Our First Family Vacation

Last week we went on our first family vacation. I'm calling this our first family vacation because we're pretty sure that we're finished having children and this is our first vacation by ourselves as a family of four. We decided to go to Branson because...A. it isn't that far to drive (which is very important with 2 children 2 and under) and B. it has a lot of things for kids to enjoy. I will say, however, getting packed for the trip and ready to leave almost gave me a nervous breakdown! We planned on leaving at 5 a.m. so the kids would sleep most of the way because our kids usually sleep until about 9:30 a.m. We ended up leaving around noon after Reid had two temper tantrums, I had two horrible migraines, stayed up all night packing - and still was trying to get myself packed last minute. But, we got the Escalade loaded up...and I mean loaded up, you would've thought we were moving...and headed to the great state of Missouri! 

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Branson has a new outdoor shopping area downtown called Branson Landing. This was our first stop when we got in town on Thursday afternoon and when I saw this little shop that did "Old Time Photos," of course, I couldn't resist! Although I had to sweet talk Jeb into it! 

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Look how sweet! Now wasn't it worth it?

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Reid was totally into this guitar! Now he wants to be a cowboy like this for Halloween!

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Before arriving in Branson we stopped at Olive Garden in Joplin to eat lunch. Reid was so excited and kept saying, "we're goin' on a trip mommy! we're goin' on a trip!"

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Little sis was pretty excited too!

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Branson Landing - first time to try out our new Joovy stroller. We were a little worried because my infant car seat is an Orbit and isn't one of the compatible infant carriers listed in the stroller's instruction manual. Lil is still too small to sit in the front part of the stroller, but thankfully our car seat worked perfectly! Jeb liked the stroller so much he wanted to push it most of the time! It was great for Reid because he's never been a stroller type of kid and it was easy for him to get in and out of as much as he wanted. Jeb said, "he's like a little chipmunk...he runs and plays and then comes back and gets in his little hole."

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They do a water and fire show to music every hour at Branson Landing that's pretty awesome. We ate dinner out outside at the Mexican restaurant and watched the show. 

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Playing on the playground at Branson Landing

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First stop on Friday morning...Branson Scenic Railway!!! Reid is so into trains right now so this was by far his favorite thing we did on the trip. He loves watching Thomas the Train and has two train sets, so he just couldn't wait to ride a real "choo choo train." As we were pulling up to the train station Jeb and I were talking and Jeb asked me, "I wonder where the train goes?" Before I could answer Reid chimed in from his car seat, "On the tracks daddy!" Like duh, dad...the train goes on the tracks. It was the cutest moment ever!

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Waiting in line to get on the train and holding his train whistle that we bought in the gift shop

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This is one of my most favorite pictures EVER! He was taking everything so seriously and he was so excited he could hardly stand it! The anticipation on his face in this picture says it all. He's holding his ticket for the conductor to come by and pick up.  On his Wee Sing Train movie there's a song that goes, "better get your ticket, oh yeah" and Reid kept holding up his ticket and singing this song.

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It was Jeb and Sissy Baby's first train ride too!

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"Wook mommy!"

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When we went over the bridge he looked down and said, "whoa...that's high!"

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The train ride was pretty long - over an hour - and the kids did great! Reid looked out the windows, got some snacks in the concession car, and even danced a little.

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the "train driver"

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Our little family...Reid has a death grip on his "I Like Trains" book we bought him in the gift shop.

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He wanted to sit down and read his train book before we could leave the train station.

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Talk about busy tourists...as soon as we left the train station we rushed down the road to "Ride the Ducks" so we could catch the next one leaving at 2:00. We had to stay on schedule because we had 4:30 tickets for the Dixie Stampede show!

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One of the highlights of the trip...riding the ducks! Reid loved using his duck quacker! After we drove into the water, full speed ahead, Reid look at me and said "Inna do dat again!!!" 

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Jeb's first time to "Ride the Ducks"

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When the driver asked if anyone wanted to come drive Reid got up and walked to the front all by himself. He's a little upset in these photos because the driver was trying to take a picture of him and he started walking back to us, the driver said "no, wait a minute" and it scared Reid. Daddy had to come back up with him for the picture.

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Captain Reid J. Rollins

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Friday night we went to Dixie Stampede which was a blast!! Reid's eyes were glued to the show the entire time. The show consisted of a musical and horse tricks with a North vs. South "war theme" - it was great! Not to mention the delicious food we were served during the show...smoked chicken, pork loin, vegetable soup, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, cheddar biscuits, and apple turnovers! Yummy! My kind of southern food :) I'm allergic to horses and we sat on the second row, but luckily I found some Benadryl in the gift shop. As we were leaving, one of the women that rode one of the horses during the show said to me, "You have beautiful children. I was watching them during the show." This made me really proud and yes, I do have beautiful children. 

