FAMILY VACATION: DAY 4

Last day :(. We got up and went swimming in the morning. One last time before we had to leave the resort. We finally got all packed up and checked out about 11:30 am. Before we left town, we decided to go back to the Grand Country Plaza and play some indoor mini golf and eat their pizza buffet. The girls were so cute a mini golf. They had never played before and Maddie got the hang of it but poor Kynzie was getting so frustrated because her ball would not go in the hole. After golf and pizza, it was time to head home! I took my motion sickness pills and was good to go.


The girls joined a band :)


Maddie playing putt putt


Kynzie the plumber I mean putter


Daddy showing Kynze how it's done


Maddie posing with the lady?

Kynzie playing putt putt golf (hilarious)

FAMILY VACATION: DAY 3

Monday morning we got up and went to Under the Sea at the IMAX Theatre. It was a great show and both girls really liked it. It was only about a 45 minute show so that was perfect for keeping their attention. After that, we did some souvenir shopping and headed back to the resort for some swimming in their hot tub. The hot tub was HUGE so it was like a heated swimming pool to them. That afternoon we did the Ride the Ducks tour. It was about a 2 hour land and water tour of Branson in an amphibious vehicle. We had an awesome tour guide that really made the time go by fast. Before everyone got in the vehicle, they give us all a duck whistle which was the most annoying sound ever. Somehow all of ours disappeared once we got back home and if anyone of you ask the girls about them, I will kill you :).

The girls and I and our duck whistles


A view of Table Rock from the Duck

A view from the water in the Duck

Monday night we went to the Acrobats of China show and that was amazing. I was so glad that we decided to go to that. It didn't start until 8 pm and it was a two hour show so it was a late night for Kynzie but she did great and hung in there all night long. Maddie's eyes were so wide-eyed the entire night. The show consisted of some gymnastics, acrobatics, trapezoids, magic show, circus acts, etc. Basically everything that Maddie loves. Plus all of the girls were in very pretty sparkly outfits which she thought was great. They had a gift shop in there so of course we had to go into it. Maddie has always wanted a chinese fan and I have never been able to find one but they had them so of course we bought her and Kynzie one. She loves it. When we got back, she took it to school and showed all of her friends.

FAMILY VACATION: DAY 2 Cont'd

Sunday evening was our sunset dinner cruise on a yacht on Table Rock Lake. This was one of the things that I had been most looking foward to. We felt rushed the entire day and we really didn't have much time to get back to our place and get ready for that night after we left Butterfly Palace. So, we really didn't have any time to get lost or not know where we were going. Unfortunately that is what happened. We barely made it before they departed but we did make it! As soon as we got on, I could tell it was going to be an interesting evening. The tables were already made up for us with fancy settings and dinnerware and a dinner salad already out. It was definitely not kid friendly at all. Matt and I were a little nervous on how the girls would do on this 2 hour cruise. But after dinner was finished, it got a lot better. We got to walk around and walk outside on the decks and even go into the captains area and let the girls steer the boat. Maddie thought that was pretty cool.

Kynzie making a complete mess of her dinner salad

A view from the yacht as we drove by the Fire and Water show at the Branson Landing

A nice lady on the cruise took this picture for us on the back of the yacht

The girls getting ready to steer the boat

Maddie showing Kynzie how to be a captain

The co-captains

FAMILY VACATION: DAY 2

The girls were up bright and early the next day. This was the day that the time had switched over so I felt cheated that we lost an hour of vacation time ;). We had planned an indoor waterpark for this day so the girls were VERY excited for this. I'm pretty sure we could have done this every day and they would have been completely satisfied with the entire vacation. The best part about this indoor waterpark compared to some of the others that we have been to was they had a big hot tub that was safe for the girls to get in as well. They just think it's like a little warm swimming pool to them. They loved it.

Maddie coming out of the BIG slide (she wasn't even tall enough to go down it but Matt snuck her in)

Maddie and Matt on the lazy river

Kynzie playing in the toddler area.

Kynzie showing off

Kynzie trying to drink the water

Kynzie yet again trying to drink the water

The girls on a huge turtle in the toddler area

After the waterpark, we went to The Butterfly Palace. We watched a 3D show about the life of a butterfly and then got to walk around the indoor garden with over 1000 butterflys flying around. The girls were hilarious. They would duck everytime a butterfly flew by them. You would think they were dangerous or something the way the girls were acting. They did get into it though and even thought it was cool when one of the butterfly's landed in Matt's hand.

