Spring Break is one of my favorite times of year to go on vacation.The kids and I enjoyed a vacation to Branson last Sunday morning to Tuesday night. Since my parents and brother, Scott, were coming to visit the last part of Spring Break, we moved our trip up a bit. With Ben's new responsibilities in the bishopric, he needed to be at church on Sunday and had duties that afternoon as well. When we found out he had another meeting on Tuesday night, I decided to just take the kids myself since we wouldn't have much time and the drive was kind of long. I was anxious for some fun!
I saw some signs for Wilson's Creek Battlefield and had recalled someone recommending it to me. I loved having our GPS on the trip and it helped me to be spontaneous and adventurous. It didn't add too many extra miles and we decided to go for it. Daniel and I loved the visitors center. He enjoys anything involving weapons, it seems. The movie and displays were interesting, especially for a brief stop.
You gotta have a few silly cannon shots, right?
Christina did some peek a boo before we got started on the drive.
The up side of being the driver is that I can stop at whatever sights I'd like to see. On each trip to Missouri, we've seen repeated billboards for the Precious Moments chapel. Since we'd missed our church services on Sunday, this seemed like a good place to stretch our legs and see something new too. Plus, it was free and kind of cute. It was definitely a little cheesy and "precious", but worth the stop.
After being in the car for hours, the kids enjoyed running around outside and exploring the animal statues. Exploring to Daniel often means climbing.
In the visitors center, there were lots of moving Precious Moments figurines to look at.
The walk to the chapel was pretty. The little kids found a perfect hide out.
I love this one of me and Christina. Daniel in the background is so - Daniel.
Sweet sisters on their way to the chapel.
Patterned after the Sistine Chapel, their version really was sweet. One side of the chapel was dedicated to Old Testament stories. The other side to the New Testament.
The wall of stained glass windows was pretty too.
I think the view from the back part of the chapel had to be my favorite. Too bad we couldn't walk to this neat little castle.
I let the kids choose a treat from the vending machine before we finished our drive to Branson, which we enjoyed in a covered gazebo area near the parking lot. And just a little more climbing and running for Daniel. He complained regularly in the car that his bum hurt. Christina did better sitting than Daniel on this trip.
The drive into Branson was fun - lots of rolling hills that the kids pretended were roller coasters. After we checked in, we walked around and explored the hotel we were staying at - Grand Country Inn. It really was a great place to stay! The rates are much more reasonable than most indoor waterpark resorts. Normally it's $99 a night and you can enjoy 2 days in the waterpark for free. We got a Spring Break special for $250 - 2 nights included, plus the waterpark passes, 2 large pizzas, and tickets for the whole family to the Amazing Pet Show and to the 3D glow-in-the-dark mini golf. It was definitely worth it!
I try to find things that help us keep the Sabbath in mind. It's hard to do that on vacation, but we ended up going for a drive and saw more of Branson. We stopped at Branson's Landing and saw the fountain show. The fountains are choreographed with lights and put to music. Kind of a nice walking area too. We ordered our free pizza, watched a little tv, and then got ready for our big day on Monday!
Daniel has been doing lots of similar karate moves in recent months.
We were the first ones in the water park doors that morning. 10 am didn't come fast enough for my kiddoes. We paid an extra $10 to get a fridge in the hotel and to stay in the building closest to the waterpark building. Both were worth the extra money.
The waterpark has an outdoor section that is only open in the summer.
Not as fancy as Kalahari (in Wisconsin Dells) or Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Country was a lot of fun and perfect for the ages of my kids.
The Lazy River was everyone's favorite part. I think we rode around it 100 times or more. The water was pretty warm and there were always enough tubes to go around.
Similar to Nickelodeon Hotel's big bucket, this one dropped tons of water every 4 minutes or so. Christina kept chanting, "Slime, slime, slime", even though it didn't drop green slime water at this resort. The water in the tower and on the two slides was a bit colder, but not too bad. The basketball pool had 4 baskets and lots of bouncie balls to shoot hoops. Daniel wouldn't go in and was petrified of the "big boys." Even if the girls and I were in the basketball pool, he would watch a few feet away and not get in. Kids are funny that way. We all spent lots of time in the two hot tubs. One was really hot and perfect for adults and the other was full of kids, trying to get warm and get in some actual swimming.
The arcade/golf area also had an adjoining pizza buffet and the supposedly the biggest banjo in the world. Gotta love Branson and its cheese!
The mini golf was one of the cutest I've seen. The 3D effects were really quite good. I only bought a few pair since I knew there would be one or two kids who wouldn't keep them on. Christina mostly liked the glow-in-the-dark animals and kept trying to kiss the piggies.
A little more cheese!
