Ten Days In Branson :)

Tuesday, December 4th, I got home from a ten-day vacation to Branson, Missouri.  It was a lot of fun!  I have only one real regret: The one time I didn’t have my camera with me ended up being the one time I wanted it most.  I could just slap myself for not having it on me at all time!  😦

My family and I hit the road on Sunday afternoon, November 25th and arrived in Branson that night around 10:00 pm.  We quickly settled into our rooms at The Falls Village Resort and started making plans for the rest of our stay.

    

We mostly just hung our at the resort on Monday — nothing exciting or anything…

Tuesday evening, we went to the Sight & Sound performance of “Joseph“.

It was truly amazing!  I loved every minute of it!  My dad and brothers even liked it — a fact which surprised them and me.  😉

   

After the show, I got to meet a friend from Goodreads (who was in the show) for the first time in person.  Pretty cool!

We spent several hours at Tanger Outlet Mall on Wednesday.  That evening we attended services at Calvary Baptist Church in Branson.

Thursday, I stayed at the resort while my family headed up to Springfield.  They went to Bass Pro, Lambert’s, and Braum’s while I lounged around enjoying a bit of time to myself.  That night, we went to see the Hamner  Barber Variety Show.  Barber (the ventriloquist) was great!  Hamner (the illusionist)… not so much.

 

Friday, we went here —  — and let my dad and brothers ride go karts for a couple of hours.  How they can do that for 2 hours, I have no idea!  That evening, we went to the IMAX Theater and watched “Tornado Alley“.  It was really interesting and I had a good time!  🙂

 

Saturday was a pretty exciting day for me!  😉  My family and I spent several hours at Branson Landing.  There are so many shops there!  🙂

    

Then, I got the text I had been waiting for.   Two more Goodreads friends (and their family) were planning to meet up with me and my family at Branson Landing.  They had arrived and told me where to meet them.  It was so much fun to get to meet these friends as well as their family.  I’m so glad we got this opportunity!  🙂  We spent an hour or so visiting before reluctantly going our separate ways.

Where I met my friends! 🙂
This is what Branson Landing looked like when we were there

Sunday morning, we attended services at Branson Baptist Church.    There, we got the opportunity to hear some great music and preaching as well as meet some new people!  🙂

  

Since Branson’s Christmas Parade was scheduled to go right past the Branson Baptist Church on Commercial Street that evening, they weren’t able to have an evening service.  However, we were invited to come back to the church to watch the parade with them.  We ended up meeting up with my friends at the church and watching the parade with them and the folks from the church.  It was so much fun!  I had a great time!  🙂  I only wish we could have spent more time together before we all had to go home…

I got to see my second favorite show on Monday.  It’s called SIX.  My family didn’t want to go, so I went by myself.  I am so glad that I got to go because I totally enjoyed myself!  🙂  Those guys (six brothers) are really amazing!  My favorite, I must say, was Jak.  He was my favorite basically for two reasons: he’s the bass and he reminds me of my older brother.

Jak was my favorite of the SIX brothers 🙂

This is where my one regret was.  For some reason, I left my camera in my room at the resort when I went to the SIX show.  After the show, the guys came out to take photos with people.  And… yeah!  I didn’t have my camera!!!  😦  I always have my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go, so I can’t figure out why I left it behind.  I guess I just wasn’t thinking clearly…  I was (and still am) so mad at myself for that!

Note to my sister:  This was one of those “Slap me if I ever…” moments.  So, feel free to slap me the next time we see each other.  I totally deserve it!

  

After that show, I went with my family to the Inspiration Tower.  It wasn’t all that great (especially when compared to the show I had just seen), but the view was pretty nice.  Two of my brothers rode the Vigilante Extreme ZipRider from the top of the tower.  They really enjoyed it.  🙂

    

Unfortunately, we had to pack up and head for home Tuesday morning.  I wasn’t ready to leave, of course…  😦  We did have a safe trip — Thank God! —  and pulled into our driveway around 8:30 pm that night.