Branson Vacay- Days 1 & 2

I think the pictures will speak for themselves but to stop all your suspense, we had an AMAZING vacation!!! The kids were wonderful, Reese and Dono got along so well and played together like I have never seen, the weather was great, everyone was healthy (for the most part) and I could not have wished it to go any better. Without further ado I will recap the trip.

Thurs Aug 22- Day 1: My parents and sister met us at the house at 10am and we all set off pretty dang on time. We stopped at Lebanon to eat and for a potty break and after that stop the kids actually both took naps until we got to Branson.  We all stayed in a 3 bedroom condo right off of the lake and it was beautiful! Before we were even unpacked the kids were begging to hit the pool so we obliged. Only when I was about to get Reese dressed for swimming did I realize that of all of the things to forget, I forgot to pack her any swimsuits. So homegirl got to go swimming in some undies and a t-shirt while the grandparents ran out for an emergency swimsuit shopping spree. She did not care in the least.

The kids loved the pool! We practically had the whole thing to ourselves for almost every day so it was awesome! As it turns out, Reese is a natural swimmer! This is the first time she swam in a big pool with only her floaties on and she did awesome! Swam all over by herself and was calm as could be. She would flutter kick and actually get herself places in a hurry. Then sometimes she would dolphin kick and use her hands to propel her, it was amazing! She has never even had A lesson before. My parents said I was a natural too so I am taking the credit. She even could float on her back and on her stomach as calm as could be.

Her brother on the other hand, well, his initial swimming attempts looked more like a drowning dog. (see below).

He improved pretty fast over the several days that we went swimming but the start was pretty funny especially because Reese was so dang good at it.  Before long they were both jumping in to the water unassisted. It was fun.

That night we went down to Branson Landing, which we had never been to before and ate dinner and walked along the lake (which actually looks more like a river). As it was cooling off and turning to night a fog grew over the water and it was absolutely beautiful. We had bar-b-q, which made my dad happy, and Dono and I got to see a man catch a trout, which made Dono happy. Then we watched a fire and water show and headed home to get some rest for our big day #2.

Friday- Second # 2

We woke up all bright and early the next day, excited for our first Day at Silver Dollar City. We got there before the park opened and ate breakfast at the restaurant inside the park, which it totes the way to go to beat the crowds and make your tummy happy (although not well prepared to ride lots of roller coasters right away). First stop after breakfast was the old trusty "flooded mine" ride, an oldie but a goodie. Next stop was the kiddie ride area where Reese was measured and came out to be 35 inches and 3/4. Ahhhhh! A quarter inch too short to ride most of the rides. Dang. Even so everyone had a great time. They both loved the frogs and the caterpillars and butterfly ride.

Donovan got to ride the kid rollercoaster, the elephants, the small pirate ship and this big pirate ship with me while Reese went some more rounds on the frogs and butterflies. We had a great time.

Reese got several (I think it was 5) turns on the Carousel, a favorite of hers and a non-favorite of Donovan's (he usually refuses to ride or only will go on the bench, which is comical as he will go on Roller coasters).

Next was the "American Plunge". It was a favorite last year and since Reese is over 34 inches this year, she could go too. We went 2 times, the first with everyone sans my mom, the next Jenna sat out too. The kids loved it and we liked that we got wet enough that it cooled us all down considerably from the low 90s heat. My dad was in the back both rides and ended up getting completely soaked. He was a good sport about it though and took it like a (wet) champ.

This is my favorite picture of my sister Jenna since one taken during my wedding (6.5 yrs ago). Too funny. This was in "grandfathers mansion" in which everything is all wonky. I refused to go in it this year as it made me feel drunk last year.

Tom and Jenna got to break off from the rest of our group and try out some big kid rides. They were disappointed as the big wooden roller coaster they were excited to try was having problems so they didn't get to ride it.

By 2 both kids were exhausted. Dono was sleeping in the stroller while Reese had tuckered herself out from a fit she threw. So we headed back to the house for some more swimming.

There are many pluses to traveling with my parents but one of the best is that they are the best kind of paparazzi. I love these awesome shots my dad got of the kids jumping in the water.

Didn't you love that form? By the end of swimming day 2 both kids were wearing their goggles and putting their faces in the water (Reese more so than Donovan). It was fun and a nice cool down from a hot day.

More vacation recap to come!

Big changes!

Turns out if you don't update the blog in a month (practically) you accumulate big things to talk about. None bigger than how big our baby girl has gotten!  There are two big updates on Reese.

Update #1. She is potty trained!!!! Home girl pretty much did it herself. Around the first week of July she started really showing some interest in wearing only underwear so we tried it out for a little and she did pretty well. By the next weekend, when we had my grandparents wedding anniversary get together, she was wearing her underwear all day and doing great! She even chose that Saturday the 13th of July at the party to poop on the potty the first time. It was pretty dang exciting. Ever since then she really hasn't looked back. She still wears diapers for naps and bedtime and has an accident several times a week but overall she is doing really well. She usually has her accidents when she is playing and having fun and we forget to ask her to go so I place the blame on us too.

Reese working on her "puter" in her big girl underwear.

Update #2. She got her ears pierced! She is such a girly girl and wanted to wear clip on earrings but those things always made her ears so red that she looked like she was gonna lose circulation and eventually her whole ear if she wore them too long.  So I talked to her about getting her ears pierced and she was game. We took her on Sunday, July 28th and made it a whole family trip.  There was a 20ish yr old girl getting her ears done when we got there so Reese got to watch that first. Then it was her turn. She sat up in that big stool all by herself just like a big girl. Then they cleaned off her ears and we made the marks where they would go and then they pierced the first ear and Reese didn't even flinch. After the second one was done she teared up and reached and asked for me but that was it. The tears were over before they could even fall!!! She was an all star! Donovan told her she was so beautiful after it and told her she looked like a "wedding girl" (aka bride since she was wearing a white dress).

These first two pictures are the before pictures. No idea why she did the weird face above.

This is the cutie in the big old chair waiting for the big event. I wish we had a picture of the whole scene. She looked like such a shrimp in that chair.

Finished product and a happy camper. She requested the biggest butterfly earrings you could get for her first earrings but her daddy and I over ruled and told her to go with something a little less noticeable since she has to keep these in for the first 6-8 weeks.

She's been really good about us cleaning them twice a day for her too. And for the most part she leaves them alone. The first night before we went to bed she asked me to take them out and the next day at Grammie's she asked her to take them out before she took a bath. I think she was just confused as we always have her take all accessories off for those events before.  Once we told her it was ok for both sleeping and baths she was fine with it.

I just can't believe how big she is getting! I blinked my eyes and now she is all grown up!

"Mom, come see where I am sitting!"

Yes those are swim goggles on her head. Just a quick blog to let you all know we are still alive and doing well, More meaningful blog to come shortly.