Family Vacation 2k13 part 3

On our last full day in Branson, we took a train ride! 

We had an unfortunately long wait in the humid heat before being allowed to board the train. But once they opened the gate we were excited to board.

We headed straight for one of cars that was nearly all windows!

The only trouble was that all those windows let in a lot of sun light and it was HOT.

Here comes a tunnel!

Waiting to see the end of the tunnel...

It was a fun ride through the Ozark hills.

That evening, while Noah and Ben golfed, the rest of us headed out for ice cream. Interestingly enough, you could also get a free bible at Mr. B's - one per family.

Levi and Rylee both took rides on this bucking bronco.

And then we walked around the water fountains at Branson Landing.

Golf was a big part of our trip. Ben managed to get 36 holes in on his own.

And then Ben and Noah (finally!!) found some decent weather to play golf in.

Noah was pretty proud of his tee shot that landed on the green!

Tuesday we left Branson and headed for Shell Knob to join our friends Pat and Amy. They were vacationing and Ben had a wild hair to water ski. 

 And that's just what he did.

 We tried and tried, but failed, to get Levi out on the boat with us. He ended up staying on the dock with Amy's mom. He kept an eye on what we were doing and finally decided it looked like fun.

 So Ben went to get him on the jet ski.

 Eventually we got him to tube with us and he loved it! Doesn't it look like he has huge feet?! :-)

 We ate lunch at a floating restaurant, then spent more time in the water and then hit the road for home.

We had a great time together as a family. Celebrating 40 years of my parents' marriage was a wonderful reason to have this special time together. Thanks mom and dad for creating this crazy and lovely family!

Family vacation 2k13 part 2

Continuing with family vacation....after our nature trail hike, we were ready to jump in the pool! No rain this time, so off we went! After a while though, we started to hear thunder....and the life guard in  me knew it was time to go. So, we packed up and headed back to our apartment. Boredom quickly set in. Ben was out golfing and lucky for him the weather stayed clear for him to get 18 holes in. But, in the meantime, my dad and I took Noah and Levi to Bass Pro Shop to waste some time. 

The boys loved it!

So many boats and 4-wheelers to climb on and pretend to drive! Plus, it's right by the lake and there were lots of ducks and ducklings swimming around for us to look at, too. It was the perfect activity to keep the boys occupied before supper. 

That evening we headed for "The Shepherd of the Hills". When my Epp grandparents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, they brought their entire family to Branson for a vacation. I was 3 1/2 at the time, the youngest cousin, and had very vague memories of seeing this show. It was interesting to visit this place again. 

 With dark skies all around, we anxiously waited for our tram ride down to the theater.

 Off we went!

 And, just when we got settled into our seats the director came out and told us a big thunderstorm was headed our way and they were sending us all back home. Shucks! Rain throwing us more curve balls!

 Thankfully, we had a boat ride to look forward to the next morning! We were up bright and early for breakfast over at my parents' condo.

 And then on to the pontoon boat! It was a cloudy day, but warm enough for us to want to get in the water. Levi was TERRIFIED of getting on the boat, and then very slowly warmed up to the idea of getting in the water.

 He stayed really close to Ben for a long time.

 He thought about it and thought about it.

 Noah was excited to get on the boat, but was a little hesitant about jumping into the water. He thought about it for a minute...

 and then jumped in. Rylee was like a fish! Happy to jump in and swim all around and then climb out and jump back in!

 We took a break for lunch on the boat.

 Ben spent a lot of time looking at his phone. His long-time favorite golfer Phil Mickleson was winning the British Open. Just following along via Ben's narrative was actually quite exciting!

 There were people para-sailing overhead and the kids had fun waving to them.

Levi eventually did get in the water, but not for very long. Eventually it started to sprinkle and with the rain came cooler temps, thus our boat time ended. 

After we got cleaned up we headed out of town toward Lamberts Restaurant. At 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon we waited for 90 minutes. It was crazy busy and apparently always is. It rained while we waited for a table, but thankfully they have a huge covered area outside the door. After the rain stopped Levi tried his best to sail his paper boat.  

