Labor Day Camping in Branson, MO

   For the extended Labor Day weekend, we went tent camping in Branson, Missouri! We have a family tradition of stopping to eat at Lambert's Home of the Thrown Rolls in Springfield, MO. We usually stop on the way to Branson because by the end of tent camping we are just ready to get home. If you can plan accordingly, this is a very popular spot so there are times when you may have to wait 1-2 hours. The restaurant service is family buffet style, so they serve specific side dishes to all. You order your entree with sides as well, so you will not be leaving hungry. The fun happens when they throw their hot, homemade rolls to eager hands! Our son gets such a kick out of catching one that he will raise his hand even when his stomach is full.

   

   Our family enjoys tent camping! Brian and I both enjoy hiking, biking, and outdoor adventures, so we have been relieved that our kids have been enjoying doing this with us...for now! We've been tent camping now for two years and it has been a lot of fun to making family memories. This time we set up camp at our favorite site at The Wilderness campground.

   We surprised the kids with two day passes to the amusement park at Silver Dollar City!!! I do not like heights or testing the limits, so I really had to talk myself into having the courage of riding a few of the rides. Anna is our thrill seeker and has been riding roller coasters since she was tall enough, since she was eight-years old. She has a fearless soul and lives each moment with such joy and love that inspires her to have courage in the face of fear. Micaiah is our hesitant, analytical thinker who is just getting to be tall enough to ride coasters. On this particular trip, he showed his bravery by adding Outlaw Run to his list of coasters that he likes. Their courage and smiles riding Powder Keg together are priceless (pictured below).

   The rollercoasters are all-around fun! Here is my scoop on some of the park's best rides: Grand Exposition Coaster is perfect for smaller kids that are interested in coasters. It is circular track that acquaints them with the feel of a roller coaster. Fire In The Hole is an indoor coaster  for the whole family that takes you on a ride to put out a fire. Thunderation is a wooden roller coaster that is considered a beginner coaster, which does not loop or corkscrew. This one can be a bit jarring though. Powder Keg is one of the most popular rides here! It starts out by going 0 to 60 mph in two seconds! It has two big hills and the best seats are in the front. This ride does not loop or corkscrew and is packed with excitement. Outlaw Run is a wooden roller coaster with an intense series of corkscrews at the end. It has a large hill at the beginning and zips through the frame of the coaster which is quite different than other coasters. It is fast and quite thrilling, which is why this one may not be suitable for all. Do not try this one if you do not like going upside-down, or do not meet the ride requirements. Take off your sunglasses and make sure your phone is secure. Wildfire is the smoothest coaster at this park. It starts with a big fall that goes right into several large loops. On this ride, you are seated with a shoulder harness and your feet are free, so it feels like you're sitting in a car without a side panel to hold onto. This ride is my favorite! The Flooded Mine is a fun, family shootout where everyone gets to shoot at targets while riding in a boat. The River Blast is the wettest, ride in the park! Our kids love riding this one and playing on the water guns. We have spent hours just in this part of the park, especially on hot summer days. Lost River of the Ozarks is a water ride in a circular tube that the whole family can do together. This one reminds me of a similiar ride from my childhood at Hersheypark in Hershey, PA. Everyone will get wet riding this ride. The Giant Barn Swing is a newer addition to the park and is considered the adult version of swinging. It goes seven stories high and is quite worthy of the gut-wreching screams. Grandfather's Mansion is an indoor fun house that you'll have to look for or you'll walk right by it. You have to enter to experience the mind-bending effects of this spooky place. Marvel Cave is a free tour of the cavern on the park grounds. I'd highly recommend doing this at least once, as it is a spectacular scene to be at the bottom of the cavern and look up to the top. The tours are included with regular admission, unless you want to do the lantern tour which costs $5. The tour times are posted at the entrance of the park and occur throughout the day.

   A few of the nice perks about Silver Dollar City is that they do allow food and closed containers of drinks, they feature certain longer hours on certain weekends, they display fireworks on specified weekends, and there are endless musical shows happening throughout the day that provides a fun atmosphere of music, joy, and laughter. We've also heard that the fall and winter months are filled with the beauty of the changing seasons, fall decorations, a grand light display, and celebration of Christmas.

   

   During the evenings, we spent time at the campground swimming pool, sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows, and making memories being together. There were fireworks one evening at the park that we watched from our campsite. We could also see a fireworks display from Table Rock Lake. When we needed items like firewood or bottled water, there are shops within a ten minute drive from our campsite.

The summer fun may come to an end yet our camping memories will always be forever. 

