Vacation

We had a wonderful trip to Branson. It was a little crazy because we went just a week after school got out, but everything turned out great.

We drove down to Kansas to spend a few days with my sister at the beginning of our vacation. We all had fun relaxing, making pasties, and the part the kids like best- playing with their cousins.


We really enjoyed the condo we stayed in. The boys had their own room bedroom and bathroom and we had a nice little kitchenette to eat meals in.


To help cushion the cost of vacation, we did eat at least 2 meals at our condo or bring a prepared picnic along with us. We did find some other really fun places to eat:






Branson is famous for it's shows and so we had to go see for ourselves. We saw

Kirby Van Burch's magic show- we all were amazed


Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede- this one is dinner and a show- totally worth the money

The Hughes Brothers- an LDS family act- such nice people- we actually stayed and talked to them for a 1/2 hour after the show

The Haygoods- really talented family- the best music show we saw

GAC nights @ Silver Dollar City-

Speaking of Silver Dollar City- we spent 2 days there and had a blast!

We rode rides



One time where we should have taken them up on their photo

And walked through Marvel Cave


We spent a day at White Water



We rode the ducks- one of my favorite things that we did on our trip






We rode the go carts




With all the coming and going we made sure to relax as well-

there were bubble baths

the boys golfed

while the girls got pedicures- it was Genna's first, she loved it!


I even managed to do a puzzle and read 4 books.


Branson is a gorgeous place-

Lake Taneycomo- we drove over this everyday to get into town

Table Rock Lake


I'm sure we'll go back soon.

U.P. 2008

It was nice of my brother to plan his wedding in one of my most favorite places- the Upper Pennisula of Michigan.


We stayed in a rustic cabin at Lac La Belle

complete with deer tails, mice and a door that didn't lock the first few days


We managed to do a few other fun things as well....


we ate lots of ice cream


we played in the water

and in the sand(literally)

and found lots of cool rocks

we picked blueberries

had lots of picnics

with the perfect food

We saw...

boats


lighthouses

daisies growing wild wherever we went

waterfalls


sunsets



and some of the most gorgeous scenery you'll ever find





Being able to spend the week with family made it all the more fun...









I even managed to get a date in with my cute husband on my birthday. We went out to lunch and hiked to see a waterfall.

Thank you for sticking with me through this mega post. Some of these awesome pictures were taken by my sister and some by Jameson. I haven't even gotten a hold of my Mom's pictures. You hope when you take pictures that it will capture those moments that were so precious and I think many of these shots do that exactly!