Missouri Road Trip

We left early Saturday morning for a road trip to Missouri--the first stop was breakfast at the donut shop.

 

Then it was time for a group picture before hitting the road!

 

We stopped at Lambert's for lunch.

 

They have giant mugs there--I don't think I saw anyone ask for a refill!

 

 Jack liked catching the rolls.  I got a good video of him catching, but this is the only picture I got.

After lunch we went to Mansfield.

 

We toured Laura Ingalls Wilder's Rocky Ridge Farm, her last home.

 

We also got to tour the rock house that their daughter built for them.  It is where she wrote the first four Little House books.

 

This is the spring house near the rock house.  You can't take pictures inside so I can't share that with you, but it is worth the drive!

 

Then we drove on to our hotel in Branson where the kids were very excited to check out the arcade.

 

Having a picnic in the room!

 

We had a room that could sleep all 8 of us.  The kids took turns sleeping in the bunk beds, but during the day they all liked to sit on top and watch TV.

 

Sunday night we went to visit Jay's aunt, who lives nearby.

 

Playing at Aunt Delpha's

 

Sunday night was also the kids' first night in the bunk beds.  That night I ended up sleeping on the bottom bunk with Alice and the next night she fell out of the bed and ended up sleeping with me.  I'm glad we didn't put her on the top bunk!

 

We started Monday with a trip to Krispy Kreme.

 

Then we went to a mini-golf place near our hotel.

 

It was really hot!

 

We spent most of our time at the hotel waterpark.  This was Jack's favorite slide.  It was really fast!

 

Alice (and I) preferred this one!

 

Monday night we went to Branson Landing to shop and see the light and water show.

 

It was my birthday so we had cake at the hotel--and thankfully didn't set off the smoke alarms!  (I also got to have Culver's for dinner, so I was very happy!)

 

We checked out Tuesday morning, shopped for a bit, and then headed home.  We stopped for lunch in Springdale and had a chocolate mess for dessert!

We came home worn out, but we had a great time!  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a great vacation!

Whirlwind

 I've always thought of May as our busy month, but this year June has been non-stop!

(Picture from one of the movies in the park our town does each June.)

 Of course we started with birthdays.

 We had cookouts.

 We went blueberry picking.

 We went to a picnic for our high school reunion.

 Jack in a giant inflatable ball my dad got for Father's Day.

 Alice got her summer reading medal--and that awesome free coupon for the aquarium!

 We went to the movies.

 We went to our town's first Summer Solstice street festival.

 Trying to decide on a dessert...

 Jack went with the sno cone!

 And we've been in the yard a lot--working and playing.

 This sweet message made from minifigures was left on the table.

We've spent the last couple of days babysitting and are hitting the road for a few days, so June is going out with a bang, too!

The Paley Collection

 Monday morning we went to see the Paley Collection at Crystal Bridges.  We got to see works by several artists we have studied!

 Cezanne

 Degas

 Matisse

 Renoir

 Picasso

 Jack found this one that he really liked--Alice said she thought it was because it kind of looked like some of his tie-dyed shirts.

 I thought this one was really pretty.

 For a Monday morning I thought there was a pretty good crowd at the museum.  The collection is there through July 7 and is definitely worth the drive!

 Some of the things in the permanent collection had been changed out and we spotted a new Warhol.  (Or I guess that should be another Warhol since I don't think Andy has made anything new in the last 27 years.)

 We also noticed a different Calder mobile than the one they had on display before.

 We also spent quite a while in the children's room.

 The girls built for a long time.

 While they were building, Jack was writing a story.

FYI:  It's not a trip to Crystal Bridges without a ride in the humongous elevator.

Pauls Valley

 Yesterday morning we left the house around 6:30.  It's amazing how much easier it is to do that when it's light outside!

 We headed back to Pauls Valley, which we visited earlier this year with Jay.

 The old depot has been made into a museum.

 They also have this huge train.

 After I took this picture we walked around to the other side and saw the sign telling you not to climb on the train.  Oops.

 Inside there is all kinds of stuff from the area--not just train memorabilia.  The lady working there told the kids to climb in the buggy and then rolled them back and forth, which they thought was great.

 For lunch we went to the Boomerang Diner, which is next door to the Toy and Action Figure Museum.  I don't think this is what Jack was picturing when he ordered, but he made a fairly good dent in it.

 Alice's meal came in a car!

 Our next stop was Wacker Park.

 I love old parks that have all kinds of equipment!

We wrapped up at the Pauls Valley Water Park.  You can't actually take pictures there, but I did get permission.  It is a fun place to spend the afternoon if you're in the area.  Jack loved the slides and Alice loved the Lazy River.

We got back a little after 7:30--and 362.9 miles.  Our yearly total is up to 3341.1 miles!