Colorado : Garden of the Gods (post 4 of 4)

 

When you visit Colorado, you must 

Colorado : Ouray County "The Switzerland of the West" (post 3 of 4)

While in "the Switzerland of Colorado" (or Ouray County) we enjoyed jeeping from Ouray to Telluride, horseback riding on the trails, white water rafting down the Umcompaghre River, and swimming in the natural hot spring.

There are plenty of fun activities and scenic views to see and do here in Colorado.

This is a majestic place to visit!

Colorado fun is spectacular in July!

Colorado : Parks and Canyons (post 2 of 4)

Our first stop on our adventure to Colorado was the Royal Gorge!

Here are a few pictures of us riding the gondola across the Royal Gorge. 

Brian and I did the highest zip line in the US here!!!

We caught a magic show, had lunch, and climbed through the tree house.

Then on to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. 

So much beauty that can not be captured in a picture, so go see it with your own eyes!

The KOA in Cannon City has been one of our favorite stops!

We hope to come back here.

Colorado : Goodland, Kansas and the Continental Divide (post 1 of 4)

On our way to Colorado from Kansas City...and what do we see???

Wind Mills,

Oversize portraits of sunflowers,

And really big frogs in Goodland, Kansas!

When we drove the Monarch Pass, it was just breathtaking to experience the curvy, mountainous
and narrow paved roads that wrapped around tree filled scenic views of peaceful, undisturbed nature.
Here we are riding the gondola at the Continental Divide up to view the Rocky Mountains.
It was windy that day and we could feel the the temperature drop as we ascended to the top.

Celebrating TEN years in Hilton Head, SC

   How quickly time flies when you're having fun! We could not even imagine how wonderful it would be when the day came. It was true...we had made it to TEN years of marriage! When you want to celebrate a wedding anniversary and you live in the Midwest, you head to the refreshing, coastal beaches of Hilton Head, South Carolina. We were delighted to ride on the ferry from Hilton Head to stay in a cozy cottage on Daufuskie Island. There is a lot of history and character in the community of this quaint island. The picture below shows us at the pier landing on Haig Point. The kids really enjoyed the golf cart only transportation on the island which made getting around a lot of fun.

   The past ten years have been filled with a lot of adventure. On this trip marked the first time our kids got to experience the ocean! The waves were absolutely mesmerizing. They both enjoyed boogie boarding and making sand castles. Anna and I collected lots of delicate shells, starfish, and sand dollars. We spent our days soaking up the sun on the beaches and outdoor pools of Bloody Point, Haig Point, Melrose, and Hilton Head. The weather in July was very comfortable during the day which was accompanied by a daily rain shower throughout the day. The rains would last about thirty minutes about mid-day and would not put a hamper on attitudes since there were many places to visit and activities to distract during that time. We highly recommend the Pirate Ship adventure (http://www.piratesofhiltonhead.com) where your little mates will enjoy a comical story told as a treasure hunt. You might even see dolphins jumping, plenty of sailing boats traverse the same waters, and jet skiers enjoying the sights of the beautiful coastline.

   My favorite evening outing was visiting the shops and sounds of Harbourside on Hilton Head. There was live music, good cuisine to choose from, ice cream or candy shops, and souvenir shops to commemorate making memories. The lighthouse museum/souvenir shop is a delightful stop and there is a small fee to go all the way to the lookout is worth the view. The history lessons you'll learn on the way up the stairs is quite interesting no matter what your age. A few other places that I'd highly recommend are: Marsh Side Mama's (Daufuskie Island), the sightseeing of dolphins is very popular though we did not do it this time, bike rentals are very accessible, as well as tennis, golf, jet skiing, and parasailing.

   We ended this trip with a stop in Memphis, Tennessee to visit my best friend! It was a wonderful blessing to spend time with her and her family. We really reminisced and celebrated our twelve year friendship. It was a sweet way to return back to the yelllow brick roads of Kansas.

Our First Visit to Branson, MO!

Our first tent camping trip to Branson, Missouri was full of equipment.

We wanted to be prepared and brought more than we needed.

None the less, we learned what equipment we'll really need to bring next time.

We visited Lambert's Home of the Thrown Rolls!

The kids really liked it and requested to come back.

We visited the Sight & Sound Theater in Branson which was showing Moses.

It was a spectacular musical full of wonderful effects.

We loved how engaging and mesmerizing this story was told.

We will definitely be back!

The first week of school...

Anna is a first grader and loving it!  She is so excited to be able to have computer class and pick out books from the big book shelves at the school library, which as a Kindergartener she didn't get to do.  The whole school is doing a rewards program for good behavior.  The students can receive yellow (golden) or green tickets for good behavior like being safe, respectful, and responsible.  Every Friday throughout the year, students will be picked to get rewards like sitting on the stage to eat lunch and having their picture posted on the school television system.  Anna has been so excited about the rewards program and everyday she comes home to tell us how many tickets she earned.  One day during the first week of school she earned 5 tickets!  It was a special blessing that she got picked the first Friday to eat lunch on the stage.  She was so happy!

