Branson Vacation

We went on our "big" vacation at the end of May this year. Having extra free time this summer and hearing about other people's fun vacations during the summer gave me an itch to take another trip before school started. But we had spent our vacation fund on our May vacation, so we needed to go somewhere inexpensive, and Matt had used a good portion of his vacation time, so we needed to go somewhere close so he didn't have to take off much work. My friend Erica came to the rescue and we came up with the perfect solution. After living in the Tulsa area for over a year, I finally learned that Branson is only a 3 1/2 hour drive, and Erica has family there that own a condo who were willing to let us stay in it for only the cleaning fee. So we headed off with our friends Matt and Erica and Chris and Ivory for a long weekend vacation in Branson. Matt and I had a lot of fun and can't wait to plan our next getaway with our fun friends. We headed out Thursday after everyone got off work and drove to the condo that night. We got in pretty late, so we just relaxed on Thursday night.

Friday morning our wonderful husbands (who all happen to be morning people) got up and cooked us breakfast, while all the girls slept in. After breakfast we headed to Silver Dollar City for a day of roller coasters and amusement rides. Silver Dollar City actually had some decent roller coasters. I think the Powder Keg roller coaster was our favorite. They also had a giant swing that comes in a close second. I'm pretty sure my lungs got a good workout with all my screaming. None of the rides were as good as the Superman ride at Six Flags, but really what can compare to that one :). It's my all time favorite amusement ride. After a long and tiring day at Silver Dollar City, we headed into Branson to get some dinner and then back to the condo for the evening.

Working hard on breakfast

At the entrance to Silver Dollar City

See Matt I can keep my hands in the air on the rides

Girls on the teacups

Umm, I'm glad I wasn't in their teacup. They all came stumbling off the ride. They must have put all their engineering minds together to come up with a way to get the most spin out of the cups

After our long day on Friday, we tried to have a more relaxing day on Saturday. Once again our husbands fixed us breakfast and then we headed off to play putt putt at a fun course in Branson. It was hotter than we were expecting, but we all still had a good time. You know it's an intense putt putt course when they put nets at each hole for you to retrieve your golf balls that go in the water.

Erica wanted a picture proving that her ball was closest to the hole

Score card- Matt and I got first and second. I have never even come close to beating my husband at miniature golf... ever.

After putt putt, we went to the outlet mall in Branson. At this point we separated, and I'm not sure what the guys did. I think Matt said something about a Black and Decker outlet and air hockey. We girls browsed around and did some clothes shopping. We left the outlet mall, after a stop for ice cream, about 4:00 and headed back to the condo. We had a low key evening and just ate pizza and played board games. We played two games of Apples to Apples followed by two games of Settlers of Catan. Erica dominated the game playing and won both Apples to Apples games and the first Settlers game.

This is what happens when you play Settlers of Catan with engineers

Sunday morning we packed up and left the beautiful condo to head back home. We stopped at Lamberts for lunch, and that was an experience. They throw hot rolls at you to serve them, and you should have seen the size of the chicken fried steaks. I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.

On the balcony of the condo

Matt enjoying the view of the lake

Erica and I showing off our new shirts

Waiting for a table at Lamberts. They open at 10:30, but start taking names at 10:00. We got there at 10:30 and had an hour wait before we got a table. It was worth it though

We had such a fun weekend, and I got my vacation fix for at least a few months :).