It was fun flying with the Wilford's and Grandma. We all felt the humidity as soon as we stepped off the plane in Springfield. We picked up our two rental cars and had some time to kill before we could check into our place so we grabbed some lunch, dividing and conquering. Some kids went to Whataburger, and what an experience that was, so much so that we were slipping "what a" in front of every sentence as often as possible. With more time to waste we hit up the huge Bass Pro Shop and what a store!
We enjoyed the taxidermy, Nascar exibit, and fake riding the four wheelers.
But Jared was chomping at the bit to find all the cousins so we hit the road to get the party started.
That first night we enjoyed a pasta bar for dinner, chatting, and letting the kids play. We decided to rent a boat the next morning to enjoy a day on the lake.
I woke up early and went for a walk with Laura. We randomly saw the tail of an armadillo as it crossed the street into the woods. Very cool.
The next morning once Val and Mel got the boat all figured out 14 kids and adults set out for the boat while the rest of us paddle boarded and swam on the shore. While we were swimming it started pouring rain, which just made it more fun.
Eventually, the boat returned and we swapped spots. The pontoon boat was a blast. The kids loved the slide, tubing, and jumping off the top.
We swapped kids again and I came in to help get tacos ready for dinner. That night we played "How well do you know grandma and grandpa?" It was fun to hear grandma and grandpa answer the questions and tell some stories. Then we sang some of the classics like Bingo Farm, The Instrument Song, and Every Time I Feel the Spirit.
Emily had made baklava on Wednesday evening (it was supposed to soak over night) and I made fruit pizza earlier that morning so after the singing we turned on the Türkiye vs. US game and everyone dug into the treats.
The next morning I went for another walk - man that humidity is killer. After that everyone went out to play yard games. We started playing pickle ball and just kept rotating in and out. It was such fun with my siblings. I was definitely one of the weaker players but they were all good teammates and we had a blast.
The kids found a tick ridden cat and couldn't stop loving on it.
While playing I had started feeling itchy and discovered a few bug bites on my arm, but couldn't explain while I was itching all over.
We finally got too hungry and hot and went in for lunch and showers. When taking off my clothes I realized I was covered in hives. Guess my body really didn't like that heat and broke out. I took a cold bath to calm it down before heading to the Talking Rocks Cavern.
We enjoyed the cave tour and the cool features of the cave, and not being hot!
In the gift shop there was a crazy maze for kids built into the wall; of course most of our group had to go through it. Many of the adults emerged exhausted having had to army crawl most of it.
We enjoyed the view from the tower on the nature walk. It really is a lovely area.
That night Mark made homemade pitas to go with the yummy shish kebabs and tziki sauce followed by "Which Aunt or Uncle is it?" Spencer put together 15 different facts about the siblings and Keeley, like "Who collected Skittles wrappers?" and the kids had to guess who did what. It was a lot of fun and some of the questions even had the siblings stumped. After brownies the little kids dispersed and the adults and teens played Gen Smack (a generational trivia game) and "Guess this movie quote".
Saturday morning we had to play more pickle ball. Thankfully it wasn't as hot this time. The afternoon was a bit lazy playing games, and getting some things packed up for our departure the next morning.
For dinner Grandma wanted to treat us to a buffet so we drove into Branson for the first time. What an experience! So many mini golf venues, restaurants, theaters, exhibits, rides, even a water park. There were so many people. It was fun to see and experience for one evening but I was glad that we didn't stay in Branson. Our place by the lake was perfect.
After dinner some of us went to "The Haygoods" show. A family of singers who also play tons of instruments. They took this gimmick photo on our way in and I guess mom and I didn't get the microphone memo 🤦. We look pretty silly 😂.
The two hour production was over the top. Laser lights for every song, smoke, fire, zip lining onto the stage, robotic dinosaur, tractor shooting flames, a motorized recliner, light up harp, tap dancing upside down, a jet pack costume zip lining onto the stage again and a random song where the only sister changed her dress 6 or 7 times. They were actually very talented but it was difficult to enjoy the talent because of all the showy stuff. Rather wild but a part of the Branson experience.
Sunday we packed up hung out just chatting till our 10am check out. We said our goodbyes and headed over to check out the damn and fishery on our way to church. Sadly the fishery was closed but we enjoyed a little walk through the woods.
We caught some lunch - Whataburger again (a first for some of us - not overly impressed) then headed to church and then to the airport. We had some delays leaving and landing in Denver and had to do a seriously fast and sweaty long walk to the other end of our terminal just to find out they had held our flight! We had such a great time with all the family. Lots of laughs, good talks, fun experiences and creating memories.
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