Loved to the Moon and Back: Branson

We had a wonderful time in southern Missouri over spring break.

Our Trip In A Nutshell:

Saturday - Great Grandma' s house. It is always great to see her. We visited grandpa's grave and picked up some pizza for dinner. Maddie and Dane had a ton of fun playing with the dogs and I think that the dogs had fun with them as well.

Sunday - left early and hit a snowstorm/blizzard on the way. We arrived at Big Cedar Lodge and we LOVED it from the minute we drove into it! They have so many neat features and you even drive over two waterfalls to get to the lodge lobby. It was super cool! We got to our cabin and loved it too - so cute and cozy!!! We hit up the grocery store and then hit the pool. The kids were so excited when the cookie lady (a Big Cedar tradition) arrived with cookies. Matt also made his first fire ( He looked forward to making one each night) and we watched War Horse.

Monday - It was quite chilly, so we hit up some indoor activities. There was painting at our resort, so Maddie made a plate. Unfortunately, it had to get glazed and baked, so we weren't able to bring it home. We are hoping it arrives in the mail in one piece! :) We had lunch in our cozy cottage and went on Showboat Branson Belle that afternoon. There was a show and dinner on a big boat and it was pretty neat! It definitely made me a bit nostalgic as I remembered my Branson trips as a child and was now there with my own family. The kids were amazing - so well behaved and entertained by the All American Show! The food was just ok, but all and all, it was fun and we were glad that we did it. We headed home, ate cookies from the cookie lady, built a fire and finished the movie.

Tuesday - Another chilly day, so we decided to go to a show at 10 am called Amazing Pets. Maddie and Dane love animals, so they enjoyed seeing the dogs, cats and parrots do some tricks. It wasn't a must do, but there were some cute parts. We then hit an awesome mexican restaurant, Pancho Villa, and it was delish! We headed to the cabin as the kids needed to run around and get some crazy out. We then went to the Dixie Stampede and loved it! It was kind of like Medieval Times, but cooler! They made it North vs. South and the kids had fun cheering for the north. Maddie was very into asking, "Did we win?" Dane was all about the flags and could not stop asking for one. (The mean parents that we are didn't get him one.) He eventually asked kids on the way out if he could have their flag - he didn't find any that were willing to part with it. His comment of the night was "FLAGS! I love flags!" Looking back I would have got him one at the beginning of the night! Maddie's face was hysterical when they served her the same dinner they served us - apparently they don't do children's meals. It was HUGE! It consisted of soup, a biscuit, an entire chicken (rotisserie), corn on the cob, pork loin, potato, followed by an apple turnover. It was very tasty! The kids loved seeing the horses and all of the fun animal races. After the stampede, we headed to the Landing to check it out and see the light and water show that takes place every hour. It was really neat! We first checked out Bass Pro Shop and then caught the show. There were some loud booms, so both kids were crying by the end of it. Well at least Matt and I thought it was cool! We headed back to the cabin for our final cookie, fire and movie.

Wednesday- Nice out! :) We made a nice big breakfast and Maddie and Dane ended up with lots of imaginary guests at the breakfast table. One of them would knock, then they would run to the cabin door and let in the "guests". They brought chairs over for them and got very into it. By the end of dinner we had the Newtons, Cesta's, grandparents and old next door neighbors there with us. We then packed up and headed to Dogwood Canyon. It was so much fun and a great way to end the trip. We grabbed lunch there, rented some bikes and explored the nature park. It was beautiful and we all enjoyed it so much! We headed home hitting little traffic and had two well behaved children. Matt and I were so proud of them!

This picture was taken shortly after arriving! They were so ready for the pool!

Maddie and Dane are sitting on the ledge of the bathtub. The set-up was so cool!

Maddie worked very hard on her pottery!

Dane wanted to get in on a little action too!

Maddie wanted BIG CEDAR LODGE in the middle, so I helped her with that. She added her name and many sponge circles all around the edges.

Dane found this bear rug nice and cozy.

These pictures were taken on the Showboat.

They asked audience volunteers to hold up $1 bills. Dane was happy to hold it up, but his did not get picked.

We had some arts and crafts in the cabin - Maddie can do arts and crafts for hours! Dane was kind of into it too!

This was on the walk into Dixie Stampede. Maddie and Dane loved learning the names of the horses. One of them was named after a cousin... It's NICO in case you can't see it! :) Yes, Dane was excited!

At the pre-show at Dixie Stampede. There was an amazing 14 year old juggler - unreal what that kid could do!

Dane was a hilarious poser this trip!

At the Landing before the water and lights show.

Dane and daddy plan for the fire

Both Dane and Maddie LOVED helping daddy built the fire at night. Dane is enjoying his cookie left by the cookie lady.

Buddies and best of friends...most of the time! :)

Both kids loved the little "Snow White Broom." They also loved the bed posts. They wanted to be like the amazing pets and climb up them.

There were a lot of critter friends in our cabin. The kids loved them! In fact, the first morning they woke up and started saying good morning to them all one by one.