Branson Trip for the Weekend

We had a great time in Branson this past weekend with Steve's family. We go together every year and have so much fun. Typically, we stay at the condos at Thousand Hills but they were totally booked so we stayed at a new place, The Majestic, which was on Table Rock Lake. We really liked it there, too, and I'm sure we'll go back.

Here's a few pics from our stay...

"A" is turning 8 in a few weeks so we had a little family celebration for her while we were there. We also celebrated birthdays for my niece who just turned 4 and my brother-in-law who will be turning the big 4-0 this week. Here's a few pics from the party...

If you go to Branson, you HAVE to go shopping and a visit to Tanger Outlet Mall is a must. We've gone every year for I don't know how many years now but Steve and I have always gone kid-less - one of the sweet blessings of having grandparents go with you on trips ;-) But this year we decided to take the girls and they LOVED it! All of their favorite stores in one mall - Justice, Children's Place, Gap Kids and Claire's!

One other understood rule about Branson, you have to go to Silver Dollar City. So we went on Saturday but unfortunately it rained quite a bit so we didn't get to stay very long. We went back the next day and although it was cloudy and cold most of the time, we still had a great time. We rode rides (the "big swings" was the kid's favorite), ate yummy food (the sausage skillet dinner was my fave!), listened to great music by Equador Manta (I loved this band!) and watched the most AmAzInG Chinese acrobat show (how in the world they do the things they do with their bodies I'll never know!). Here's a few pics from Silver Dollar City...

We had a great time and look forward to going back again soon!

Our Annual Branson Trip

Last weekend, our family took our annual trip to Branson. We go this time every year with Steve's parents, his sister and her family. We usually get a 3 bedroom condo at The Thousand Hills Golf Resort so we can be all together & eat most of our meals in. We always celebrate Steve's sister & "M's" birthday there because they both have birthdays in November.

While the grandparents watch the kids and go look for golf balls on the grounds, us parents got to go shopping ;-) Our favorite place to shop is Tanger Outlet Mall although I do like Branson Landing, too.

We went to Silver Dollar City on Saturday and it was SOOOO miserably cold! The kids were very bummed because it was so cold the rides had to be shut down. We got to see some really good shows, though, including Christmas Carol, Frosty the Talking Snowman and The Live Nativity.

We ended our stay at the Grand Village Shops and got to see Santa. Going to Branson this time of the year really puts you in the holiday spirit because the entire town is decked out with Christmas decor & all the shows typically have a Christmas theme. Can't wait to go again next year!

Our Annual Trip to Branson

This time every year, we go to Branson with Steve's parents and his sister and her family. We have a great time being together as a family and celebrating birthdays. This year we celebrated Steve's mom and sister's birthday, along with my nephew, Riley, and "M" is turning 11 in a few days so we celebrated her birthday, too.

We typically stay at the Thousand Hills Condos but this year and the last time we went, we stayed at The Majestic. It's the perfect size for our three families to stay in one condo...

We spent Sunday at Silver Dollar City. This is the best time of the year to go because they have all their Christmas decorations out and we love to watch the Christmas shows and parades...

Our 8 year-old, Abby, is on this ride with her cousin and uncle. I wanted to ride it, but it was too cold outside for me so I wimped out!

And here's another fast ride "A" and her cousin rode. Too swirly for me!

The best part of the night - watching the lighting of their HUGE Christmas tree and singing Christmas carols...

And on our last day in Branson, we went shopping at Tanger Outlet then to what we call the "Christmas Village". They have lots of neat shops, including our favorite, "Kringles Christmas Shop". The girls always pick out an ornament for our tree there every year. Since they started horse back riding lessons this year and are way into horses, they naturally picked out horse ornaments...

Can't wait to go again next year - such fun memories!

Annual Branson Trip - 'Tis the Season

We recently took our annual trip to Branson with Steve's family. We always go this time of the year and celebrate birthdays for Steve's mom and sister, my nephew, and our oldest daughter, Mackenzie. Here's a few pics of us hanging out at our condo...

One of the kid's favorite things to do is to send notes to the people staying below us. They love to keep an eye at the end of their chain and see if anyone wrote them back, which they usually do ;-)

It's also always our tradition to go to Silver Dollar City and see the Christmas lights, shows, and parade - definitely puts us in the Christmas spirit...

And before we head back home, we always have to stop off at the Grand Village Shops (a.k.a. "The Christmas Village"). We love to look around at all the Christmas trees and pick out an ornament to take home...

Let the Christmas celebrations begin!

The Countdown Is On

I love love love Christmas music but I try hard not to play it until the Christmas season begins. At our house, it begins every year when we go to Branson with Steve's family in November so I will just have to wait a little longer until I can start playing it. My family knows it's a pet peeve of mine to play Christmas music before then so they like to torture me and play it at home as our dinner music or they set it up to come on automatically when I turn on my car - even in the summer time. Yep, I'm loved.

A lot of new Christmas albums came out today and I did happen to purchase one. Not to worry - I will not play it early ;-)  I bought David Crowder Band's "Oh For Joy". I only listened to half of the first song and knew we'd love it. Here's some more albums that just came out that I will probably have to purchase soon...

WOW Christmas 2011

Toby Mac - Christmas in Diverse City

Various Artists - When LOVE was BORN

Kutless - This Is Christmas

Matthew West - The Heart of Christmas

And here's some of my old favorites...

Third Day - Christmas Offerings

Casting Crowns - Peace on Earth

MercyMe - The Christmas Sessions

Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong

The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas

Josh Groban - Noel

I'd love to know what your favorite Christmas music is! Please leave me a comment so I can check it out and possibly add it to my blog! :-)

Harvest Festival at Silver Dollar City

Our family just spent a fun day at Silver Dollar City in Branson this past weekend. I love going this time of year because they are having their Harvest Festival and everything was decorated for Fall. Our little Miss Abby has become quite the daredevil so Steve and I had to take turns riding all the "fast and scary" rides with her. Mackenzie is more into the "atmosphere" and shopping ;-)  We had a great time and look forward to going in November for their "Old Time Christmas" celebration!