Branson, Part 5 – Silver Dollar City

Posted August 22nd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

The boys have now ridden their first real roller coaster.  C LOVED it.  Which was a surprise to me.  J HATED it.  Which was another surprise to me.

At Silver Dollar City, before each ride, there are signs where the child can stand in front of it.  Depending on the child’s height, he can either not be tall enough to ride, ride with an adult or ride alone.  The kids loved the signs and started to go towards them on their own at each ride that caught their eyes.

After the first ride (which was the roller coaster), J didn’t ride another ride for at least 45 minutes.  C on the other hand, rode EVERY RIDE HE COULD with me in tow.  I enjoyed most of the rides.  However, there was one ride called the Regatta.  It went around and around on a small track in a circle.  It started out slow and then progressively got really fast.  I was almost throwing up after it.  THEN C wanted to do it again!  Sweet Mommy that I am, I agreed to it.  Won’t forget that sick feeling for awhile.

Fortunately C took a break from his wild side and decided to skip a ride.  So, I rode the teacup with B and J.  It was a relief to go slow for a bit.  We spun our teacup really fast for about 30 seconds and then J told us to stop.  We just rode the calm ride the remainder of the time.

At one point, C and J got to ride a small roller coaster all by themselves.  Got a picture of the brothers together supporting one another on this adventure!

Soon a big thundercloud came up.  We were in line to ride the train around the theme park when the rain hit.  It was a downpour of cats and dogs!  Luckily we were on the covered train for most of the rain.  After the train ride stopped, it would have been nice to be allowed to stay on the train for a few more minutes to allow the rain to stop, but oh no, we were kicked right off and ran for a little house/trinket store to find cover.  (We understood that other people wanted to ride the train, but it still would have been nice…)

After the rain stopped, we were able to pick up C’s and J’s new airbrushed shirts, a four leaf clover for C and a desert picture for J.  These were definitely their picks.  I doubt I would have picked either.

Lunch was at Cracker Barrel and then back to our awesome hotel for some swimming.  Another great day!

Branson, Part 4 – BURIED TREASURE!

Posted August 22nd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

After studying the map, we went back to the beach the next day.

First, C stepped off the 30 paces.  The boys tried to dig for buried treasure.  Nope.  Not there.  Well, the boys didn’t dig.  J dug for buried treasure.  C just stood there with his arms folded and told J, “You dig.”

Second, I stepped off the 30 paces and there they tried to dig for buried treasure.  Nope.  Not there.

Third, Pop stepped off the 30 paces.  He must have long legs like Captain Steed (imagine that!)…  Jackpot!  Buried Treasure!

Here are some pictures of the boys digging for the treasure.  Pop (luckily!) had a small, fold-up shovel kept in the trunk of his car.  It was perfect for the boys.  At one point in the digging, C got fed up with all the hard work and went for a swim.  He yelled at J, “Call me when you find the buried treasure!”  As if he was entitled to half of the booty just because his brother was doing all the work!  The nerve! 

The boys learned that to make the “X” that tells you where to dig, you pace off from one point and then find another spot to pace from.  The intersection is what makes the X.  Interesting.

In some of these pictures, you will see the drawn “X.”

Finally, I guess C got tired of the water since he was playing all by himself.  He came ashore and Pop paced off the map.  Here we go…

In the last picture, you see J, C, and Pop pulling out something wrapped in a black cloth.  What could it be?!  A TREASURE CHEST!!!!!

A real treasure chest – from Captain Steed!  What could be in the treasure chest?  All of Captain Steed’s most fabulous necessities and collectibles, of course!  A magnifying glass, a brass inkwell, an aluminum cup, glass marbles, priceless old world coins, chains, locks, silver marbles, and an old book (Treasure Island) that is marked “Property of Captain Steed.”  Also, in the treasure chest were the keys to the ship’s DUNGEON!

While the boys played with their new treasures, Pop decided to play on his own – with the magnifying glass.  He got the grass to smoke a little and who knows what would have happened if the boys hadn’t gotten his attention.  Fortunately the boys didn’t “get” bending the light and now they are trying so hard to get the grass to smoke “like Pop did.”  Oh, my!

All in all – a REALLY cool day!  Thanks Nana and Pop for all your creativity and hard work in pulling this off!

Branson, Part 3 – THE Beach and MAP!

Posted August 22nd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

Setting up a great story that was months in the planning, we finally went to the beach at Branson on Table Rock Lake.  Here are a few pictures of the gorgeous beach,  BEFORE I get to the real story.  I know… SUSPENSE!

A few notes to some of these pictures…

1.  Yes, the duck did bite Brian.  No, it didn’t draw blood.

2.  The water REALLY was that clear.  I was standing up, then treading water at another point and could look down and still see the bottom of the lake.  It was the clearest lake water I have ever been in.  Plus the water was warm as bath water.  However, the other side of the dam had the COLDEST water.

3.  While J loved splashing in the water, C loved throwing rocks into the water.

In the above picture, Pop is perched on a rock waiting, just waiting (very patiently, mind you) for the boys to “discover” a partially buried bottle.  C was so FREAKING close to it when picking up rocks to throw into the lake. **TENSION!**

It was finally B who pointed out to C and J what C was overlooking.

Pop helped the boys open the bottle.  Inside was a letter from Captain Steed – the Legendary, Incredible, Imaginary Captain Steed.  Also, there was a TREASURE MAP!

The letter from Captain Steed has a skull and crossbones at the top of it.  In old english font, this is what the letter from Captain Steed said:

If I die in the sea from the dastardly act of some scoundrel’s shot to the stern of my grave ship, then the spoils of my treasure chest be the reward to him who unlocks the secret of my drawed map to its buried spot beneath the ( X ) Where I did spit when last I sat foot on dry land.

Captain Steed

AND…   Here is the MAP!

The map reads -

30 paces to Peninsula where water kisses sand

and 30 paces to the stoney water’s edge

The X there made will reveal a secret

kept warm by God’s own creation.

************

After discovering the bottle with the map and letter from Captain Steed, the boys and the rest of us played awhile more.  It was that evening back at the hotel that the boys and Nana and Pop discussed the map and what it meant.  The next morning we went back to the beach to discover BURIED TREASURE…

Branson – Part 2, Riverboat Dinner Cruise

Posted August 22nd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

During one day of our vacation, we took a riverboat dinner cruise on the Branson Lake Queen paddleboat.

http://bransonontheweb.com/attractions/prop/branson-landing-lake-queen

While the pizza dinner was good, the fellowship was excellent.

We got to go up the river (Lake Taneycomo), turn around and come back.  J got to turn the boat around.  Cool!

C didn’t want to drive the boat.  However, they both competed in the hula hoop contest.

Branson, Part 1 – Railroad Tour

Posted August 22nd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

May 25, 2010 – Firehouse Fun

Posted August 3rd, 2010 by Mom | Comments (0)

About every three months J insists on taking chocolate chip cookies to the firemen.  This time we visited a new firehouse.  (Last month we took chocolate chip cookies to the police men.  They were great showing J the jail cells, command center and even fingerprinted him.  No photos were allowed, so here is all the writeup that that fun visit gets.)

After giving the cookies to the firemen, they showed us around the firehouse and especially the big trucks.  Oh, a boy and his trucks…  Life is good.

And what visit would be complete without sitting in the riding lawnmower!  It is the little things that count – a bonus was that it is a John Deere!!