Next Stop: Branson, MO

Okay we had one last BIG vacation of the summer.  We wanted somewhere far, but somewhere we could drive to in one day.  Some friends convinced us that Branson, Missouri was a great vacation. Turns out they were right!

About 700 miles and 12 hours later we arrived in Missouri (by way of Oklahoma and Arkansas first), with Branson just past the Missouri border. God was with us that day and answered my prayers by keeping the rain off of us which had caused lots of flooding in the area just days before. 

We stayed at the Welk Resort. Not bad! It was just right for us and had this really cool indoor/outdoor pool, water slide,  and splash pad.

Branson is famous primarily for the entertainment offered there as there are literally hundreds of shows to go see. We settled on five which offered quite a variety and that we thought our kids would also enjoy. 

First was Marco Polo, a Cirque de Soleil style show recently brought to Branson from China. Quite amazing and probably the best as far as actual performing goes.

But before I move onto the other shows, I will go in order and our next stop was a local fish hatchery located near the dam of Table Rock Lake near our hotel. This place was FULL of trout - thousands upon thousands and you could feed them and watch them all pop up to the surface really fast. The kids actually got a real kick out of it!

Here is the dam with the flood gates actually open! It was pretty cool to see and hear.

We didn't go to the wax museum but this King Kong replica could be seen all over Branson. It was definitely the tallest building in the town.

We did, however, go to one of the MANY miniature golf courses. Ours was called Shoot for the Stars and was a Hollywood theme where you go along the path to your own stardom. We even got to putt on the red carpet!

We ended the day with the Kirby VanBurch Magic Show - it was definitely a favorite of the kids! He had lots of live animals and I have to admit I was nervous about a Sigfried and Roy moment where an animal unleashes on everyone - imagine my relief to find they were always caged! Whew! 

The next morning Mike took Mackenzie, our little fisher girl, out on a fishing excursion on the lake.

Unfortunately not much was biting that day but they both had a good time. Plus it's great for them to have some one on one time. (Oh, that dude in the picture was their guide, Skeeter, in case you are wondering how Mike aged so quickly. You were probably thinking that's what happens when you vacation with four children.)

While they fished, we swam some more at the hotel, and then found ourselves later riding bumper boats! So fun! I love bumper boats (but don't really like my kids blasting me in the face with the water spray)! 

We tried to do go-karts (they had some amazing multi-level tracks that none of our kids could do) but Kaitlyn was mad because even she had to ride with her dad while her twin sister was tall enough to drive alone. They had all these different tracks but not all of them were at the same location. Very confusing and kind of messed up our go-kart plans. Oh well - she did get a smile on her face when Mike finally lapped Mackenzie!

And our entertainment for the evening was the Showboat Branson Belle. It was a dinner cruise with somewhat of a patriotic theme, and it featured some crazy talented woman who could fiddle and play the violin while hanging upside down on one of those giant fabric ropes. She could also sing and play piano. Where does anyone learn to do all that? There were also a comedian and a men's singing group that did a great boy band medley. 

 And that wraps up part 1 of our trip! Loving it so far!