Branson July 27 and 28

Saturday, July 27th, 2019
We all hit the road, or air, to meet in Branson, Missouri for a week of family fun last summer.  Dad and Mom celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 7th, 2019.  WHAT?!?!?! 

50 YEARS!!!!  

They did not want to have a party.  Instead they wanted us all to go on a big family "vaca", so we loaded up and we all headed east to good ole' Branson.  A few of the travelers managed to take a few selfies and pictures of their travels on the way to Branson.

 Dad and Mom rented a big 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house for us all to stay in that week together.  It was very nice.  There was a pool within walking distance from our back porch, a playground, and outdoor games for us all to enjoy, and it was only about a mile from Silver Dollar City.  Oh, and who could forget this adorable stuffed opossum that was on the fireplace mantel enjoying his beverage of choice in our rental house....He watched our every loving 50th anniversary celebrating move THE. WHOLE. WEEK.  (That wasn't weird at all.)

Wow, we have some cute kids.  They all wanted to walk over and check out the pool and playground right away.

The first night before going to bed, Lindsee and I shoe-polished Dad and Mom's car.  We wanted everyone else to know it was their 50th anniversary too.  I haven't done something so "high-schoolish" in a long time.  It felt good.  I couldn't wait for Dad to discover it in the morning.

Sunday, July 28th, 2019

 The next morning we all ate breakfast and got our first set of matching 50th wedding anniversary shirts on so that everyone we came in contact with that day at Silver Dollar City would know why we were there, and what we were celebrating.

 Meanwhile, out front at the cars... Dad was taking out a sack of trash and getting ready for us all to go to SDC.... Everytime he'd go out the front door I'd wait with eager anticipation (camera ready) for him to look up and discover someone had written on the windows of his vehicle.... Finally he saw it!

He loved it!  Look at his smile below.  This could possibly be the only person I ever made happy by shoe-polishing their vehicle.

Below, our whole group right before heading into Silver Dollar City for our first day.  Left to right, Eric, Sarah, Gloria, Lindsee, Paul, Silas, Phoebe, Matt, Stacee, Eric, and Will.

Here we go.....

Matt stopped in the coffee shop and bakery.

Our first ride of the day was the newest big roller coaster, called Time Traveler. 

The next ride was the Flooded Mine ride.  Dad always loves this one and makes us all participate in a friendly shooting contest.

We continued through the park, riding rides, and watching a few shows.

 We spent about an hour in the ball area on Fireman's Landing.  It was nice and cool in there.  And, we all enjoyed throwing and shooting balls at one another.

We rode more big roller coasters, like Powder Keg, Outlaw Run, and Wildfire.  Phoebe surprised us all and rode everything!  Even the big coasters!

 The kids really liked getting to ride roller coasters with Matt, EP, and Lindsee.

We watched the Saloon Show and got a picture afterwards with the Saloon girls.

The last roller coaster of the day ended up being Phoebe's favorite.  It was called Wildfire.

The last ride of the first day was the American Plunge.  A log - water ride.  Below, front to back, Silas, Matt, Phoebe, Sarah, and Stacee.  Lindsee and EP rode in a different log.

It was a fun day at SDC.  That night, back at the house, we swam and watched fireworks being shot off at SDC.  Happy 50th Mom and Dad!

A lot later that night upstairs in our bedroom we blew up 70 balloons.  (Tomorrow would be Dad's 70th birthday and we wanted to surprise him right off with some festiveness in the house.)

After blowing up ALL 70 balloons we took them out of the bedroom and threw them over the ledge so Dad would see them as soon as he came out of his bedroom in the morning.