A Little Rain Can't Ruin a Good Time!

So Thursday afternoon we headed off to Branson for a few days. We were chancing it with the rain, and honestly, we didn't fare too well in that department! But, all in all, we had a great time together with our family, and fun with our friends that were there as well.
Friday morning we set out for Silver Dollar City and immediately stopped in the gift shop to buy 6 ponchos! We rode some rides with the Fowlers and Gschwends and handled the drizzle. While sitting at some picnic tables for lunch, though, it really started coming down! I only have a couple pictures from S.D.C. because I didn't want to get my camera wet! So after scarfing down our lunch, we made our way to an amplitheatre and watched a great steel pan drum band from Trinidad & Tobago.
They were pretty entertaining, and it was interesting learning about their country and their instruments.

The kids liked their music, too, and we were all thankful to be out of the rain! As soon as it was over, we went to another show (this month was WorldFest at S.D.C.), the Irish Feet of Fire. That was also a really great show! Kellen immediately recognized a couple of the performers as people who had visited her school earlier this spring to do a program on Ireland! She even went up and talked with them when it was over--she was really excited! The kids liked the costumes and the dancing was really entertaining. Dawson got antsy whenever the emcee was talking, but would start dancing wildly as soon as the music began! He was really entertaining the older gentleman we were sitting next to! I left my camera in the stroller out in the lobby, though, so no pics of that one.

We headed back to the hotel after the show for some swimming. Here is Owen, Carson and Peyton having fun.

Kellen, Peyton and Colby playing the indoor pool.

Dawson took a break from kicking his feet and splashing everyone to look at the camera. He's really wanting his picture taken a lot lately---it's cracking me up!

Daddy and the kiddos in the kiddie pool.

The rest of the night was spent having dinner at Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill, and hitting the stores at the Tanger Outlet Mall. The kids racked up with some great purchases from Nike, Carter's, Osh Kosh and Gymboree.

Nothing like killing time in the hotel room playing Ninento DS! Dawson, Peyton, Colby, Kellen & Cade.
Since it was too rainy to go back to S.D.C. a second day, we headed to the IMAX theatre and watched their newest release, "Under the Sea". When Brian and I were dating and married before kids, we used to seek out IMAX theatres in every city we visited. We've seen lots of them, and this one was very good! The kids LOVED the movie and were so impressed with the big screen and amazing images. A section of it was even on the Great Barrier Reef, which Kellen has spent much of this year studying in her 1st grade's emphasis of Australia. Our next stop was a quick trip to another outlet mall just to visit the Crocs store. Great deals going on there, and we walked out with 5 pairs of Crocs for $21!!! A great, fun lunch at Fudrucker's finished out our time in Branson. So, we didn't get to do all we had planned at Silver Dollar City, but since we have season passes, we'll be back several more times this year. In the meantime, it was lots of fun just to get out of town, stay in a hotel, swim, shop, eat good food, and just have fun together as a family!