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We got up early Saturday morning, went and ate breakfast at the little store at our resort, then headed a few miles down the road to get to Silver Dollar City as soon as it opened. We thought it wouldn't be as crowded since it was back to school week for most schools and the summer was winding down...boy were we wrong! It was the Gospel and Blues Picnic at Silver Dollar City that weekend...one of the busiest days of the year! Luckily, it was mostly older people so the lines for the rides weren't long at all. 

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Sissy Baby waiting on the shuttle from the parking lot.

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Reid and Mommy - Ready for a fun day at Silver Dollar City

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The good thing about Silver Dollar City is that it's got lots of trees so there's plenty of shade! 

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What's the first thing we did? Ride the Silver Dollar City Steam Engine of course!!!

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LilliAnn's very first ride - you sit in a little boat and ride through a little river, shooting at stuff.

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Showing off his 36" bracelet - He is exactly 36", meaning he could ride all of the "kiddie" rides without an adult.

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Besides the choo choo train, this is what Reid has talked about the most. He says that he rode Dumbo (which, by the way, is one of his favorite movies currently). I got my video camera out to video this and I started cracking up laughing to myself. I was like, "ha ha, Jeb is riding a flying elephant and he likes it." I don't know why I thought that was so funny!

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Sissy wasn't much into the rides :)

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ok, so Reid wanted to ride these "boats." I wasn't so sure because they went around very, very fast and I didn't see many kids his age riding them. He kept insisting and he met the height requirement as long as he was with an adult, and guess what? Jeb made me ride with him. I'd been a little anxious on this trip and didn't know if I could handle going around and around. But...Jeb made me feel bad by saying that Reid would look back at pictures and wonder why mommy never did anything fun with him. So...I want on the boats. Reid almost started crying at first and was saying, "I don't like these boats mommy," but after a few times around and some encouraging words from me, he finally started having fun.

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He loved this "bug ride" because another one of his favorite movies is "A Bug's Life."

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Loves to play in the water!

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Cheese!

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Reid has started wanting to take pictures of sissy, probably because he sees me doing it so much. This is a picture that Reid took of LilliAnn.

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Beautiful baby girl

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We pay $60 a piece for Silver Dollar City tickets and he likes to play in the mulch!

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Yummmmmm...we HAD to get some strawberries and icecream. Strawberries are our favorite!

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We stayed in this water area for a long time because Reid was having a blast. You can tell how much he loved it by the looks on his face.

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Pure joy!

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Balls...another little boy favorite!

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We're lovin' this stroller!

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He was making silly faces for me.

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Dad of the Year! When we first walked in Jeb said, "I never thought I'd be pushing a stroller around Silver Dollar City looking at all the different types of cool strollers other people have."

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Little Family Photo

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Resting at the condo

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I was in the bedroom and I heard Reid talking to LilliAnn. I walked in the living room and Reid had the phone to her ear saying, "tell Nana sissy, tell her, we're on a trip!" My mom really wasn't on the phone, but Reid kept acting like he was talking to his Nana and Papa.

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Gettin' a little sun

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Our resort had the best swimming pools for kids!

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Silly boy!

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I love this pic!

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Another favorite!

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My little model

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Jeb didn't like how this bathing suit didn't have a top. I told him that it's a diaper swim cover from Mini Boden and that it doesn't come with a top! It's from a European company :)

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yep...Jeb took this pic.

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I feel like the kids really bonded on this trip. Reid started showing a lot more interest in LilliAnn. She just loves to watch him and touch his face. Now he always makes sure that she's with us and says things like, "you get sissy mommy?" and "is sissy coming?" and "I wanna hold her!" and "I wuv her mommy."

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On our last day I wanted to stop at this little water slide that's on the main strip in Branson. We used to come here when I was a kid and I absolutely LOVED it! It's just one long water slide, but I remember it being so much fun. I wanted to go down it with Reid, but he wanted his daddy to go.

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Ready for take off!

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Here they come!

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Daddy giving me the ole' thumbs up

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The water was pretty cold and it was cloudy outside so Reid was ready to warm up!

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Jeb's been practicing "thumbs up" with him.

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"Mommy it's coldy!"

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Our very last thing we did was stop at one of the kiddie ride places on the strip to let Reid ride this choo choo train that he kept seeing. He cried when I tried to make him get off, so he ended up riding it several times. 

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Overall, I would say our "First Family Vacation" was a huge success! The kids were great, Jeb and I really enjoyed ourselves, and it was nice for just the four of us to get away for a few days. The Ruckus gives Branson two thumbs up and we're already planning on going back again soon!