Spring Break 2010

Oh, what a great spring break we had! We were able to meet Ben's parents in Branson, MO for a fun filled week. We weren't expecting to have Ben with us the whole time because of work commitments, but plans changed and he was able to stay with us the whole time! It was great, and let me tell you, the boy needed a vacation!

We left on Friday and went to Sikeston, MO to eat at the famous Lambert's Cafe, Home of the Throwed Rolls. It was awesome. The atmosphere was fun, the rolls were AMAZING, and the food was great. JT loved the fried Okra, DB had fun catching the rolls, and I fell in love with Sorghum on a hot roll. Baby Girl got a little overwhelmed by all the noise and excitement and let us know when it was time to go. Then we went swimming at our hotel, which was one of the highlights of the week, as the boys have seriously missed having a pool next door to our house.

Saturday: we drove most of the day, and got to Branson at about 4. We had dinner at McIntosh's restaurant, and watched the Blind Side (thanks, Mom!)

Sunday: we relaxed and listened to conference the best we could. Small condo=2 boys that feel a little like caged animals=not much peace and quiet. We visited the lake and threw a lot of rocks.

Monday: We went to the Chinese Acrobat Show. It was pretty incredible to see what those people can do with their bodies. I saw it all with my own eyes, and I still don't believe some of it. One gal balanced 4 eggs on top of each other on top of a stick on top of her forehead. Wild. We also went to the fish hatchery in Branson, which was free (rare for anything to be free in that town...) and the boys got to feed the fishies, and we had a nice stroll along a river. Beautiful scenery.

Tuesday: we went to a wax museum and got pictures taken with a lot of cool movie characters. Not exactly worth the admission fee, but what do you do? Then we went to Lambert's cafe again, this time in Ozark, MO so that Mama and Papa Shoff could see what we were talking about. The atmosphere there wasn't quite as cool, though. Then we went to a show called the "Magnificent Variety Show" which was quite good. It was mostly fun to watch DB out of the corner of my eye, dancing and bopping along to the music.

Wednesday: I got to go shopping with Mama Shoff. She is so much fun to shop with, let me tell you. We got a lot of great stuff for the kiddos, and had fun just hanging out with the girls. We had lunch at a place called "Mel's Hard Luck Diner" where the servers sing while they serve you. They had some AMAZING voices, and Mama Shoff even bought a CD of one of the waitresses. We had ice cream coming out of our eyeballs, because we foolishly neglected the advice of our server and ordered a banana split and a cookie/ice cream dish. They were GINORMOUS. DB and JT thought they had died and gone to heaven. Then we saw an IMAX movie about the Wild Coast in Africa, and I learned a ton, and the photography was awesome.

Thursday: Silver Dollar City. The amusement park there in Branson is so great. They have a couple roller coasters that are as good as any I have been on. I was so happy to have DB as my roller coaster buddy, as nobody else would have been able to go with me. He even asked to go on one a second time, this time in the front row so we could see where we were going. That was one of the proudest moments of my life.

Friday: Silver Dollar City. We saw a show called "Firey Fiddles" that was jaw dropping. That show was worth the price of admission right there. 3 world renowned fiddle players=stunning performance.

Saturday: Traveled home. Boys in one car, Girls in the other. Baby girl did great until we hit the traffic in Memphis coming over the Mississippi river. We stopped at Coscto which made her stop crying, but as soon as we got in the car, she cried the rest of the way home. Sad girl. We had such a great time, and were so blessed to have Mama and Papa there. They had the choice to either go to Hawaii or come to Branson. Personally, I am not sure I would have made the same choice! Thank you so much to them for getting us out of the house and on to a vacation that we all REALLY needed!