Well, well, wouldn't you know that after all of my frustration last week, God had a nice treat at the end of the weekly tunnel. The kids were PERFECT on the way to Branson. Oh, yes. We did not hear a whimper or bickering from anyone. Even the baby was happy or sleeping the entire way.
We started off with the Outlet stores. I love Carters clothing, and they have some fabulous clothes. I didn't buy anything this time, but I got some good ideas! Then we went to the Imax theater. My Dad treated us to a movie, to kill time before we could check into the hotel. We had planned to do the Branson Landing, but it was just too chilly!
Soooo, we went into Spiderwick Chronicles with the kids. I'd say it was very entertaining (for adults). Very neat movie as far as special effects and imagination and storyline! Christianity Today says it's "Much more fantastical and far more handsome than the trailers reveal, The Spiderwick Chronicles is a thrilling adventure for children of all ages." It is awesome, but not appropriate for all ages. And, just so you know, it's another kids movie with a broken family. Do they make any more movies with a happily married couple and children? Must the dad or mom always be running off or dead? And the main character said several things that should have just been left out of the movie.
Still, I enjoyed most of it and I greatly appreciate my Dad treating us to it. The kids were great in there as well!! Wow. I felt my "competent mom" feeling returning a little bit... ;-)
Okay, so on to the Grand Country Inn waterpark hotel place. The kids LOVED that. The few pictures that I got just don't do it justice!! I didn't get pictures of the huge ropes, climbing areas, the big bucket that fills up and dumps all over everyone, water basketball, etc. My kids stayed mainly int he kiddy section, with spouting water and mini slides. They're chicken. And I like it that way. Of course Fred id all the "big kid stuff!" :-) We went around the lazy river a few times, too. The water was about 84 degrees, which was perfect for me! I've heard others complain that the water gets too cold, but that's just if you're in the big kid section, where it's constantly cycling. 
Back at our room, we had a long night in store for us. My parents had an adjoining room, and Isabelle and Ethan stayed in there. In our room, Fred, Oliver, and I slept on the king-size bed, and Trevor slept on the fold-out couch.
We have a baby who is very used to his schedule. We usually put him in his crib and he goes right to sleep. The poor kid wasn't sure what to do with all of us around him. He woke up several times in the night fussing, which woke Trevor up. (sigh) We got *maybe* 4 hours of sleep. But that's okay. Lots of coffee and a hearty breakfast and we were in good shape again! The kids got up before 6am, as usual, so we had some time to kill before we got to the Titanic Museum which opened at 9am.
It was awesome! Unfortunately, they would not let me bring my camera in there, for copyright reasons. Dang!! So I got a few pictures of my folks, Fred and the kids outside of it. Brrr.... Inside was amazing. They give each person a boarding pass, with the name of an actual passenger. Then you keep up with who you are and what happened to you. I was Sarah Roth, one of the third class passengers that survived.
The artifacts were amazing. They had lots of hands-on things, too, like a tub of 28 degree water to stick your hand into, sloping ship decks to climb, a shovel to add coal to the fire (my kids got scared at the roar of the flame), and so forth. I could have spent another hour or two in there, reading everything, but my kids were a bit young yet to take it all in. The poor little homeschool hostages didn't exactly get Presidents Day off. They had to LEARN! Heh heh.
We went and ate lunch and then back to the pool after that. Very warm water and a nice big hot tub. Mmmmm....hot tub.... I could just stay in one forever. I think Heaven must have hot tubs.
On the way home, the kids were perfect once again. In fact, they ALL slept the WHOLE way home. WOW.
And now I am tired and must go to bed. There's my update. I knew I'd have to do it tonight, or it wouldn't happen. And, yes, I realize that I still have not posted Valentine's pictures. Or done a host of other things that need to get done.
(The competent feeling is starting to fade...more on this whole thing later...)
But, hey, it was a FUN, happy good weekend. Very educational, and a nice break from household chores and being stuck inside with four little ones.
12 comments:
I remember going to see Bridge to Terabithia,with my husband ,alone,and deciding that the kids would not go see it-my son really wanted to.It was just too adult for him.
I SO want to go to Grand Country Inn-I'm turning green here....LOL
And the Titanic museum,oooh I would have loved that too-I have a book here I bought that tells the story-havent gotten to read it yet-would love that!!It does remind me of the Ripleys museum in Panama City FL,It was a big ship as well-that we didnt have time to go to.
Sounds like an awesome time!!!
