Fall Break in Missouri

We traveled to Missouri for a quick Fall Break vacation. 

On Friday morning we met the Millers and the Evetts at Silver Dollar City and spent the day riding all the rides together. 

I love that these kids have grown up together and are such close friends. 

Our family loves a good Theme Park Day. 

Our first ride of the day was Time Traveler. It's a favorite. 

It sprinkled off and on during the day. Samuel tried his best to stay dry. 

These kids were pretty great at passing the time in line for the new Fire in the Hole. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed the ride remake. 

We have almost this same picture of the girls when we all visited the park together six years ago. 

Mindy and I even got to ride some rides together. 

Best buddies

We closed down the park. Katherine was asleep before we even made it to our car.

We spent the night at a hotel in Springfield. The next morning we had a little extra time, so we visited the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. 

Then we continued on to Kansas City to spend the rest of the weekend with the Flamings. We rented a house for the weekend, and packed all the important things- board games. 

These cousins were excited to spend the weekend together. 

Our house had a great outdoor area. The kids played outside. 

The oldest and youngest cousins. 

We roasted hot dogs and smores for dinner one evening. 

Samuel perfected his smore and he was very proud. 

The house also included a hot tub, and the girls spent so much time playing in it. 

Just a couple of weeks before our Kansas City trip, Granny told me that her church was hosting a retirement reception for them honoring their years of service. I almost cried when she told me, and I knew we couldn't attend. We all watched the church service together where the pastor talked about their service in the church. Jeremy and I were both teary eyed as we watched. What a blessing they've been in our lives and what a legacy they're leaving for all our children. 

With his free timein Kansas City, Samuel finished his most recent hand sewing project. 

A t-shirt pillow!

Ice cream bars have turned into a Flaming/Baugher get together. 

The rest of the weekend was spent playing lots of board games. There's really nothing we'd rather do. I joked that of the two and a half days we spent at the house in Kansas City, I only left twice and only for a Sonic run just up the road. 

The perfect way to spend a weekend. 

We also played a few rounds of Jack Box. Elisabeth always asks the adults to play with the kids. 

It's also a tradition to pack up on our last day, and the very last thing we all do together is play a few rounds of Jack Box all together. 

We took a few last cousin pictures before saying goodbye on Tuesday morning. 

I'm thankful these cousins get to see each other regularly even living in different states, and I always look at these cousin pictures and think of how proud my mom would have been of all six of these kids. I know she'd be happy that we're intentionally investing in these relationships. 

We're ready for March when we'll be together again.