fall family vacation

we like to take our vacations in the fall for two main reasons. one, it's cooler and two, it's less crowded. we couldn't have picked a better four days to go to branson then we did a couple weeks ago. it was wonderful. never too hot (or cold in the mornings) and the crowds were very minimal. we left wednesday afternoon after molly was out of school and started our drive. four hours doesn't seem that long, and it really isn't, until you're sitting in the van for that long. i'm not really sure how i made it as a kid when we drove to california and florida (that was a non-stop drive). anyway, the girls were great on the road, both ways. they napped, sang, colored and played with their babies. we had the occasional whine, but not too bad.


after checking into our hotel we went and grabbed some dinner at this little hamburger joint. it was okay...not the best hamburgers like advertised. after dinner we went to the acrobats of china and shanghai circus. what a neat show! the shows are one of the reason we love branson so much. there is so much variety and you can always see something different. our goal is to find things our girls would enjoy this was one of them. these acrobats were amazing. so much talent! molly was so impressed and waiting for one of them to get hurt because the stunts they were doing were dangerous. fortunately, no acrobats were injured during the performance. the most obnoxious lady sitting in front of us was (we were in the second row), however. not bad, but she made a big deal about it. a yo yo thing came spinning off a string and hit her shin. she didn't make a stink about it until intermission, thankfully. after the show the girls took a picture with one of the acrobats. molly said she'd pick the best one and that is who she'd get her picture taken with. no idea what this girl did anymore, but she impressed molly during the show.

 

we went to silver dollar city thursday morning and basically had the park to ourselves. the girls got and off the rides without having to wait. poor sophie was an inch too short to ride most of the rides which was a big disappointment to her but she made it through. she was able to ride the frogs which made her happy. molly rode her first real roller coaster, thunderation, and liked it. she was a little scared but glad she did it. she's quite the daredevil. matt took her on the teacups and she kept asking to go faster. they were already the fastest teacup spinning and matt looked like a crazy person the way his head and body were moving to spin faster.

                                            

 

 

                                     

 

 

that night we went to yakov's dinner adventure. it was a play about a ballerina and a clown falling in love and coming to america. olga, the sister who loved power over love, tried to stop them. molly loved this play. there was comedy involved, audience participation - molly was picked to go on stage and stand in the middle of a giant bubble, acrobatics, dancing, fire, juggling, singing, and more. it was a great show and the story was loosely true as well. we were served dinner and dessert and then we were able to talk to the clown after the show. we bought the live performance dvd of the night if anyone wants to see molly's big branson show biz debut!

 

friday we went back to silver dollar city for about four hours and then back to our hotel to swim. we ate dinner on the branson landing and walked around a bit. the girls were playing a cute game with matt which led to the trouble we knew it would...sophie getting hurt. she opened up her cut on her knee and scratched up her chin. that girl is tough though...she quit crying almost immediately and didn't let it bother her.

 

saturday we headed to the butterfly palace to get up close and personal with the butterflies. this was a neat place to visit. there was a science discovery center where we were able see different animals and reptiles. then we went into a mirror maze. this was a lot of fun. sophie kept running into the mirrors. then we went into the butterfly room. it was amazing to be surrounded by so many butterflies. one landed on my nose! molly was a little skiddish around the butterflies and wouldn't hold still for them to land on her. sophie just wanted to catch them with the hat. she was successful but then had to put the hat down since that wasn't allowed. she did have one land on her head. the butterflies loved matt's blue shirt.

 

 

we had such a good time on our trip! matt and i were ready to head home, the girls were not. they could have stayed in for several more days. for them, the hotel was just as exciting as any other place we visited. molly loved sleeping in the big bed. sophie, i think enjoyed snuggle time with mommy and daddy. she had to sleep with us because she fell out of bed the first night. much to look forward to on next years visit!