Memorial Day Weekend!

Back at Christmas time while shopping at the Bass Pro Shop I was waylaid by a gentleman in the store with a vacation offer. Now normally I would have politely declined and continued on my way, but the Christmas spirit was all around me and I was feeling generous so I stopped and listened to his spiel. To be honest I really don't remember all that much about the spiel, something about two nights and three days in Branson plus $100 in gift certificates to the Bass Pro Shop. All I had to do was put a deposit down of $100 which I got back after the trip and attend one of their time share meetings. Yes it was a time share thing. Now we've lived in Missouri going on nine years now and had never been to Branson. And if they were going to give me $100 to spend and pay for my room I figured why not. So I gave them my $100 security deposit and signed up. And come Memorial Day weekend we were off to Branson.

Of course no trip to Branson would be complete without a stop at Lambert's Restaurant, the original home of the throwed rolls. The food is okay, but it is the atmosphere you actually go for.

And Hayden was so proud when he caught his own roll.

This is a picture of the Big Cedar Wilderness Club. It is the time share thingy we had to go to to get our lodging for free. To be honest I was quite impressed with their presentation. As Dave and I have been to a lot of them over the years this was the best one yet.

There was so much to see and do in Branson for the boys.
There was the dinosaur museum.


The trout farm. What a racket you have to pay to feed their fish.
So of course we did.



The Butterfly Palace was incredible. They had this maze of mirrors which was quite fun and eerie all at the same time. I kept seeing this fat lady walking around bumping into things and then I realized it was my reflection in the mirror. Not a happy moment.

I just love this picture of Hayden.

And this one too. He is such a little investigator.

Outside they had some fake coconut tress for the kids to climb. Hayden got all harnessed up. It was his first climbing experience.

He only made it about half way up before he got scared, but I was so proud of him.

Then there were the Ducks. These are vehicles that drive on the road, but also can be driven into the water and driven as a boat. They took us all over Branson and out onto Table Rock Lake. We each got our own quacker and even Turner was quacking away.

Hayden even got a chance to Captain the duck while we were a float.

Of course going to Branson wouldn't be complete with out taking in a show. I really wanted to see Shoji Tabuchi and his bathrooms, but alas I didn't think the boys would enjoy it. So we did the next best thing and went to the Dixie Stampede. It really was a great show and the food was excellent.

And what would a vacation be without and old tyme photo. Not of Dave and I of course! I just love this picture.

Not quite sure why I didn't get one of Turner by himself. What a bad mom. I just remember it was hot and I was getting tired, apparently it was affecting my brain.

On our way home from Branson we saw signs for a Safari. In the middle of Missouri who knew. We figured it would be a fun diversion and decided to stop. What fun! They have five acres filled with animals. Most of which are free roaming. You can take your own car or ride the bus which we opted to do.

We bought lots of food to share and the animals come right up to the bus and take it straight from your hands. The boys loved it!

Turner was fascinated with all of the animals.

Some how our four hour drive from Branson to St. Louis ended up turning into a seven and a half hour drive, but we made it home and all is well.