Our Happily Ever After

Ever since I heard that Esther was playing at the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, I started trying to find a way to go see it. It's Elisabeth's favorite Bible Story, and I wanted to take her to see it. I convinced Matt to plan a weekend Branson trip to watch it and also visit Silver Dollar City since it had been nearly three years since our last visit. We planned a Fall weekend, purchased tickets, and then decided to make it a surprise trip for the kids. Every once in a while, Elisabeth talks about the surprise beach trip we took them on in 2020 and asks us to surprise her again. That's hard to do with bigger vacations, because a couple of my kiddos are big planners and researchers, and they have as much fun researching everything as experiencing the vacation itself, but this two day Branson trip seemed like a good way to surprise them.

They spent the night with Barry on Friday evening, and Matt and I packed them and loaded the car. Then we met them at Nathan's flag football game on Saturday morning and acted like it was a normal day. They had a small hunch because we were missing a couple of things that weekend, and they didn't understand why, but they had no idea what we had planned.

They were very frustrated that we wouldn't divulge any of the plans, but Nathan pretty much had it figured out about an hour down the road.

We drove straight to the Sight and Sound theater for our afternoon show.

This was our first visit to the Sight and Sound Theater and it blew away my expectations. I thought the show was phenomnal- the stage, the props, the costumes, the acting, the singing, and the movement of the Holy Spirit during the show, just exceptional. I cried at the end during the final song. It was so poignant and clear in the message that God is always faithful to care for his people.

A few fun things I want to remember.

Katherine sat on the aisle and waved at every single actor that walked by. She even smiled and waved at Haman. And at the very end, when Esther walked down the aisle, Katherine said she winked at her. So special!

Also, a horse pooped on stage, and the kids thought it was the best part of the show, ha!

After the show, we grabbed a couple of pizzas and checked into our Airbnb for the night.

The kids thought the foosball table was an awesome perk.

We were up early the next morning and on our way to Silver Dollar City. We didn't officially tell the kids we were going until that morning, but Nathan was just certain we couldn't visit Branson without a trip to Silver Dollar City (he's not wrong), but he kept asking for reassurance over and over like there was hint of doubt that we weren't going.

Katherine was officially tall enough for Powder Keg, and although she's ridden some intense rides at Universal, this felt like her first REAL roller coaster. We've trained all our kids to love them, and she was our last holdout. We were a little nervous she'd be scared...

but of course, she didn't let us down!

She would have ridden that coaster over and over again all day long if we had let her. She constantly asked to ride it again. Matt and I high fived and felt like we've successfully raised our kids right, ha!

At the exit of Powder Keg, the kids found Red Flanders' pants. I'm convinced that's the only reason they like the Fire in the Hole ride is because of the missing pants part.

Speaking of Fire in the Hole, we headed there next because of course we had to ride it a final time before it's closed down. Not my favorite, but the kids love it.

We spent the whole day riding coasters and rides with no wait times. We experienced perfect weather and no crowds. It was amazing. Samuel and Elisabeth also were finally tall enough to ride Time Traveler and Wildfire. Those first rides are always extra special.

Katherine is so full of life and excitement (all the time), but especially on rides. She rarely rode with me. She's a daddy's girl through and through especially on rides, but she screamed, and laughed, and giggled throughout every ride I rode with her. Never want to forget that!

I caught my little researcher checking out the plans for the new Fire in the Hole. I do think he wished we would have told him about the trip so he could have been up to date with all the new information about the park.

The kids had a little too much fun on the Up the Ladder ride

We also rode Mystic River Falls for the first time. I remember trying to ride it on our last visit, but it kept breaking down, and the line was horrendous. This time it was a walk on (much better).

We got absolutely soaked, and in September that water is chilly! It was fun to ride once though. It's definitely the best rapids ride I've ridden. I'm just not a huge fan of any water ride that absolutely drenches you.

The aftermath

Time Traveler is always a fan favorite.

So is Wildfire.

We purchased two day tickets to Silver Dollar City, because adding on the second day is really affordable, and with two days we would have time to take the Marvel Cave tour. Matt and I did the tour for the first time several years ago on an couples' trip, but the kids had never done it. I thought they'd really enjoy it, and they did! Especially Samuel (I know no one is shocked by that).

They also added a little fun scavenger hunt for the kids. There were 20 small plastic dinosaurs hidden in the cave, and my kids found eighteen of them. You better believe they love any kind of hunt/game/competition. They took it so seriously.

It was also neat to learn about the the history of the cave tours and the history of Silver Dollar City.

After the tour we were back to riding rides.

Katherine broke out her best dance moves at the Harvest Party.

I thought these pumpkin statues were cute!

You know we had to ride Powder Keg a few more times before calling it a night.

