and....I'm back.

Well, I have returned from Branson. Most of us had fun. Justin was pretty whiny the whole time because his knee hurt and he got bit by bugs and he just really didn't want to be there in the first place. But we still managed to have a good time.

Friday: We drove down there (which sucked a lot). Got there a little after 1:00pm. Went to our cabin, checked in, unpacked the car. Then we went to the Branson Belle. Which is a Showboat. It was really entertaining. We had dinner on the boat, then we walked around on the different decks and we went up to the wheel house and the captain gave us his spiel about the boat. After spending sometime wondering about, it was time for the show. They had a group of singer/dancers called "The Showstoppers" who preformed songs from well-known musicals. Then they had these AMAZING Russians that we ballet/trapeze people. It was really neat. Then they had a ventriloquists come out with some dogs that he made talk. After the Showboat, we just went back to the cabin. Anaya, Kimbi and I went to pool and swam for a while. Then after the kiddo went to bed, the adults stayed up and played Phase 10.

Saturday: We got up. My mom made biscuits and gravy (YUMMY). Today, the plan was to visit some museums and do some activities in downtown Branson. First stop was the Butterfly Palace. Which was neat, but WAAAY overpriced. Anaya enjoyed it though. Although even she was like, "OK, we've looked at the butterflies long enough!" Then we went to the Titanic museum. Do NOT take a 7-yr old to the Titanic museum. It was interesting. However, it took longer that I would've preferred and cost more than I would have preferred. In fact, I think we all would've been better off if we had split into groups and had Justin, Anaya & I go to the Butterfly Palace and then Mom, Dad, Matt & Kimbi go to the Titanic Museum. Justin and I just didn't get much out of the Titanic museum because we had a kiddo that was bored and hanging on us to deal with. But that is one of those live and learn type of things. Then we had lunch at this buffet that was lame. Then we went to Tanger Outlet mall. They had a Gap Outlet. It was fabulous, I got a dress for $10! They also had an Old Navy outlet. I didn't actually look for anything for me there, but we got Anaya two pairs of jean shorts and a tank top. I've been wanting to get her jean shorts because she always wears colored cotton shorts and has just a hard time matching them to shirts - she thinks matching means wearing and all pink shirt with her all pink shorts (the same color of pink) which is matching, but not necessarily good. Plus, I think jean shorts just look better than cotton shorts. Anyways, then we went to Ride The Ducks. And we rode a Duck, one of those amphibious vehicles. Captain Bob drove us through Branson, up to the third highest point in Branson and then down and into Table Rock Lake. As far as we can tell, the only reason they go out on Table Rock Lake is to let the kids drive. He let each kiddo go up to the front, sit in the Captains' chair and "drive". Then after each kiddo got their turn at the wheel, we went back on land. After the ducks we just went back to the cabin. Although Matt was worried about traffic waiting to go to Silver Dollar City because on our way out in the morning there was a line seriously more than 2 miles long. And our cabin was down on Indian Point, past Silver Dollar City. So, he decided we would go "the back way." All the way around the south side of Table Rock Lake. It took an hour to get back to the cabin, if we'd gone the other way, it would've taken 10-15 minutes. Some of us went to the pool again. Then dinner, Clue and more cards!

Sunday: Pancakes and Bacon. YUMMY! I should take my mom more places with me since she always cooks such good food. After breakfast, Anaya, Kimbi and I went to the pool again. Stayed there for almost an hour and then went back to the cabin and got packed up to leave. Then we got all of our stuff loaded into the Yukon again. And there was more stuff to take home than there was on the way down because Kimbi and I went shopping and Anaya had souvenirs. Anyways, finally got it all loaded up into the Yukon and headed into Branson. We went to Pirate's Cove Mini Golf and played a round of mini golf. Then we went to Kris Kringel's Christmas Store where Anaya got Santa's business card, complete with phone number. Then we left Branson. We went to Springfield where we ate lunch. Then we drove home, which took somewhere close to FOREVER!