April Trip to Branson

I KNOW… I know. I just posted our March trip to Branson! I said we love Branson…RIGHT?!?

Right after we got back from our March trip, my parents mentioned they were planning on going to Branson in two weeks time. So we invited ourselves along! We called Nana and PopPop to let them know we were going and they decided to meet us there, as well! This is the second or third time we’ve gone to Branson with my parents and Stephen’s mom and step-dad. We have SO much fun when we all go together!

We left out last Wednesday morning (Stephen is almost always off on Wednesday and he is usually able to arrange his schedule to take off on Thursday and Friday as well. I know this will not always be the case for our family but I am SO glad we can do it this year and I hope to take advantage of this as much as possible!) Again, it was just the 3 of us in the condo on Wednesday night. My in-laws made it to town early afternoon on Thursday.

I wanted to do something other than just SDC and shopping this trip. Branson has so many great entertainment shows, but not many you can take a three-year-old to and have them actually enjoy it. However, Christopher has been interested in horses recently so I decided he might like the Dixie Stampede. The tickets are pricey – I paid $55 per adult plus about $5 more per adult in “processing fees” and tax – I could have paid a little less but you weren’t guaranteed good seats and that was important to me and Stephen. It IS for dinner AND the show, which makes it kind of not as bad. Since Christopher is only three, he can sit on our laps and eat off our plates. AND they offered vegetarian for Leonard, so that was perfect!  We went to that on Thursday evening with my in-laws. I was SO glad I got the good seats, we were on the second row from the arena and it was totally worth the extra money, in my opinion. CHRISTOPHER LOVED IT! He got a little Dixie Stampede flag and waved it and cheered for the North (the side we were on) as they competed in competitions. It was fun for the whole family and I’m really glad we went.

My parents got into town late Thursday evening. The next day, Friday, we all got up and met up at Silver Dollar City!

It was CHILLY. I hated that. I had to go to Walmart and buy Christopher a little cap to keep his head and ears warm, but we dealt with it and ended up having one of the most enjoyable trips to SDC that I can remember. I just wish it had been a bit warmer so we could have ridden a water ride or two. But we have the rest of the year for that, I guess!

SDC has a new wooden roller coaster this year – Outlaw Run. When we went to SDC in March we were short on time and I didn’t get a chance to ride. (Sad face.) This trip it was the FIRST thing I did! This is me, my dad, and Leonard as we took off out of the entrance. In case you can’t tell by the huge smile on my face… I was a little excited!

I think we spent 6 or 7 hours at the park total. My mom and Deanna actually rode Outlaw Run after I did, with dad and Leonard. If you know my MIL…you know that’s a BIG deal.

We rode coasters, Christopher spent hours upon hours in the children’s area, we watched the Saloon Show, ate lunch there… it was SO MUCH FUN. I can’t wait to go back!

I may still be a child at heart.

Christopher passed out from all the fun about 2 minutes after we left the SDC parking lot.

Saturday we slept in a bit, did a teeny bit of shopping with my MIL, and had a late lunch at Cantina Laredo with the whole gang.

Christopher tripped and bumped his chin while we were at the Landing. Getting a shoulder ride and wearing PopPops hat helped cheer him up.

After we got back to the Condo from lunch, we played at the playground for a bit. Christopher likes to be “buried.”

Deanna and Leonard left Saturday evening around 5 or so. My parents came to the condo that evening and we played cards after Christopher went to sleep and arranged to meet up the next morning and drop Christopher off with them and they were going to take him home so that Stephen and I could do a bit of outlet mall shopping.  We met at Krispy Kreme on Sunday morning and mom told me they were planning on going back to SDC with Christopher for a few hours before they headed home. While Stephen and I were doing our shopping, we got a text saying Christopher had asked to just go back home to GeeGee & PawPaw’s house because it was his “favorite” rather than go to SDC. Um. Okay, kid.

After Stephen and I were finished shopping we headed back to the condo to get ready to pack and leave. While we were there, Stephen suggested we stay an extra night since we were kid-free and not in any hurry. I liked that idea… so I called my parents to make sure they were okay with keeping Christopher overnight and taking him to daycare the next day. We took a nap at the condo then decided to go play putt-putt before eating some dinner. We went to Pirate’s Cove, which we had never been to in Branson before. (But we love the Pirate’s Cove in Hot Springs!)  It was fun! I got a hole-in-one on the first hole and stayed ahead Stephen till hole 12 and went downhill from there and Stephen ended up beating me by several strokes. Typical.

We had some delicious Olive Garden for dinner that night and I ate so much I thought I was going to pop. We debated watching The Great and Powerful Oz at the I-Max theater but it wouldn’t be over till midnight and we were going to need to leave early the next morning to drive back home so we went back to the condo and ended up crashing by like 10:30. ha! This was one of the longer vacations Stephen and I have been on and I loved every minute of it… and yes, if you’re wondering…we’re already planning our MAY Trip to Branson!