am and drove all day; arrived there at about 6:30 p.m., just in time for supper. It was very stormy that evening and the power in our resort ended up turning off just as we were finishing our supper. It didn't come back on for 1 1/2 hours! So we sat in our living room, listening and watching the rain and lightning, chatting, singing, and having a sweet little prayer time. It was my dad's idea to bring up prayer requests and pray together as a family...it was such a special time.

Here's our sweet little bookworm on the roadtrip. This is one of her favorite books-with all the baby faces in it.

Tuesday: We explored the waterfalls, paths, and creek behind our "Westgate" Resort. We were basically smack-dab in the middle of the woods, and it was so pretty there. Tony and my brother Nathan went at least a couple other times to explore more and they found some other waterfalls and paths. I was a little nervous about walking through a slippery creek and treking through muddy, slightly-steep trails carrying Hannah Beth in the Bjorn, but it worked out fine and she loved it! She is quite the little nature girl; she loves being outside. For meals, we had breakfast on our own and lunch at Rocky's Italian restaurant and cooked supper.

Lunch at Rocky's

That evening we set out for Tablerock Lake, having no idea the crazy amount of flooding that had taken place there. It was more flooded than it has been in many many years. You can see the sidewalk and picnic table/shelter that was almost up to the roof in water. The guys saw this as a swimming opportunity and dove [well, not really--more like waded] right in!

Hannah Beth loved all the quality "Grandpa and Grandma" time!

Watching the geese swim in the lake

We concluded our day by going miniature golfing while my parents stayed back with Hannah Beth who was sleeping. It's a family tradition to go mini-golfing on every vacation. And it's pretty much a tradition for me to always lose...but oh well...at least Natalie and I both got holes-in-one :)

Wednesday: We enjoyed some delicious "San Francisco Oven" pizza for lunch, took Hannah Beth swimming for the first time (she LOVED it--I wasn't too surprised since she loves bath time), had a homemade spaghetti dinner, and went to the Kirby VanBurch magic show that night (no pictures allowed). Such a fun day!

Thursday--Our last full day there; We left Hannah Beth with the guys while we gals went to the outlet mall. Got some GREAT deals, especially at the Carter's outlet. Love that store, wish we had one closer...although that might be dangerous for my wallet. The guys were still hungry for pizza, so they ordered Chicago-style and we ladies made our own lunch when we got back from shopping. That night we made dinner again in our resort kitchen, Zesty Chicken and Pasta.

Hannah Beth enjoyed storytime with Grandma, and we even let her hang out in the hot tub (for about 10 seconds and then I climbed in with her to make sure she didn't hit her head).

In this picture she's wondering, "Where's the water, Mom?" On Tuesday night I gave her a bath in the big hot tub (without the jets of course...you'll have to wait until you're older, sweet girl!) WITH the water that time.

Friday: We had to be out of the resort by 11 am, so we got packed up and were out of there a littl e before 11. We were happy to stop in northern MO at my aunt, uncle and cousins' house for a visit and an overnight stay. That night we had a delicious dinner of grilled hamburgers and many other side dishes and played a rousing game on "Imaginiff" with all the fam.

Saturday: On the road again, home. Sad to see our vacation end. Thankful for a safe and wonderful time.