Branson Overnight Trip with Nanny and Papa

 Yesterday the kids and I picked up Tanner from his reading program and went for a little drive.
I had secretly packed an overnight bag for us and when we left the school with Tanner I drove them to Branson to see Nanny and Papa at their condo, without saying anything. I picked up happy meals for everyone, put a movie on in the van and said we were going for a drive.
When we were about 10 minutes from Nanny and Papa's condo I asked the kids if they knew where we were. We were driving down the strip in Branson and there were attractions and cool things to see everywhere. At this point, the kids were getting super excited. I asked them if they thought we should get a hotel and stay for the night and they lost their minds with excitement.
So then I pulled into my parents condo parking lot and asked "What would make this weekend even more fun?" and that's when they saw Nanny walking toward us in the parking lot.
They started screaming "NANNY AND PAPA!!!!" and they all scrambled out of the van when I parked to go hug her. 

It was such a fun surprise. The kids were soo happy and I loved getting to surprise them. 

We immediately changed our clothes and got our swimsuits on. At that point, Papa came back from running an errand. We all went down to the pool together.
We had so much fun. Benson was a wild man. He kept jumping in the pool and he was having the best time. 

All the kids enjoyed riding around on Papa's shoulders and getting rides in the water with him. 

Benson and Tucker also enjoyed the sprinklers. They were so cute trying to sit on them. 

After swimming for a few hours, we went back up to the condo and got changed. Then we went to dinner at "McFarlains". We enjoyed our dinner and even all sampled some fried green tomatoes.
Surprisingly, the kids loved them. 

The kids were pretty well behaved at dinner and so after dinner we went back to the condo and Papa made everyone his famous milkshakes. 

I love this picture of everyone doing a milkshake "cheers". 

This morning, my kids were up early so we ate breakfast and  went for a walk around the condo. I love this Marriott property. We've been coming here since I was in high school but we took a break about 6 years ago so my younger kids haven't been to the condo before. 

It was fun to show the kids around. 

After our walk, we all loaded up- including Nanny and Papa- and went to play at "The Tracks."

We had sooo much fun playing together. There were bumper boats, go carts, carnival rides and arcades. The bumper boats were probably the favorite of the day. 

Tucker rode with Papa the first time. They had so much fun. 

Tanner was a rockstar and totally chased everyone down and soaked them. 

Bailey had fun but did not like getting shot with the squirt guns. 

After bumper boats, the kids rode some of the carnival rides. 

Benson enjoyed riding all the quarter rides. 

Next we rode the teacups. 

The big kids loved the "frog hopper". 

I always love photographing the kids on this kind of ride because they are so expressive.
They were having the best time. 

Then Tuck rode the kiddie go-carts. He was smiling so big. 

Then it was onto the carousel. 

Benson really loved this one and he rode it more than once. 

After finishing the carnival type rides, the bigger kids rode the go-carts. They loved it. They were the only two on the track and they had so much fun. 

While the big kids were doing their go-carts, I took Tucker on the wooden go-cart track. He loved it.
We went as fast as possible. I don't think I hit the breaks once. Tucker and flew around the track and it was awesome. 

Then we all did the bumper boats again together. 

I took Tucker the second time. 

We were all soaked by the end of the day at "The Tracks", but it was so much fun. We snagged one picture together before leaving. 

We went back to the hotel and ate lunch and then went out to the pool again.
The kids loved the condo pool.

Tanner spent his whole time diving for his dive sticks.
He was having a great time. 

Then we went back inside to change and pack.
We had to leave around 2:30 pm because Tanner had twilight camp we had to get back for tonight.

But we had so much fun. It was such a quick trip but the perfect little surprise for the kids. 

I think I will always remember this overnight trip and the fun I had surprising them.
We loved visiting Nanny and Papa at their condo! Thanks for letting us visit Nanny and Papa!