We opted to do the mini bowling on this trip. It was $3 for 10 frames and pretty fun. Christina took a few of the kids' turns and was content to "pretend play" Guitar Hero nearby.
I liked Branson, but it made me want to get out of the busyness and find a little fresh air too. We took a drive around Branson and went out to Table Rock Dam and Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery. I had read about it on Tripadvisor.com. It was a neat little stop and rated well on the website too. They had cups with "trout food" for .25 and we all fed lots of fish. I've never seen that many rainbow trout in my life.
There is a part of me that loves all these goofy touristy places. We didn't go in the wax museum or Ripley's Believe it Or Not, since we tried to stay on budget, but it was sure fun to see all the clever mini golf and go cart places in town. I think Branson must be the mini golf/go cart capital of America.
Christina was the first to spot this gorilla and loved driving by King Kong!
We had a busy few days and these brief car naps were the only ones Christina got. The second day's was even shorter. The balloon animal that Katie gave her (from the Amazing Pet Show) squeaked and woke her up!
The rooms at Grand Country are very basic - 2 Queen beds with a small table and 2 chairs in one big room. Katie found a way to get some privacy - even if it ended up being in the bathroom. She finished a book and made some lanyards while the younger two kids went to bed in the evening.
The next morning we were excited to head to the Amazing Pet Show just next door at the Grand Country Music Hall. I was glad our tickets were included in the rate since I doubt I'd have splurged on tickets. Daniel was chosen early on to participate, but he got cold feet and chickened out. KT was selected later on and loved being carried up to the stage for a funny segment with the magician/funny man/host. He nicknamed her Puddles and made all kinds of doggy puddle jokes. She loved being on stage!
The show featured all kinds of amazing tricks done by birds, dogs, a donkey, and even housecats - supposedly the animal most difficult to train. After intermission and the second half, it was noon and we hadn't even checked out yet. We went back to the room, loaded the stuff as quickly as we could, and headed out of town. I had promised the kids some souvenir shopping, so off we went to find a few stores. I found a store with t-shirts 3 for $10 and got the kids the same shirt, but in different colors. They are cute. After a McDonalds lunch run, I was ready to get on the road. I was feeling tired and ready to be home and sleep well.
After being in the car for hours, the kids enjoyed running around outside and exploring the animal statues. Exploring to Daniel often means climbing.
In the visitors center, there were lots of moving Precious Moments figurines to look at.
The walk to the chapel was pretty. The little kids found a perfect hide out.
I love this one of me and Christina. Daniel in the background is so - Daniel.
Sweet sisters on their way to the chapel.
Patterned after the Sistine Chapel, their version really was sweet. One side of the chapel was dedicated to Old Testament stories. The other side to the New Testament.
The wall of stained glass windows was pretty too.
I think the view from the back part of the chapel had to be my favorite. Too bad we couldn't walk to this neat little castle.
I let the kids choose a treat from the vending machine before we finished our drive to Branson, which we enjoyed in a covered gazebo area near the parking lot. And just a little more climbing and running for Daniel. He complained regularly in the car that his bum hurt. Christina did better sitting than Daniel on this trip.
The drive into Branson was fun - lots of rolling hills that the kids pretended were roller coasters. After we checked in, we walked around and explored the hotel we were staying at - Grand Country Inn. It really was a great place to stay! The rates are much more reasonable than most indoor waterpark resorts. Normally it's $99 a night and you can enjoy 2 days in the waterpark for free. We got a Spring Break special for $250 - 2 nights included, plus the waterpark passes, 2 large pizzas, and tickets for the whole family to the Amazing Pet Show and to the 3D glow-in-the-dark mini golf. It was definitely worth it!
I try to find things that help us keep the Sabbath in mind. It's hard to do that on vacation, but we ended up going for a drive and saw more of Branson. We stopped at Branson's Landing and saw the fountain show. The fountains are choreographed with lights and put to music. Kind of a nice walking area too. We ordered our free pizza, watched a little tv, and then got ready for our big day on Monday!
Daniel has been doing lots of similar karate moves in recent months.
We were the first ones in the water park doors that morning. 10 am didn't come fast enough for my kiddoes. We paid an extra $10 to get a fridge in the hotel and to stay in the building closest to the waterpark building. Both were worth the extra money.
The waterpark has an outdoor section that is only open in the summer.
Not as fancy as Kalahari (in Wisconsin Dells) or Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Country was a lot of fun and perfect for the ages of my kids.
The Lazy River was everyone's favorite part. I think we rode around it 100 times or more. The water was pretty warm and there were always enough tubes to go around.