Inside the garden


Maddie looking at a butterfly through her binoculars

Kynzie trying to figure those things out

Inspector Kynzie

The butterfly landed in Matt's hand

FAMILY VACATION: DAY 1

Vacation was AWESOME! We finally got to take our first family vacation! We decided on Branson since Matt and I had both been there before and it is only a little under a 5 hour drive for us. We figured this would be a good first trip to see how the girls do in the vehicle for that long. We left on Saturday morning. Our plan was to leave at 10:30 am but a flat tire on the van changed that time back to about 11:30 am. We stopped in Burlington and ate a big lunch and we were on our way. We were making great time and the girls were doing great. Once we crossed into Missouri and got going on those narrow winding and hilly roads, it started to go downhill for me. I got extremely carsick and we had to pull over at a quick shop for a while. We stopped in Springfield at the Fantastic Caverns for our first destination of the trip. The tour included a tram ride through the mile long cave where we got to see some very unique sights. We even saw a bat as we were leaving the cave. They had a gift shop where we let the girls each pick out rocks to put in a little bag as a souvenir. I think they really enjoyed it.


picking out colored rocks




Inside the cave. I was hoping you could see the cool background but it didn't turn out


Inside the cave


Inside the cave





After the Fantastic Caverns we headed on in to Branson. We found the place where we were staying and got unloaded. It was about 8 pm by this point so we went out to dinner. This picture was of the girls at The Outback.


They had a long day and were getting pretty tired at this point. You can tell this by Kynzie's hair!

Weekend with Grandma Debbie

Had a fun weekend! Grandma Debbie decided to come visit the girls on Saturday. It was such a nice to finally get outside and play and go to the park. Matt and the girls got up on Saturday and went to the park and jumped on the trampoline. Grandma got to town about noon and we went out to eat. I had to work the 1A sub state BB tournament on Saturday night so Matt and mom took the girls to the movie Alice and Wonderland. I think the consensus was that it wasn't as good as they thought it would be. Kynzie did good till the last 20 minutes according to daddy. According to Grandma, she would have been fine the last 20 minutes :). Maddie then got spoiled with a trip to Wal Mart with grandma Debbie where I am convinced that she went up and down every isle in Wal Mart saying "I want this, I want this." Although mom I have to tell you, she has played and played with that glow in the dark doodle thing. It has went everywhere with her. So I guess that was a good buy. She wants to take it in the van everytime we leave the house so I'm hoping it will come in handy for our vacation this weekend.

Matt and I got to go out with some friends on Saturday night since we had a free babysitter :). I think we made it home about 3 am. I'm pretty sure I hadn't done that in a long time. Needless to say, we did not make it to church on Sunday. We all did get to go to the park before Grandma Debbie had to leave. After naptime, it was more park time! Oh how we long for spring/summer weather!!


Grandma Debbie and the girls


The girls showing off their princess and the frog nightgowns that Grandma Debbie bought them.

Daddy Daughter Videos

Matt and Maddie doing the chicken dance. It's a little dark but you can still see Maddie and her white dress.

Maddie doing the limbo. I got her going through twice.

Matt doing the limbo. I only got him going through once.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Saturday night was the daddy daughter dance that I put on for the Rec Center. Of course, Matt and Maddie were in attendance. Kynzie was too little. I was busy all day decorating and cooking for the dinner. I was able to rush home at 5 pm to help get Maddie dressed and fix her hair. She was so excited and had been looking foward to the dance all week. She had her dress and shoes all picked out and her and Matt had even been practicing their dances at home.

I cannot even explain how awesome the dance was and how special it was to see all of the dads and daughters dancing together. I'm sure all of the mommies would have been crying their eyes out. I was a lucky mommy that got to witness this special night. I guess that's one perk of my job! I did take serveral pictures but I also tried to stay out of the way because I really wanted Maddie to enjoy the evening with Matt and not let me distract her in any way. I had lined up an awesome DJ for the dance and he kept everyone out on the dance floor the entire night. It was really just so cute! Here are some pictures!

Matt and Maddie Before Dinner

Getting ready to get their picture taken

Taking the Daddy Daughter Oath for the evening. Matt was pledging to Maddie that he would do whatever she asked him to do tonight and Maddie was pledging to Matt that she would do whatever he asked her tomorrow!

Boogy Down!

Swing that partner round and round

Maddie getting ready to do the limbo

Maddie in line for the Limbo.....she wore that smile all night long!

Aww, dancing to the last song of the night, "Butterfly Kisses" I think every other dad was holding their daughter but Maddie wanted to dance like a big girl!