Sunday, January 30, 2011

Vacation part 2

What a great time we had with our two grandsons, our daughter and our son-in-law James. We went swimming in the indoor pool at the Wilderness Club on the outskirts of Branson. That lasted about 20 minutes. Elijah refused to stay in the water and wanted to run around the slippery edges. We gave up and went back to the room. Poor Patrick never got to go back to the pool there. We tried the outdoor pool by our room but it was cold outside and we couldn't figure how to open the child proof gate into the pool area. Sad, I know. When we found out how to open it, we never got a chance to go back to it since the kids only had one night with us.

The shows at Branson are too expensive but we couldn't resist taking the kids on the Ducks. These are the amphibeus vehicles that drive on land and then plunge into the water. Patrick and Eli got to be captains on the water. Elijah didn't want to give up the wheel. Somewhere we have pics out of the millions on our camera disk that I will add when I find them.

We stayed in one resort area for 3 days and moved to another one in town for 3 days. The Wilderness Club was by far the best of the two. Yes, they talked us into an upgrade. Why are we so gullible? I don't know, but now we have more points and more owners fees. Hopefully, we will live long enough to figure out how to get the most out of our reservations plus our money's worth out of it all. Time will tell.

The kids left Sunday and we enjoyed the rest of the week just hanging around Branson. We didn't do alot but we tried out the Rosetta Stone on our laptops to learn Spanish, got in the hot tub at the second resort, and spent the day at Shepherd of the Hills. We bought the multi ticket and enjoyed the Sons of the Pioneers dinner, the tour, going to top of the tower to see all of Branson, and then topped it off with the play from front row and center. I literally felt the horses breath. I could have reached out and petted him if I wasn't so intimidated by his huge head. It was great.

This was my second time to see the play. It brought back many memories of our family trip we took along with some friends when I was in Jr. High. It was very nostalgic. After the play, Mike and I went down and talked to the actors after the show.

The next day we visited the Butterfly Pavillion and had a blast taking lots of pics of some pretty butterflies. It was so hot in there we were poring sweat. Downstairs we went through the mirror maze. Not a great idea for someone with claustrophobic issues but we managed to find our way out. Thank goodness.

On Friday, we drove back to Kansas City for Eli's birthday party and found disaster on the highway.

(To be cont)