Similar to Nickelodeon Hotel's big bucket, this one dropped tons of water every 4 minutes or so. Christina kept chanting, "Slime, slime, slime", even though it didn't drop green slime water at this resort. The water in the tower and on the two slides was a bit colder, but not too bad. The basketball pool had 4 baskets and lots of bouncie balls to shoot hoops. Daniel wouldn't go in and was petrified of the "big boys." Even if the girls and I were in the basketball pool, he would watch a few feet away and not get in. Kids are funny that way. We all spent lots of time in the two hot tubs. One was really hot and perfect for adults and the other was full of kids, trying to get warm and get in some actual swimming.
The arcade/golf area also had an adjoining pizza buffet and the supposedly the biggest banjo in the world. Gotta love Branson and its cheese!
The mini golf was one of the cutest I've seen. The 3D effects were really quite good. I only bought a few pair since I knew there would be one or two kids who wouldn't keep them on. Christina mostly liked the glow-in-the-dark animals and kept trying to kiss the piggies.
A little more cheese!
We opted to do the mini bowling on this trip. It was $3 for 10 frames and pretty fun. Christina took a few of the kids' turns and was content to "pretend play" Guitar Hero nearby.
I liked Branson, but it made me want to get out of the busyness and find a little fresh air too. We took a drive around Branson and went out to Table Rock Dam and Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery. I had read about it on Tripadvisor.com. It was a neat little stop and rated well on the website too. They had cups with "trout food" for .25 and we all fed lots of fish. I've never seen that many rainbow trout in my life.
There is a part of me that loves all these goofy touristy places. We didn't go in the wax museum or Ripley's Believe it Or Not, since we tried to stay on budget, but it was sure fun to see all the clever mini golf and go cart places in town. I think Branson must be the mini golf/go cart capital of America.
Christina was the first to spot this gorilla and loved driving by King Kong!
We had a busy few days and these brief car naps were the only ones Christina got. The second day's was even shorter. The balloon animal that Katie gave her (from the Amazing Pet Show) squeaked and woke her up!
The rooms at Grand Country are very basic - 2 Queen beds with a small table and 2 chairs in one big room. Katie found a way to get some privacy - even if it ended up being in the bathroom. She finished a book and made some lanyards while the younger two kids went to bed in the evening.
The next morning we were excited to head to the Amazing Pet Show just next door at the Grand Country Music Hall. I was glad our tickets were included in the rate since I doubt I'd have splurged on tickets. Daniel was chosen early on to participate, but he got cold feet and chickened out. KT was selected later on and loved being carried up to the stage for a funny segment with the magician/funny man/host. He nicknamed her Puddles and made all kinds of doggy puddle jokes. She loved being on stage!
The show featured all kinds of amazing tricks done by birds, dogs, a donkey, and even housecats - supposedly the animal most difficult to train. After intermission and the second half, it was noon and we hadn't even checked out yet. We went back to the room, loaded the stuff as quickly as we could, and headed out of town. I had promised the kids some souvenir shopping, so off we went to find a few stores. I found a store with t-shirts 3 for $10 and got the kids the same shirt, but in different colors. They are cute. After a McDonalds lunch run, I was ready to get on the road. I was feeling tired and ready to be home and sleep well.
I saw some signs for Wilson's Creek Battlefield and had recalled someone recommending it to me. I loved having our GPS on the trip and it helped me to be spontaneous and adventurous. It didn't add too many extra miles and we decided to go for it. Daniel and I loved the visitors center. He enjoys anything involving weapons, it seems. The movie and displays were interesting, especially for a brief stop.
You gotta have a few silly cannon shots, right?
Christina did some peek a boo before we got started on the drive.
It was $5 (per adult or $10/car) to drive the 5 mile loop. We stopped a few times to see the cornfields, cannons, and places where this early Civil War battle took place. It was quite a bloody battle and interesting to learn more about Missouri history. I missed the turn off to leave and ended up back on the 1-way loop - AGAIN. So, we drove around Wilson's Creek twice. Way more than I wanted to see of it, that's for sure.
By that time, we were anxious to get on the road and get home since Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Scott were coming that night. It was a fun getaway and a successful Spring Break vacay! I enjoyed Branson, the Grand Country resort, and we hope to return to visit Silver Dollar City next time. We stopped for a wimpy dinner at a gas station in Morrison, OK. I missed a turn off and we ended up going the scenic route through the country.
We were officially welcomed to Oklahoma on our way home, since we stopped at the Oklahoma welcome center for a bathroom break and stocked up on as many brochures as we could carry out. I am amazed at how much there is to see here in O.K. I have tons more ideas for weekend outings and stuff to see with Christina.
I was reminded that Oklahoma's O.K. and Missouri's pretty marvelous too.
