The Rollins Ruckus: December 17, 18, 19: Branson

The weekend before Christmas, we decided to take a little family get-a-way to Branson. My parents and my brother Kassidy went with us...I called it the C0-RO Family Vacation! We were so excited to be able to spend some quality time with Kass...we hardly ever see him now that he's so busy with college! None of us had ever been to Branson during the holidays and we had heard that it was absolutely gorgeous! Branson is ranked as one of the top holiday destinations in the country and we couldn't wait to see the 4 million Christmas lights at Silver Dollar City!

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We got a suite at the Hilton on Branson Landing. The suite was amazing, with two huge bedrooms, a living room and kitchen, and a patio that overlooked all of the shops of the Landing. This was the first time we have ever stayed at the Landing and we were extremely pleased. We'll definitely be staying there again! I loved being able to walk outside our hotel to all of the shops and restaurants, and Reid loved watching the fire and water show!

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Sissy girl - all ready to start her vacation!

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Reid wanted to go "play" at Bass Pro...Jeb was already exhausted!

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He was great at shooting the targets!

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And sis tried on a few raccoon hats!

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My little cuties!

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Precious baby girl!

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We went and saw The Miracle of Christmas at the Sight and Sound Theatre on Saturday night. It was an amazing production about the birth of Christ that included live animals! The kids did pretty good until about halfway through, then they got pretty restless. It was a great way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and think about what it might have been like when our Savior was born. After we got back to the hotel from seeing this show is when LilliAnn broke her finger! See this POST!

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We spent all day Sunday at Silver Dollar City! It was absolutely gorgeous during Christmas time! They had lights on literally EVERYTHING! My favorite thing was the wassail! Wassail is a traditional holiday drink, a little bit like a apple cider/punch. It was so warm and tasty...I just couldn't get enough! My mom loved it too! She was standing next to the stroller, taking a drink of it, and she burst out into song..."everyday I'm wassailin'... wassailin'." Hahahaha!

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FLASHBACK 2010 - Our little family at Silver Dollar City just one year ago! Look how much the kids have changed!

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The giant Christmas tree at the entrance...it does a musical light show when it gets dark.

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Reid played some shootin' games...

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Nana watched the stroller and drank her wassail while we rode some rides.

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Jeb and Reid on the elephant ride!

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FLASHBACK - 2010: Reid and daddy riding the elephant ride just one year ago!

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We rode the pirate ship! This was one of Reid's favorites!

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Reid threw some darts...

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Sissy's first ride this year...the frog ride!

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Reid and mommy rode too!

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Ridin' the bugs...

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FLASHBACK - 2010: Reid riding the bugs just one year ago!

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Riding rides is exhausting! Sissy took a nap for a couple of hours!

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How cute are these gingerbread men?

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My adorable parents!

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And my little brother...

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Silver Dollar City was so pretty as it began to get dark!

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Waiting the ride the Silver Dollar City lighted train!

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Fun on Papa's shoulders!

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This was Reid's very favorite ride! It is a boat ride where you ride through an old "mine" and shoot prisioners, A.K.A. "bad guys!" We had to ride it three times!

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Sissy liked it too! She rode this ride last year when she was only 4 months old...it was her first ride ever!

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Next we went to make stuffed animals...sissy decided to sit down with some of her new "friends!" She absolutely LOVES all baby dolls and stuffed animals of any kind!

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Putting stuffing in sissy's pink poodle

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Hugs for bubba while we wait to see Santa!

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Reid was really excited to tell Santa, once again, what he wanted for Christmas. LilliAnn, however, was NOT having it! She ran from him!

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He whispered to Santa that he wanted a wakeboard and a rope.

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As we left, we wrote a letter to Santa and mailed it to the North Pole! Reid was sure to sign his name!

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Our last ride was the "Silo pulley." You had to use the rope to pull yourself to the top of the silo!

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The ONLY ride we could get dad to do!

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Can you tell we had been here almost 12 hours at this point?!

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Beautiful!!!

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This was my favorite part! The LIGHT PARADE!

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LilliAnn absolutely LOVED the princess! She even got to give the princess a hug! She would say, "my princess, my princess!"

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The most important part of the parade! The Nativity Scene!!!

The Greatest Gift of All

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Before we left, we decided to watch the musical light show.

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The next day we did a little shopping at the Landing.

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Then we headed to the Dixie Stampede show! We went to this show last year while we were in Branson and it was our favorite thing that we did! We couldn't wait to see the Christmas version of the show this year!