Stephanie, Conner & Paige flew out last week to visit us and we made the most of their time with us. We had such a fun time playing together. Although, Tanner & Bailey couldn't play last week because of band, we did our best to have fun without them.
They flew in on Tuesday morning and we just hung out at home that night and relaxed. The OR Herbs had taken a red eye flight to get here so they were pretty exhausted. So we took it easy. The kids just played while Stephanie napped. Then we ate dinner and got packed up to go to Branson the next day.
Wednesday morning we went toBranson and we drove straight to Fritz's Adventure to play for the day. The kids had a great time playing on the ropes course and rock climbing. Stephanie and I had a relaxing time sitting in the massage chairs and treating ourselves to massages while we watched the kids play.
We played at Fritz's until about 5 pm and by then we needed to go pickup our grocery order. So we drove to Wal-Mart, got our groceries and then went to our room to check in. We stayed at the "Falls Village" which is a BlueGreen resort in Branson. It's one of the resorts we frequent because of it's convenient location. We unloaded and made dinner and then the kids immediately wanted to go to the pool to swim and to the playground to play- so of course we had to oblige.
We eventually made it back to the room and got kids to bed. The next morning we took it easy. We made breakfast in the room and then Stephanie and I went to do some shopping. We left the kids at the room to veg out on their screens.
Once we finished shopping we went back to the resort and we all went to the pool for a while.
The kids really wanted to make s'mores so we did that too.
We had also purchased tickets to see "Reza" the Illusionist, so we went to dinner at "Gettin' Basted" and then went to the magic show at the Reza theater. The show was good but definitely not my favorite magic show that we've seen. The kids seem to enjoy it though. Dinner was very delicious, as usual. Stephanie was very happy to get BBQ.
The next morning we ate breakfast and then got loaded up and checked out. Then we drove to "White Water" and played all day at the water park. The kids had so much fun together and it was probably the most relaxed I've been at White Water before.
Stephanie and I did ride some water slides with the kids and we floated the lazy river with them, but we were also able to just sit in lounge chairs and relax. It was really fun.
After playing all day at the water park, we grabbed dinner at Chick-fli-A and then drove home
We got home Friday night and relaxed for a bit before getting kids off to bed.
Saturday morning we met a bunch of our friends at the "Redneck Waterslide" and played there for a couple hours. It was super fun. Stephanie got to meet some of my closest friends and we did our traditional "mom train" .Again, it felt like we were going to fly off the slide. We survived- maybe a little worse for wear but in one piece.
The dads and the kids made a long train as well and their train was super impressive. We all ended with a few more bruises but big smiles. 
After we finished at the waterslide, we drove down to the state park to eat our picnic lunch.
Then we drove home and got our massive ice cream cones at Shortstop Grill.
That afternoon Tanner, Bailey and Conner got to go to a devotional with Pres. Brad Wilcox from the General Young Men's Presidency.
The kids said the devotional was amazing and Brad Wilcox is an incredible teacher. They really enjoyed it.
On Sunday we went to church and celebrated Bailey's birthday together. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and hanging out together.
On Monday we went boating and Chris took a half day off work to meet us there. It was really fun. The kids had a great time tubing together and the lake was pretty empty so it was a perfect day. The sun was hot and the water was cool and we played and played.
After we finished boating we played at the marina for a while because they were obsessed with all the turtles in the lake. They were swimming all around the docks and we even caught some and got to hold them.
We got home that evening and made dinner and had a nice chill evening at home. We were all worn out and so it was nice to not have any plans.
On Tuesday we spent our morning and early afternoon at the Rogers Aquatic Center. The kids had a great time doing the water slides and lazying around in the lazy river. Stephanie and I spent the majority of our time in the lazy river. It was pretty nice. The kids had lots of fun together.
After we finished at the aquatic center, we drove home and then Stephanie and I got ready and went to the temple together. We left the kids chilling at home with Chris and he took care of dinner.
Stephanie and I also grabbed Andy's before the temple and then went to dinner together afterwards. It was a nice evening together. We thoroughly enjoyed their last night in Arkansas!
The next morning we took our cousins to the airport and said our goodbyes. Our time together flew by way too fast but we did make the most of it! It was a great visit!
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