Over this past summer, for one of our family nights we watched the original movie of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."  They were mesmerized by the whole idea of the "golden ticket."  Which has been a real treat for Anna since she considers the yellow tickets to be golden.

Ever since the summer Olympics, Anna has been fervently practicing cartwheels and handstands.  She has mastered cartwheels and can do 3 in a row.  As for handstands, her goal is to be able to hold her feet up and walk.  She loves listening, dancing, and singing to worship music, writing and drawing on her dry erase board, and having playdates.

For Micaiah, he has been enjoying more Mama time during the days.  He likes having me all to himself, but I think more importantly he doesn't have to share his toys.  We are doing Teaching Time at home, in which there are good days and bad moments here and there.  We do up to an hour and a half of reading, singing, rhyming, mazes, puzzles, painting, letter/phonic workbooks, and preschool skills/activities two or three times a week.  His level of attention span is getting longer and more focused so that is a good indicator.  He loves Bible Time, painting, playing with his Polar Express train set, playdough, and playing soccer.  And most recently he has started telling knock-knock jokes!  He says some of the funniest things -- he calls restaurants "eating rooms".

The school year is off to a great start!

Celebrating our 7th Anniversary

Many things have changed over the past seven years of marriage.  There's been the miracle of having and raising our kids, which has been the most influential part of our maturing, I think.  As a wife, it is the ongoing thought of how to continually be the helper to my husband that Christ is wanting me to be.  At times I know Brian has doubted the path in which God has had us on.  Even I didn't want to always accept where we were at.  Yet it is through hardship, through failure, through uncertainty that we have relied on trusting Jesus as our Lord.  And in this we are finding that the path is not always smooth or straight.  Sometimes it may even feel like walking on quick sand.  Yet through it all, we are trying to keep our eyes on Jesus...and clinging to His outreached hand that seems to pull us up out of the pit every time, without fail.  We have learned the preciousness of togetherness, of prioritizing our days, and embracing the moment. Though we are running the race as individual racers, being married has expanded my view of this journey.
Your support and encouragement has given me
 the endurance to embrace the moments that have brought us
deeper revelation and understanding of God's design for our life together.
Brian, it has given me great pleasure to know you as my best friend and husband.
It is even more of a blessing to me to see you as a proud and loving father.  

May our journey continue to give all the glory to God! 

Happy 7th Anniversary!!!

(and to many more)

Despite being in the midst of moving, you treated me to a day at Hollyday Aesthetics spa.

I got to have a manicure, pedicure, facial, and sugar scrub massage.

I honestly can't remember the last time I sat that long during the day.

We enjoyed a date night in Waldo where we ate at Remedy.

The food was really good and we got to watch the opening ceremony of 

the summer Olympics in London.

Then we went to the movies to see the new Batman movie: The Dark Knight Rises.

The theater we went to had comfy, recliner seats...the kind with the feet rests.

We had fun playing with the buttons.

Thank you Brian.

The whole day was a special blessing!!!

Summer 2012 Milestones

This summer has been very productive and fun. 

Both Anna and Micaiah have excelled in swimming.

Anna has improved her strokes and kicks and is learning to do tricks off the diving board.

She is so brave jumping off the high diving board.

 

And its just amazing that Micaiah is swimming.

He sometimes wears his "muscles" but he really likes to put on his goggles and just swim on his own.

I think he could be an Olympic swimmer if he keeps it up!

Anna and Micaiah are also riding bikes, but the weather has just been 

too hot that we haven't been doing that much.

This summer Anna had the nickname "Toothless" because

she lost all her front teeth all at once.

Anna really enjoys drawing and coloring.

She drew her first family portrait.

Notice she wrote the ages above each person.

She even included Hosanna.

And Papa is the one with the big bumps on his arms.

 

Outdoor FUN!

We've been out and about spending most of our time lately outdoors.

Mostly bike riding with some playground and sandbox time.

It has been pretty hot here and the humidity is starting to kick in so soon it will be pool time!

The past two weeks have been filled with milestones for Anna.

She learned how to ride her bike without training wheels!

She lost more teeth.

And she has graduated from Kindergarten!!!

I've been wanting to get a picture of her riding her bike.

She hasn't let me yet because she still gets nervous.

So hopefully soon she'll let me capture a picture of her riding.

As for Micaiah, he is so proud to have a big boy bike!

Last year, he was still riding a trike because he could not reach the pedals on a bike.

Now, he is really taking off.