I forgot to add that I thought that specific Ripleys museum was meant to look like the titanic-duh me.LOL
I wouldn't feel bad for your kids having to "learn" on a holiday. From what I remember, in my Christian school, the closest thing we had to learning field trips was the John Deere Museum.
(Seriously, they have a tiny, tiny museum filled with tractors, which was not, by the way, an ideal field trip for a girly-girl such as myself).
It looks like you had a ton of fun - I would have LOVED to go to the Titanic museum - sounds like a blast, and your kids look SO happy!
I'm so glad you posted photos - I've not known you long, but those kids are adorable!
By the way, I stole your "recent comments" widget.
What a great idea - thanks!
Oh, yeah! Sounds so fun...we're going this weekend...hope we have a great time as well.
Oh that sounds like so much fun! I think you should incoorporate learning into everything you do to create a thirst for knowledge in your kids.. if that's mean then I'm one mean mamma too! ;) I love all of the pics... made me geren with envy too. That's awesome that the kids slept the whole way home.. ahhh... serenity now.. serenity now.
Ohhh....Fred reeeaaallly wants to go to Ripley's!
The Titanic/ Grand Country was a homeschool special. We got one night, two days at the waterpark, and day passes for Titanic for 6 people for $97. Can't beat that!! The Titanic tickets alone usually cost over $20 each.
Ann-Marie, John Deere. Seriously? HAHA!! It's cute for little boys, but I can't imagine any girls really enjoying that. Of course, I'm also a girl-y girl.
Oh, and the widget was there for the stealin'. :-) Imitation is the purest form of flattery...feel free to "steal" anything!
Mandy, I'm with you. Learn doing everything!! Why not take advantage of all opportunities?
Adelia,
Have fun!!! It's great. :-)
i appreciate you looking at my blog but did take offense to your "mormon lady" post. I myself am not mormon, but my best friend is and always has been. they are not listening to satan. if you had looked it up correctly, you would have found that they are christians and believe in jesus and God and live to be closer to Him. Yes, Joseph Smith was a prophet, but to say that you think he is liar is like saying that anyone in the bible that said they saw something sacred like the wonderful healing powers of jesus and how He arose is all a lie b/c you weren't there either as you were not there when joseph smith had his vision. I know this is your blog and you are entitled to say whatever you like, but I just wanted to clear somethings up. Mormonism is a CHRISTIAN religion. They study both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Can't wait to come over and play!!!
Whoa. Um, Oh yeah I think one of the VERY best things about homeschooling would be all the traveling trips. I love those learning/fun bits. Thanks for the info on the Titanic museum. And those indoor water parks are so great aren't they? There's one like that at a resort in the lake of the Ozarks but it's much farther away. If you haven't gone to Oklahoma City on an adventure lately, the Omniplex is a great museum for kids. I'm from there and both my boys ask to go anytime we visit my parents. It's a 3 hour trip, btw. Have a great day! ;)
Perry family,
Ahhh...did you read through all the comments? I have already apologized for offending anyone with my post. I was "thinking out loud," and I've learned my lesson, believe me. I thought about just deleting that post but, like you said, this is my blog.
First, when it comes to Mormonism I have done my research. In fact, I may know more history about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith than a lot of Mormons do.
Second, when people tell me that they do not believe Jesus or the Bible (hence calling the authors liars), I am not offended. On the contrary, I just pray for their hearts to be receptive to Him.
Third, I am not a judge and I don't claim to be. I'm not going to debate whether or not Mormonism is a "Christian religion." God is the only judge. I believe God, and I believe that the Bible is His only authoritative Word. That said, I don't have anything against Mormons. The point of the post is just that I wanted the best for that woman. End of story. Read through the comments if you are in doubt.
(sigh)... and now, in response to you others out there... :-)
Julie, I can't wait til you come and play!! Are the kids well yet? Give them hugs from Aunt Wendy.
The shan, Thanks for the tip!! I'll have to look that up. We're always ready and rearing for the next adventure. My baby has already been to two waterparks and he's only 10-months. He's the only one of my kids that hasn't been out of the country yet. :-) Just wish I didn't get so sick traveling...
We went to Branson in December and stayed at the Grand Country Inn and the kids loved it! I too didn't get any good pics of it, as I wasn't about to take my good camera in there! It was very nice though!
I had wanted to go to the Titanic, but was afraid that for what it cost for our family to go...the kids wouldn't have even been old enough to enjoy it. We may have to check it out the next time though!
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