Finally we got a table. And thankfully they brought out fried okra and huge mugs of water and started throwing rolls at us (that's what they're famous for - throwing rolls at you). Then our food came! Mine came out on a huge skillet! I only ate half of it and was stuffed! It's quite the restaurant. Good food, quick service and having hot, fresh baked rolls thrown at you doesn't hurt either.

 Like our own version of the movie "Groundhog Day" we went back to The Shepherd of the Hills. We stood in line, got our picture taken, and got on the tram just like the night before. Down to the theater...

 and with clear skies above, we found our seats.

 At intermission I explained a bunch of the plot to the boys. I think that helped them understand what was going on. Although I'm not sure Levi ever really followed the story.

 It was a late night for the kids and by the time it was over we were all ready to head to bed.

Family Vacation 2k13

Forty years of marriage is something to celebrate and that's just what we did - with a vacation! My parents, sister, niece and the four Schrag's loaded up and headed southeast to Branson, MO to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.

Our family of four had an apartment to ourselves and my parents, sister and niece had a condo/apartment to themselves. It worked out pretty well, although our two locations were far enough apart that we usually drove to get from one to the other. 

Anyway, when we got there it was raining. What a downer! Levi was pumped to go swimming as soon as we arrived, and Noah had BIG plans to golf with Ben. But no. It rained and rained. 

Once we got settled in to our place, curiosity set in about what the place looked like where Rylee was staying. The boys wanted to play in the rain - like we do at the farm - but just could not understand that it's not that simple when you're surrounded by other people and cars.  Eventually, we let them go outside, but with strict instructions to stay on the sidewalks. But no. They decided to go exploring in the rain anyway and Noah slipped on the wet ground and fell down part of a hill. Nice. Ben and I were  at the end of whatever patience remained after a six hour car ride.....but we got Noah cleaned up and finally left to go find the rest of our family. 

We found their place, down the hill, around several curves, up, up, up a hill and around some more curves....only to realize that we had locked the key to our apartment inside the apartment. Yuck.  We were not off to a good start. Notice how I don't have any photos of any of that? :-)

But, after we ate a good supper, the rain let up and we decided that mini-golf would fit the bill for something fun for all of us to do! 

We arrived at Dinosaur Canyon Golf (after sitting in traffic for a good 30-45 minutes - who knew Branson had such traffic issues?!?!).

 These pictures I took on my phone don't quite capture it. There's actual fire coming out of the volcano in the photo below. Rylee wasn't so sure about the fire, but the rest of us thought it was a pretty amazing feature!

 We had a great time at Dinosaur Canyon Golf.  Phew! A good end to our first (somewhat rough) day of vacation!

The next morning we walked a nature trail. Or hiked a nature trail. Something like that. 

 There were several different trails we could have taken so we had to study the map for a little while. We decided on one that had caves and a waterfall. Did I mention it was warm and super-duper humid with no wind?  Yep, it was incredibly sticky outside.

 Levi and Rylee kept running ahead.....it made the adults nervous since we didn't know what was ahead of us on the trail.

 Eventually, we came across an old farmstead. The folks who lived at this place created the hundreds of steps that went down the hillside toward the lake. The place was fully lined with these stone walls. I cannot fathom the amount of work those people went to in creating these walls, the steps and running a farm.

 Down, down, down, down, down....

 We found a couple caves, but this one was the biggest. It gave me the willies!

 Finally, snack time!

 We came across where the waterfall would be, if it was raining. The Branson area has been short on rain this summer, so there wasn't any water falling.

 The hike back up the steps was more challenging for everyone, but especially the kids. The boys actually made it on their own, but Rylee caught a ride from her mommy.  The view from the top of the trail was pretty amazing.

 When we made it back to the old farmstead/top of the trail we were drenched in sweat.

 But the sense of accomplishment was nearly as thick in the air as the humidity.

 Gosh I love it when they spontaneously show us that they actually love each other!