Branson Week 2024

We just came home from a wonderful week in Branson with the Drake cousins. 
We left Sunday and drove over to Branson to stay with Nanny and Papa. 
Aunt Sarah, Uncle Johnny and their kiddos drove over from Utah with Aunt Laura and Aunt Julieta and her boys drove over from Texas so all the kiddos could be together for the week. It was such a blast. 

Sunday night we just unpacked, hung out and enjoyed each other. 

But Monday was Memorial day and we partied hard at the Marriott pool. 

We competed in splash contests, played water volleyball and ate snow cones. 

These kids are my favorite. I love these sweet friendships. 

I also enjoyed so much time with my amazing sisters. 

Snow cones were a huge hit with these cuties. 

They also enjoyed playing the poolside games like foosball and shuffleboard. 

Papa is always a favorite at the pool. The kids love that he still plays with them. 

After our day at the pool, Nanny and Papa decided to take the kids to Walmart and the gave each kid $5 to spend on treats. They had the best time and came home with all the delicious things. 

That night we grilled out and had delicious burgers.

Day 2 of our trip we decided to go for a hike. While the parents got ready, the kids spent all their free time at the playground. Actually they played all week at the playground and they had so much fun together. 

We went on a beautiful hike and it was awesome. 

The hike ended at this little waterfall. It was a great hike but a little muddy. We also saw like three snakes- not my favorite. 

Look at this group of intrepid explorers. We had a great tiem. 

After our hike was done, we drove back to our condo and made lunch. Then we drove over to the "Five & Dime" to do some souvenir shopping. I found the cutest Christmas ornaments to commemorate our trip. 

 Right next to the store was one of the trolley stops so then we decided to hop on and take a short tour. 

Look at these cute trolley cousins. 

Then we ended our outing with ice cream cones at "Mr. B's" As the sign says in the picture, it's the oldest ice cream shop in Branson. The ice cream cone scoops were massive, which is good because it was also ridiculously expensive. But the kids loved it. 

Bailey really loved this little alien that Danny bought at the "Five and Dime".

Then we went back to our condo for the night and ate dinner. 
The kids spent a lot of time hanging out together in one of the rooms all on their own. It's so weird that we are getting to this stage where the kids don't need us hovering. It's amazing.

On Wednesday the kids wanted to have a quiet day in. They played their tablets, watched movies and played games together. 

While they chilled at the condo together, the girls went shopping. It was really fun and some necessary girls time. 

Seriously, the pictures of the kids hanging out together just crack me up. 

We also spent time together at night playing games and visiting. We all really enjoy playing "Catch Phrase" and finally the kids are old enough to play too. It was fun and hilarious. 

We also played lots of card games in the evenings. 

The kids loved the indoor pool at the condo. I'm not a huge fan of indoor pools but they loved it. We spent many hours out there watching them play and swimming. 

On Thursday we spent the day at "White Water" water park. This is one of our favorite traditions for our summers in Branson. It was made even better by the fact that almost everyone was tall enough for everything. We had a great time. 

The whole group came and we had a great time.  it wasnt busy at all and there were no wait times for the slides  it was great!

As per usual, our first stop was the wave pool. 

Then we all chilled in the lazy river for a while.

Benson played so hard that he needed a little nap mid-day.

i just love all the cousin time and their sweet friendships.

We eventually took a break for lunch.  We picked up pizzas and ate outside the park. Then it was back inside for more fun.

Sadly, when we all went to ride one of the the tube slides near the end of the day, Papa tipped over in his tube on the slide and banged his head. So he had to get checked out by the nurse at the park to make sure he was ok. At that point Nanny and Papa decided to call it day and went back to the condo. 
The rest of us stayed a little bit longer and then went back as well. 

But before we left, Bailey, Max, Tucker and I faced our fears and did the scariest slides at the park. I was so proud of those kids and myself- because I don't love big drops and we all did it together and we were brave. 

That night we chilled at the condo. We played games and chatted and it was just a nice quiet evening. 

I really loved watching the kids play games on their own. It was pretty adorable.

On Friday we woke up to rain and so we decided to go play mini golf at the indoor mini golf course down the street. We got a groupon for it and it was pretty cheap. We had a great time and it was totally worth the money. 

We had to play in three groups because there were so many of us, but we played through right after each other so we were able to still walk the course together. It was fun.

Friday night we spent back at the condo, eventually the rain stopped and the kids played outside some more, but it was pretty uneventful. 

On Saturday we drove over to the landing and took the kids to Bass Pro. This is always a favorite and the massive fish tank is so fun to see. 

Then we walked over to watch the water and fire fountain show. 
The song was "Rocky Mountain Way" and it was pretty weird, but the show was still fun to watch. 

After the fountain show we drove over to "Gettin' Basted" for some BBQ. 
Benson lives for BBQ chicken and was thrilled with his dinner. 

We have entered a new stage of life where the kids can sit together at their own table and the adults can still together. It's so nice. 

Bailey got a massive pulled pork sandwich and she was so happy about it. 

Then it was back to the condo for a little more swim time. 

After the pool time, it was time for us to leave. Chris and I needed to get back for church, Bailey had girls camp and Tanner had young men's camp. However, since Benson and Tucker didn't have anything going on, Aunt Sarah offered to take them back to Mountain Home with them the following day. So we left our little boys at the condo and we hit the road. 

I got this cute picture from Aunt Sarah the next day and it made me smile. She had a much louder drive home than we did. The kids had so much fun with the cousins in Mtn. Home though. Stay tuned for that fun. 

Branson week was super fun. We got lots of quality time together, ate delicious food and got to do so many fun things. I'm so grateful for family that prioritizes spending time together. It makes me so happy. Until next time Branson.