We had an absolutely wonderful weekend! We went to Branson, MO! We have gone before with Jayden, but he was still a baby, so he doesn't remember it. The drive was uneventful, but was full of the classic "Are we there yet?" Jayden complained more than Emma did! In fact, she didn't fuss at all except when the sun was shining in her eyes, which I fixed by pinning a jacket up on her window to block the sun out! We first stopped at Bass Pro in Springfield. I'd never been before and Nick had been there once, but didn't have enough time to really look around. We all actually had a lot of fun. There is a lot of stuff to look at. The kids sat on several different four wheelers and a big truck thing, I think it's called a gator? They had a ton of fun and were both very well behaved. Jayden enjoyed the fish. I enjoyed the display of water turtles! I used to have one as a pet and just love those guys! (the green ones with the red spot on their necks!) Jayden had been wearing one of Nick's camo hats and loved it because it was just like Daddy's. But it was an adult hat and was too big. So we found the kids section there and Jayden picked out a new hat that would fit him. Emma got one, too. Pink of course! We finished looking around there and headed back on the road. We packed already made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips, so we had those for lunch instead of stopping to eat. Yum! We finally arrived in Branson. We stayed at a hotel that has an indoor water park. We'd been there before and loved it. The kids were so excited to be in the hotel. There is just something about a hotel room that gets kids hyped up. They thought it was the best thing ever!

We were ready to go play at the park, so we got our bathing suits on and went on down! I don't have any pictures of the kids at the park because I didn't want the camera to get wet! They have lockers, but they cost to use. We didn't want to bother!

It was really fun. Jayden wasn't really into doing a lot of the slides, plus that water was freezing, even though it was inside! We mostly hung around in the toddler area, where Emma certainly had a blast. They had a small slide that she was able to climb up on by herself and slide down. I swear that kid probably did it 500 times. No exaggeration. She absolutely loved it. Jayden went on the lazy river with Nick, where they sat on an intertube and just floated. Nick said Jayden insisted that Nick do back strokes to make them go faster. So he did. :) We finished up the night by getting changed back into dry clothes and heading over to the pizza place and arcade that is part of the hotel. The pizza was good, but Jayden and Emma both refused to eat much. They were ready to go play some games! There wasn't much of anything Emma could do, so she just pretended to play. We ended up with some tickets and were able to get the kids each a small bouncy ball. Emma and I headed back to the room while Nick and Jayden went to play mini golf. When they got back, we put a movie on for the kids and were in bed by 10:00. Nick went and bought Krispie Kreme donuts the next morning. We packed up and headed on out shortly after that. We made plans to stop in Springfield again to visit the Discovery Center. It was very fun! I don't think the kids learned anything, but they both had fun looking and playing with all the stuff. Jayden and I became emperors for the day. Haha!

It was a short trip and all too soon was over. It was perfect though. Nick and I are both ready to go on another trip. We want to take the kids to Silver Dollar City next time, now that Jayden is old enough to enjoy the rides there. It would be fun! I can't wait!