Branson Part I: Saturday & Sunday

Everyone was so excited to get our vacation started. The women and Austin left out early on Saturday morning. We stopped around 12:30 at the Burger King in Rolla -- big mistake. The visit still turns my stomach. We'll definitely make a mental note not to stop there again! We arrived at our condo (or Con-dooo, as Austin calls it) around 3:00. The entire trip went surprisingly well...even with Austin napping less then an hour. We were pleasantly pleased with our digs - three king sizes bed and private bathrooms. Aunt B spoiled Austin while we waited for the men to show up. He was very excited about his new truck, complete with bales, corn, potatoes and tomatoes! The boys finally arrived around dinner time. Nana whipped us up a fantastic dinner of t-bones, potato salad, slaw and bread.
Austin's loved climbing the stairs to B and CC's loft to tickle CC's feet. As you can see, at one point he had all seven of us in bed together. A family can't get much closer than this!
The night was still early, so we decided to head to the scenic view. Everyone was hungry again when we realized there was an ice cream shop across the road! It was time to hit the hay after bath time. Austin claimed he wanted to sleep in Nana and Pa's closet. (I kind of wish we would have let him after we wrestled with him for two nights in our bed. It was like sleeping with a 30lb fish out of water!)
We were treated to a breakfast fit for a king on Sunday morning. Austin even had pancakes with "chips on 'em!" (He won't eat pancakes without chocolate chips melted on top.)
We headed to the outlet mall after our bellies were full. I won the mother of the year award when I found out Austin was wearing shoes a size and a half too small! Dropping $60 at Stride Rite helped ease the guilt a bit...
We headed home for a bit of rest and relaxation before heading to the Dixie Stampede for dinner. Austin was terrified of the pre-show but loved the stampede itself. Everyone enjoyed pigging out (without utensils!) and we were all excited to be on the victorious side - The South, of course!
We ended the night with playing cards, hide-and-seek and reading books. Austin would tell everyone when it was their turn to hide and then lay on the couch counting, "2, 1, 2, 1." It was a good thing we had three bathrooms...you have to get a little creative when hiding in such a small place!
Tomorrow we head to Silver Dollar City!

Wordless Wednesday: Waiting for Dad

The Big Red Barn

By the big red barn
In the great green field,

There was a pink pig
Who was learning to squeal.

There was a great big horse
And a very little horse.

And on every barn
Is a weather vane, of course -
A golden flying horse.

There was a big pile of hay
And a little pile of hay,
And that is where the children play.
But in this story the children are away.
Only the animals are here today.

The sheep and the donkey,
The geese and the goats,
Were making funny noises
Down in their throats

An only scarecrow
Was leaning on his hoe.
And a field mouse was born...

In a field of corn.
Cock-a-doodle-dooooo!
In the barn there was a rooster
And a pigeon, too.

And a big white hen
Standing on one leg.
And under the hen was a quiet egg.

There was a bantam rooster
And a little bantam hen
With a clutch of eggs.
Count them. There are ten.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Mooooooo! Moo!
There was a big brown cow
And a little brown cow.

There was a old black cat,
Meow! Meow!
And a tiger tomcat,
Yeow! Yeow!

There was a big red dog,
Bow! Wow!
With some little puppy dogs
All round and warm.

And the all lived together
In the big red barn.

And the played all day
In the grass and in the hay.

When the sun went down
In the great green field,
The big cow lowed,
The little pig Squealed.

The horses stomped in the sweet warm hay,
And the little donkey gave on last bray.

The hens were sleeping on their nests.
Even the rooster took a rest.
The little black bats flew away
Out of the barn at the end of the day.

And there they were all night long

Sound asleep

In the big red barn.

Only the field mice were left to play,
Rustling and squeaking in the hay,

While the moon sailed high

In the dark night sky.

The End.
Again? Again?
Again?!?!

A Camping We Will Go!

Aunt B and Uncle C invited us to go camping with them down at Fort Kaskaskia. We were all excited to check out their new home-away-from-home on wheels. We didn't stay all night, but we all enjoyed pretending to camp. The dinner they cooked us was very very yummy. We loved the fresh green beans!
Of course we can't go anywhere without Austin's bag of goodies. Tractors, trucks, cars and anything else he can fit in his bag go everywhere with us!
It didn't take him long to find a new shed for his tractors. He loved hanging out on the bunk bed.AC and flat screen TVs - My kind of camping! We can't wait to go camping again!

Wordless Wednesday: ??