Matt and I were ready to head home around 7:00 since we were coming back in the morning and had ridden everything multiple times already. Unfortunately we've trained our kids too well, and they insisted on staying and riding rides until closing. I remember times at Disney World when the kids were asking to go to bed, and Matt and I told them we had to stay and ride more rides since the lines were short. It came back to bite us, this time, ha! We split up that evening, and Matt took Katherine to ride some of the smaller rides, while the big kids and I rode Time Traveler and Wildfire in the dark.

One moment I want to remember is when we were walking back to meet up with Kate and Matt. It was dark and mostly deserted, and The Goodness of God started playing over the speakers, and all the kids and I just started singing along.

All my life, you have been faithful, and all my life you have been so, so good. For as long as I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.

There was just something about closing out such a wonderful day with my family by all praising Him together. So precious.

We finally left the park a few minutes before closing time at least.

The next morning, we were back before park opening for another day of fun.

Of course, we had to pose for some pictures in the stocks.

And of course Katherine insisted we ride Powder Keg a few more times.

The one ride we hadn't ridden the previous day was the Barn Swing, so we hopped over there. It is one of Elisabeth's favorites. She even preferred it to Outlaw Run. While the other kids were riding Outlaw Run, she just hopped back in line and rode it by herself a couple more times. Her bravery continually amazes me.

Then the kids begged to ride Mystic River Falls again. Well, everyone except Elisabeth. I took one for the team and stayed dry with her, while everyone else rode. You know that girl had some plans up her sleeve. She did everything she could to figure out how to purchase the water squirters, so she could douse her siblings. She went into restaurants and asked for change, went back in and asked how to get tokens, and made friends with other people around who generously shared their tokens with her.

Then her moment came. After a second of panic, she succeeded and drenched her already soaked brothers. Victory for the little sister!

Since we had two day tickets, we also took some time exploring shops and watching craftsmen demonstrations. The potter was especially impressive.

And the glass blowing is always a favorite. They sat for a long time watching and asking questions.

Another fun memory is the kids jumping on the shadows created by all the pumpkin lanterns. I love that they can find joy in the simple things.

After riding everyone's must do's a few more times, we said goodbye to Silver Dollar City around 3:30 that afternoon, grabbed some lunch at Culvers and drove home with some tired, happy kids and a very grateful mom and dad with hearts full of memories. I'm always thankful for the blessing to be able to take trips like these and experience new things with our kids.

September started off with a school routine, backyard campout, friend weekend for Nathan, field trips and co-op fun.

I snapped a picture of us doing our group time outside one day. We had a group time with everyone everyday where we read history, Bible, some literature elements, and a read aloud. When the weather is nice the kids regularly ask to do our group time outside. Our homeschool days are far from perfect and full of frustrations, impatience, and struggles, but this moment was pretty much perfection- kids playing, enjoying the sunshine, building sibling bonds, and listening to a good book. These moments make the hard worth it!

The kids played with dominoes for a whole weekend straight, trying their best to build the best creations. There were many frustrating moments when the dominoes would fall before they were ready, but they stuck with it and built some cool stuff!

We soaked up some end of season pool time. We headed to the pool one afternoon after we finished school, and I remember looking over at Katherine thinking and being so thankful that she wasn't sitting in a classroom for seven hours a day. Instead she was swimming with her siblings.

Speaking of Katherine, she is loving Kindergarten. She's flying through her math and reading lessons. On this day, she was flipping eggs and reading the words on the back. She thought it was so fun- of the simple joys of childhood.

She's been doing a great job with her daily reading lessons! Proud of her!

These girls have been on a restaurant kick lately. They set up a table with a tablecloth, write out menus, take our reservations with a computer, and prepare the fanciest dessert specials I've ever seen.

Over Labor Day weekend, the kids convinced Matt to camp out in Kidsborough. They set up a tent, roasted marshmallows for smores, played Ghosts in the Graveyard, and slept outside.

I joined them for the smores, and games, and then headed home to sleep in my comfortable bed for the night.

Nathan missed out on the camping fun because he traveled to Texas with his buddy Wyatt for Wyatt's 12th birthday. They stopped in Paris, Texas on the way, and Nathan thought it was the best thing ever.

He spent the weekend riding and driving outdoor vehicles, shooting, paddle boating, and doing all sorts of outdoorsy things.

He even attended a rodeo and participated in a calf herding event.

Another toy that has been well loved this month has been our bin of Duplos. All four kids have been playing with them almost daily. They have built the most elaborate, creative things. Have I mentioned that I love the additional free time homeschooling has given us for them to have time to play?

This creation was an amusement park with a boat ride, bumper cars, tea cups, drop tower, pizza restaurant, and photo store

We have happily enjoyed being back at co-op this Fall. Elisabeth built a rainforest creation in her wild animal crafts class.

We also attended a zoo field trip with our co-op friends.

We saw the new baby giraffe which led to a dramatic zookeeper rescue of a tiny dearly loved stuffed animal that Katherine accidentally dropped in the giraffe enclosure. Every one of her little friends were determined that she'd get her koala back.