Day In Branson

The snow stopped!

But it was still BITTER cold outside.

Which meant once again, every activity I had planned that day were canceled. 

It was fine.

We never would have survived longer than 5 minutes outside anyway.

Walking to and from the car was touch and go, lol!

The town was more open than it was the day before, but still had quite a bit

closed due to weather. 

I called around and found a few things we could do to keep us entertained. 
These activities were not on my priority list by any means, but making due
of the circumstances. 

I thought it was sweet to see Lane feeding the birds every morning. 
Nobody asked him to.

He found the bird feed up on the fridge and took it upon himself to make sure

they were nice and fat to stay warm!

 A view of the lake from our porch. 

It was our first time exploring in town!

First stop was the Titanic museum.

Getting their boarding passes. 

It was like the Holocaust museum where they got a real name of a passenger

who died on the ship.

You couldn't take pictures of the artifacts on the lower half of the building.
Or at the grand staircase. 

Clearly I like to follow the rules:)

Upstairs you could.
I'm not sure why, because they had artifacts up there as well. 

I'm also trying to figure out how they found this wedding ring inside the sunk ship!

First class room replica. 

So fancy. 

Love me some movie memorabilia!

Kate Winslet was TINY!
I swear, I think actresses are another breed.
That corset would not have fit me in the 3rd grade!

That water felt warmer than the weather outside!

Then we hit up a glorified Fat Cat type of place.
Hey, it was inside and warm.
Sold. 

The kids love this type of stuff so they were in heaven.
Branson was top notch in their books right about now!

Dinner time!

The place I REALLY wanted to try was closed.

It shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but it was.

I'm pathetic. 

We took inventory of open places and went with Gettin' Basted. 
Let me just say, we have been hitting the BBQ jackpot lately!

Holy smoly it was GOOOOD!!

I no longer was sad about the other place being closed.
This was a Christmas gift in itself. 

Moment of silence for the sides.
This was basically creme brulee corn.

And the sweet potato casserole... no words. 

As if we needed ice cream afterwards!

But they had an Andy's... and were open...

One thing led to another.

Funny that is was freezing and most everything
 was shut down except an ice cream shop!

Back to the cabin.
She was extra snuggly this trip and we weren't complaining!

 

Snowed In

We woke up to some bummer news.

Our plans for the day were officially canceled.

I had been anticipating it, but breaking it to the kids was hard.

We were supposed to go to Silver Dollar City.

An amusement park.

Not just any amusement park, but one that is decked out during Christmas.
Voted #1 during the holidays. 
Millions of twinkle lights and scenery. 

1,000 decorated Christmas trees. 
Old Time Christmas Festival.

I was really excited to go, and honestly was one of the main selling points

for me to pick this destination! 

SOOOO so very sad. 

But, to my surprise, the kids were totally fine to just hang out in the cabin!

It was heavily snowing outside and it was such a novelty for us all. 

It was nice sleeping in after a long day.

Casey made pancakes for breakfast.

For the first time EVER we started a show to watch all together.

I had heard how crazy Alone is.

Camping alone in the wilderness with zero supplies.

We started episode 1 and were hooked! 

We played games. 

By mid afternoon we were ready to check out our surroundings!

We geared up.
 Well at least we thought we were geared up enough.

We opened the door and were instantly hit with -12 degrees.
It cut through every layer we had on in seconds!!

It was unreal.

She would have shoveled for hours if it wasn't so freaking cold! 

This door gave me all the heart vibes!!

So welcoming. 

Cabin #13, so quaint and cozy!

There were about 8- 10 next to each other. 

In our backyard was Table Rock Lake.

While researching I discovered that Branson is also a lake destination.
Much like Bear Lake in UT, people come from all over to vacation in the Summer
by the water. Good to know!

Walking down to check it out.

You can see behind the steam the docks where people put their ski boats.

Hard to imagine the water ever being warm enough to get in!

By this point our faces were numb and tingly.

As we were walking back Casey remembered that the front door automatically locks and you 

need a key card like a hotel to get back in.

Nobody had one.

CRAP!!!

We got back to the porch and sure enough, we were locked out!

Even with gloves on my fingers were hardly able to text.

I got my phone out and made a quick call to the office.

Luckily they answered and said somebody would bring us a key.

Right when I hung up my phone froze and powered off!

Much like if it gets too hot.

Funny how only us Arizonans know that side of it!

Never would have I thought it could literally freeze and not work!

So glad I got that phone call sent out before it did.

We walked up to the street to wait for her.

After 10 minutes they hadn't come yet.
My phone was still off and Casey didn't have the contact information. 

The girls crying was starting to pick up. 

And I knew they were freezing because I was half numb!

I started to get a little worried.

But quickly realized if shiz truly hit the fan I would walk to a neighboring cabin and shamelessly beg
to come in and stay warm until we got help. 

I took the girls back by the porch because it helped block the wind.

Said a couple of prayers. 

Finally Casey came with the key card!!

I guess the poor front desk lady had to walk it to us because her car
 couldn't get up the slippery hill!

We were saved!!

(up by our truck waiting to be recued)

We busted in so fast and promptly warmed up some hot chocolate!

  "we survived death" cheers and smiles.

I think that helped us with our sympathy for the Alone contestants. 

Right about then is when winter was hitting and they were living in the snow
with homemade shelters. 

HOW??

No amount of money is worth that type of torture. 

It was getting to be dinner time.

Casey was adamant that he could make it to a near by McDonalds just fine.

You better believe I was tracking his phone like a hawk while he was gone! 

He made it back with loads of burgers, fries, McFlurries and pies.

And more Alone watching until they dozed off one by one. 

 

Even though this day was nothing like we had planned, it turned out
to be just what we needed!

There was no fighting or saying they were bored.

