Branson Getaway - Thursday and Friday

On Thursday we went to VBS in the morning, and then came home and loaded up the car.  We headed off on a mini-vacation to good ole' Branson with Ryan's family.  We were making FABULOUS time until we got near Branson, and the GPS took us about 20 minutes out of the way.  We were on these crazy country roads and we ended up on "Paw Paw" lane (no joke!)...and knew we were in trouble.  =)  HA!  Thankfully it wasn't a TON out of the way, but we headed straight to the Landing area of Branson instead of our condo.  We met Ryan's parents and younger brother Kyle for supper at Cantina Laredo...YUM!  Then we walked around and shopped a bit before heading to the condo to unload and get ready for bed.

Friday morning we woke up and all had breakfast together (Jason and Sarah and their girls had gotten there late Thursday night).  Then we got ready to head to Silver Dollar City!  If you remember from earlier in the summer, Brynn was about 3/4 of an inch too short the last time we went to Silver Dollar City.  There were several rides she didn't get to ride, so we came prepared this time!  My physical therapist husband made some awesome "inserts" (we called them her orthotics...lol!) to put in her shoes.  Yes, Chris and Ashley Boschen...we used the flip-flops we got from your wedding for this.  HA!

What in the world would you call this face?

This guy was AWESOME at making these...he even had to shave down part of them...
it was quite interesting watching him work.  

After riding the tram to the park, we headed for the measuring station and crossed our fingers.  We put the "inserts" in her shoes (she kept saying "ouch mommy...these hurt!"  But we explained that we would take them out as soon as she was done being measured).  Ryan took her and came out with a thumbs up!  He said she measured exactly 36.0 inches!  (Don't we earn crazy parents of the year??)  But in all seriousness...we weren't going to let her ride anything by herself anyway...we just wanted her to get to do some fun rides with Ansley and we didn't think 1/2 an inch should stop that, right?  RIGHT!

Green wrist band means we are good to go!

Look at the foot that is still in her shoe...HAHAHAHA!  The power of the "inserts!"

After she got measured, she was officially allowed to ride the "Teacups" and she and Ansley (and Sarah and Ryan might I add) had a BLAST!  It was so funny to watch them spin around and they were laughing and having fun the whole time!

Then she and Ansley decided to ride the jumping frogs.  You didn't have to be any height to ride this, so she had ridden this last time, but I guess she was more comfortable because she rode with Ryan last time.  She rode by herself (Ansley was in the back) and was NOT A FAN!  She was the kid screaming "mommy, mommy!" It didn't go fast, it just bounced around a lot, but it was pretty pitiful to watch.  =)

Brynn was screaming in the front, and Ansley was loving it in the back!

After they got off the "Jumping Frogs", Brynn said she wanted to ride the elephants...I was thinking "is she going to be scared and even going to want to ride anything else all day?" But she was totally fine.  So off we went!

After a few more rides, we headed off to find the Merry Go Round...poor Charli had been a trooper all morning, but had finally had enough.  Brynn tried to console her little cousin in the stroller...

Then Brynn and Ansley raced off for the "tree house", which was the one thing she didn't like last time.  But of course with big cousin Ansley she wanted to do it all...and LOVED it this time!  Poor Ryan had to try to crawl through everything with the girls...there was NO WAY I could have made it through that.  =)

We headed home around 2 and took naps.  When Brynn got up she wanted to go swimming, so we played a little in the water before getting ready for supper.

FUN DAY!!!

VBS Week

One of my favorite weeks of the summer is the week our church puts on Vacation Bible School.  I have always enjoyed helping with it, and it is even more exciting that Brynn gets to go and participate!

Even cousin Charli got in on the excitement!

On Monday, they brought Brynn's class in the buggy and let the kids sit in it to watch the big kids have praise and worship.  My friend Emily sent me a couple of pictures and Brynn was staring at the stage with her hands on her ears!  HA!  Guess she thought the crazy music was too loud.

See Brynn's hands on her ears?  =)

But by the next day, when they let the 2's sit in the front row and dance, she was INTO IT!  I loved peeking in and seeing her jump and dance and clap!





She kept trying to imitate all the motions, which was adorable (even though she was always about five seconds behind!  HA!)  She had a great week...they made lots of neat crafts, learned some special Bible stories, and spent time with little friends!

Our preschool director sent me this picture one day...playing with whipped cream!  

Someone got to be the line-leader...

We LOVE VBS!

So thankful for a great church that always puts on a great VBS!

Nashville - Sunday Edition

Sunday morning we all got up and hung out and then we packed up all of our stuff.  Then we all headed to Centennial Park in downtown Nashville to walk around, play, etc.  There were some REALLY cool little playground that Brynn had a lot of fun playing on, but I didn't take any pictures.  =(  

Then we walked over to the "Parthenon" recreation that's in Centennial Park.  The inside wasn't open yet, but we had fun walking around it.  Brynn kept calling it "Booty's Castle" (Sleeping Beauty, that is.) 

This is what happens when I let these two use my camera...

"So big mommy!"

Then we walked over to the pond and attempted to feed the ducks.  =)

And then this happened...I felt a "raindrop" hit my back, but I knew it wasn't raining so I said "guys...WHAT THE HECK JUST FELL ON MY BACK?"

True love...thanks for cleaning me off Ryan!

If you ask Brynn what happened to Mommy's back, she will STILL (a week later) tell you that a bird "poo poo'd" on it.  HA!

Around lunchtime we headed out and drove back to good old Missouri.  We had such a great visit and I am so thankful for my sister and how close we are!  (And Curt we love you so much too!)

We grabbed some lunch pretty soon after we got on the road, and about half an hour later Brynn was OUT.  The child who seriously only naps for like 45 minutes in the car, SLEPT FROM CLARKSVILLE, TN to CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO!  Guess she was WORN OUT!  We also think we figured out how she has been sleeping longer in the car...blanket and a couple of toys over her, turn off her DVD player once she falls asleep, and when she does "wake up" (aka open her eyes for a few minutes) just don't turn around and talk to her, and she will go back to sleep.  (We used to just keep her DVD player on and I think if she ever opened her eyes she saw her movie and perked up.)  HALLELUJAH!

Nothing sweeter!