See? Adorable. The property is awesome, with lots of fun things to do. There are two pools, one that's similar to a water park, and a game area where you can play shuffle board, basketball or just hang out and swing. We love it there, and the boys love the three level house. We all sleep on the main or upper level, usually, but this time Graham slept on the lowest level all week.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and unloaded, unpacked and ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner. After that, we swam. Well, the adults went to the hot tub and the boys swam.
On Sunday, we saw some friends of the family. They have a lake house near Branson, and we spent the day with them, boating, playing on the giant tube, or riding the jet ski. I rode on the boat, then floated in the lake on a noodle for close to three hours. So. fun. And relaxing.
These friends are the Medlin's. They got to know them when their daughter Lacey had cancer and was being treated at St. Jude. They would come in town and stay with Phyllis and Wiley, and they've kept in touch all these years. Angie's (Lacey's mom) nephew and parents came for the day as well, and the boys and Stewart hit it off. He is between my oldest boys ages.
On Monday, my best friend came to visit! She stayed all day and ended up spending the night.
We stayed around the house all day, eating, talking and swimming, and for dinner that night, her hubby Jason met us at the house and we all swam afterward. It was a great day and I loved seeing her. Christa has lived in Springfield for about six years now, and I still miss her. She spent the night because she was also going to Silver Dollar City with us that next day.
And on Tuesday, we got up and were at Silver Dollar City when it opened.
It was hotter than Hades, but we cooled off by starting off in the Christmas shop.
Todd and the boys went one way for rides, all of the older adults went to listen to the southern gospel music that was going on the entire week, and Christa, Annalise and I went off in search of the kids play area.
We love Christmas and had to stop here first, though.
I also texted this picture to Abbey, because she loves Christmas equally as much.
We let Annalise tell us where she wanted to go, and then at noon, we went to listen to some friends sing. Well, I don't really know them (I do now, though), but Phyllis and Wiley do, and they wanted us to meet them.
After that, we ate lunch, then we said goodbye to Christa and Annalise. Someone needed a nap in the worst possible way, and Christa had an hour or so drive home. I'll see them again at Christmas.
We stayed at the park all day, and when we left, we went back to the house to shower and change, then went and ate at the Steak N Shake.
(Stewart and Angie had to leave earlier than we did, so we were saying goodbye. Hopefully the boys will get to see Stewart soon, when he comes here with his dad.)
On Wednesday, we shopped at all the outlets near us. This is always a tiring day, but it was fun and the boys all got some new clothes. You'd be surprised at how much they love to shop.
That night we went and saw the play Moses at The Sight and Sound theater.
I got my one required photo.
And Moses was amazing, as the productions there always are.
Even if the girl sitting in front of Drew was taking random selfies with him in the background.
Thursday was cool and kinda drizzly, but we stuck with our plans and went to a place called Top of the Rock. We rented golf carts and made our way down and back up a mountain path, stopping to sight see and drive through caves along the way. It was beautiful, and my favorite day.
It was quiet and peaceful and so relaxing. The weather was perfect and we had the greatest time. I love the church that we saw along the way, too.
After this, we went to a few more shops, then went back to the house for a little while. For dinner that night, we ate out, at a steakhouse, then enjoyed the Branson Landing.
The boys devoured their food (we never really ate lunch that day) and they walked along all the shops after dinner. I sat with my dad-in-love while Drew and Noah looked for Pokemon.
Also? I tried the hottest hot sauce I've ever had in all of my life. One tiny dot on my finger had my tongue on fire for forty minutes.
After this, we left and Todd and the boys rode some really fast go carts. And by fast, I mean they get up to about forty five miles an hour. This was their favorite night.
On Friday we slept late, the boys swam, and I read an entire book. (I finished two while I was there.) Now, THAT is what vacation is all about.
After dinner we went back into town and everyone (minus Noah and me) rode the giant ferris wheel.
They swam again when we got back, and played some basketball and shuffle board, then we packed some and left by nine the next morning.
It was a great week, and so relaxing. I think it was the best time we've had on vacation so far as a family, and for that, I am so thankful. It was extra special seeing all the friends we visited with while there.
Thanks for reading! Love to all.
That cottage looks right out of a picture book! If my wife sees this we will have to get a timeshare too. Not that it would be a bad thing - I do like the idea of spending some time on the water. Since we moved inland I haven't really had the chance. The whole family looks great, glad you had some time off to relax.
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