I actually loved every second of our cabin day!

Hip Hip Hooray for Christmas Vacation

♪ Jing-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-ling ♪

My Christmas dreams came true!

I've always wanted to trade in gifts for an experience. 

This year it HAPPENED! 

In October I asked the kids to make a Christmas list.

Not one item on their lists were needed, practical, or even somewhat useful. 
In fact, they didn't know what to put down!

I think Rusty had put a mouse pad??

That gave me a good chuckle. 
 They were basically making up stuff so they had something on paper to turn in. 

The thought of buying anything just for the purpose of them
having something to open on Christmas morning made me want to hurl!

I snapped.

I pitched the idea to go on vacation instead of gifts.
But, everyone had to be in agreement. 

All 4 instantly shouted NO.

The more I talked it over with them, 3 had changed their tune.

1 remained indignant.

Lindi had weepy eyes the rest of the night with the thought of no presents. 

I get it. I would have been upset at her age if my parents said no gifts!
And totally sad to miss out on family togetherness that day with grandparents and cousins.

But we would still be able to go to Christmas parties with them beforehand., and the week after.

And we only would have had 1 hour with each family that day due to church. 

It was just a different kind of year. 

The other kids worked on her.

She said she would be willing IF we could bring our stockings.

Of course!!

Now I needed to figure out where to go!

The big obvious places were out of the question.

NYC and Hawaii sure like to jack up their prices during the holidays.

I googled: best places for families to vacation during Christmas.

Branson Missouri popped up as #1 multiple times.

I have heard of Branson, but always considered it a Summer destination.

Annnd where the old folks go, haha. 

I knew it was known for their performing shows. 

The internet claimed Branson transforms into a winter wonderland!
It is known as Americas Christmas Tree City because there are more than 1,000 

Christmas trees on display throughout the town.

 Holiday spirit and magic for lasting memories.
Basically a real life Hallmark movie!

I checked flights and sure enough we could get our whole family there

for a really great price!

We left December 21st in the weee hours of the morning. 
Flying Allegiant during the holidays had me nervous.

And there was a massive storm rolling in the mid west.

We got on the plane without a hitch, or delays!
Deep sigh of relief!

I couldn't believe how easy peasy that flight was.

We blinked and it felt like we were landing already!

We grabbed our Turo truck.
Small airport = walk outside and it was basically right in front of you in the

parking lot. Again, so easy and convenient. 

Branson does not have an airport.

Well, it does but flights are outrageous. 

The trick is to fly into Springfield, about an hour outside of Branson and drive in.

I had heard that Springfield had some fun things.
One of them being Lambert's Cafe!

I thought we would get there before the lunch rush.
Not so much, it was packed!

I learned they have a heavy line all day long, it is so popular!

They had it down to an art.
 What I thought for sure would be an hour wait was only
15 minutes at best. 

We got seated and were trying to learn the ropes of this place.

We were greeted by our waiter who took our drink order.

Then this gal (who looked like Alison)
showed up with a bowl asking if we would like some fried okra.

We were confused but said SURE!

She dumped them on a paper towel in the middle of the table then kept moving along. 

I died at the mugs!!

All the drinks are served in what resembled the first insulated pop 
thermoses from Circle K and QT!

She then explained that everything on the menu comes with 

"pass around" sides.

Hence, the fried okra!
There were 5 pass arounds that would circulate often.

And the best part, the "throwed rolls"
They were huge! and warm right out of the oven.

You can kind of see the waiter in a red bow tie throwing one mid air. 

It was fun!

My meal served in a skillet.

I would hate being the dishwasher!

I was also told to go see the original and biggest Bass Pro shop right there in Springfield.
It even had an aquarium and a resort attached to it. 

It was fun seeing it decorated for Christmas. 

It had a replica of the Ozarks.
And I thought Arizona's water features were big!

So many things around every corner. 

Even Santa!

Later we learned that Dude Perfect had filmed one of our favorite segments

at that Bass Pro!

The one where they had a pumpkin carving competition. 

We got ice cream at Braum's Ice cream and Dairy store. 

I guess the early morning flight caught up to everyone as we drove to Branson.

We had tickets to a show at the Sight and Sounds theater once we got there.

Already seeing the big Christmas trees!

This theater only has shows that feature Biblical stories. 

It started with Joseph and Mary of Nazareth during their trials they go

through leading up to the birth of Jesus. 

Zechariah and Elizabeth and their story is also a big part of the show.

The stage is huge, plus have stages on both sides of the theater.

Live animals were also a fun surprise!

Never have seen horses inside a play before.

Pictures weren't allowed, but I had to sneak a couple!!

The kids LOVED it.

I was worried Della would get bored.

She was captivated the whole time.

It was the PERFECT way to start our trip and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. 

Before heading to our cabin, we checked out a drive-thru light display
at Shepherd of the Hills.

We arrived to our cabin!

It was 20 minutes outside of Branson.

I wanted to have a more rustic Christmas-y feel type of a place.

It sure hit the spot!

The kids all fit in one room with their own bathroom. 

The master.

The decorations were the perfect touch!

It couldn't have felt more hygge. 

They wasted no time turning on a Christmas movie and snuggled up by the fire. 

 I was starting to get cancelation notices on my phone.

The big storm had finally caught up to Missouri and they were

expecting lots of snow the next day.

Businesses were worried workers would get snowed in, so they were closing

for the day just to make sure.

It normally doesn't snow in Branson.

This was a doozy of a storm I guess and nobody was prepared for it. 

Luckily I had already pre-ordered groceries to be delivered to our cabin that night.

We grabbed extra pizza for dinner to hold us over the next day in case we couldn't get out and all the

restaurants were shut down!

I wasn't worried since we were well stocked with food and water. 

The next day would be interesting!