Branson 2017

Since we had a big trip last year, we decided to take a small trip this summer. Following grandparents' recommendations, we zoomed in to Branson as our destination. It was almost the same time of the year as we took our China trip. When we reminisced what we were doing in China at this time last year, Andy said "Please stop talking about it- it made me sad for not being in China now." 

We headed out on Saturday, June 24th to grandparents' house in Tulsa. We played corn-holes, Mexican trains and some card games. Sunday morning we went to church before we left for Branson. We rented two condos (both were at the Suites At Fall Creek) and Grand Country Inn (on Wednesday). We enjoyed our stay at these places very much. At the condos, we were able to use the free amenities (games, swimming pools, fishing, etc.). At Grand Country Inn, we had free access to the indoor water park, the Amazing Pets show, and free pizza. Our week was very full and productive. We enjoyed every minute of it. We were able to cook half of the meals and have some great food. The weather was perfect (in low 80s). We were so thankful to have a wonderfully blessed vacation!

This is the entrance of our condos.

After we checked into the condo, we drove around the scenic road Highway 165. We had a great view of our condos right there.

This is the view across the street from our first condo.

Our second condo was in that community too. We really enjoyed all the convenience and comfort our condos provided.

Emily and Andy even played with the guitar on the wall.

Here are some breakfast we made. We also made chicken quarters in the crock pot for dinner. The frozen dumplings were always easy and delicious. And the baked sweet potatoes - so yummy!!!

Emily and Andy never got tired of the games. We even played one more round of air hocky and mini-golf before we headed back home. But when I asked Emily what was her most memorable things she did at our condos, she answered "making up stories at the bedtimes and the nature scavenger hunt".

The fishing dock was right across street. Unfortunately our schedule was so full that David gave up his fishing for the games or swimming that the kids wanted.

Sunday night we went to the down town area - Branson Landing to walk around. We had a delicious noodle dinner and watched the light and fountain music show. Many people were relaxing or walking there - it reminded me of the streets or plazas in China. We saw several cute dogs and ducks. Emily kept following them.

Andy wished he could take this free trolley ("Sparky"). He kept saying "I'm tired of walking!"

Monday morning we visited the Titanic museum (Emily had read a book on Titanic by National Geography Kids and she was very interested in it). Each of us was given a boarding pass of the real passenger on Titanic. The back of the pass was the story of the passenger. By the end of the tour, we would find out whether we were survivors or not. It was a touching experience! One of the passengers was a missionary in India who helped the orphans to go to the boarding schools. She got word that her mother was sick. So she got on Titanic to go home to see her mother. But when she was offered a seat on the lifeboat, she gave her seat to a mother and a baby. There were so many stories that could draw your tears out on that night - what an inspiration to us!

 It was so happened that the sinking of Titanic was on Easter Sunday. Some preachers just gave an Easter service on the ship that morning. All of the religious heroes (preachers and ministers) on the ship gave their seats to others and offered comfort to people around them.

"Nearer My God to Thee" is the last song Hartley (head of the band) and his musicians played when Titanic disappeared into the ocean.

After the Titanic visit, we got on the duck ride. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle that provide tours of cities by boat and by land. It took us through the scenic Ozarks; climbed to the top of the Mountain ; discovered the history behind some of America’s unique military vehicles and splashed down and cruised Table Rock Lake.

Emily volunteered to be the captain of the duck. She did a great job steering and driving the duck. It was a fun ride!

After the duck ride, we went to the Silver Dollar City (free after 3pm each day). We visited the Fireman's Landing, took the Frisco Scenery Train; had lunch at Miner's restaurant and got on some easy rides (None of us was brave enough for the adventurous rides). Andy's favorite was playing games and Emily's favorite was climbing the wooden structures.

We went back to the Silver Dollar City the next day. We watched The Harlem Globetrotters show, took a cavern tour, and experienced a scary ride "Fire In The Hole" (It was supposed to be a milder ride). David lost our newly bought bamboo spatula during the ride. We all got wet and decided never do that again.

("No more rides")

We found our favorite ice-cream store here. We stopped by both days. It truly was a wonderful treat.

We had some delicious chicken dinner at our condo before we headed to the show "Moses". We read amazing reviews before we went. Still the performance exceeded our expectations. It was so realistic!

Wednesday we checked into Grand Country Inn hotel. I got a wonderful deal on Groupon. We were able to check in early and watch the free show "Amazing Pets". Emily fell in love with this puppy. It was so cute, gentle, and obedient. All the pets from the show were adopted from the animal shelter. But somehow deep in our hearts, we felt sorry for them being used and possibly abused by their master.

The kids totally enjoyed the water park. We spent almost three hours there.

After the pets show, we wanted to have some free pizza for lunch. While we were looking for the entrance to the pizza restaurant, we saw a janitor mopping the floor at this door. David walked up to ask the direction. The janitor told him the direction and then paused for us to walk by. I suddenly recognized that he was the owner of the whole resort area Glenn Robinson (Grand Country Inn hotels, Grand Country Buffet, Papa's Pizza, indoor water park, Fun Spot, Music Hall, etc.) I had just read about his story inside the brochure. I told the kids that janitor was the owner of this place. They were shocked. Emily said "Mommy, he is like Jesus. Jesus is the owner of this world but he came to serve us......" What an great analogy! David walked back out to the door. When he came back, he said "I thanked him for giving us an object lesson. He said he grew up in farm and used to working." I found out Glenn Robinson is a Christian. He grew up in a God-fearing and very wise family. When he was 7 years old, his daily chore included milking 18 cows twice a day. He worked 40 hours a week besides going to high school. He was the recipient of the city's "Pioneer Award" for his outstanding work in the community for over 30 years. He hoped everyone who came to Branson could see that people in Branson love God, our family, and our country. What an example he is to us!

On Thursday, we visited the "Promised Land Zoo" after a wonderful Buffet at Grand Country. Most animals there were babies. Emily and Andy had a great time feeding and petting them.

(What's going on there?)

After the zoo, we were able to check in to our second condo early. We cooked some lunch then headed to the Acrobat of China. The performance was jaw-dropping. The youngest people practiced for 6 or 7 years and the older ones practiced over 12 years.

It rained Friday morning. We waited until the rain stopped. Then we headed over to the Talking Rocks Cavern. Emily and Andy loved exploring the caves and learning about them.

This formation looked like an angel.

The kids enjoyed the mazes too after we got out of the tour.

What an amazing view!

In the afternoon, we watched the Dixie Stampee show (with a pre-show and dinner). It was very entertaining (horses, piglets, puppies, chickens, buffaloes, long-horns, etc.)

After the show, we were able to visit the horses in the show.

After the show, we drove to the College of the Ozarks (also called Hard Work U. where no tuition is charged, all students work on campus, debt is openly discouraged). We had heard every student in this college had to work so they could be debt free. And the Keeter center cafeteria had great food and service. Unfortunately we were so full from the dinner at the Stampee that we didn't try their food. Instead the kids had their homemade icecream for a treat.

This place is more than a college. There are many family-friendly activities, including two museums, an old-fashioned grist mill, fruitcake and jelly kitchen, stained glass studio, and exquisite 4-star dining at Dobyns Dining Room in The Keeter Center. The only thing that requires admission is the Ralph Foster Museum ($6 Adults, $5 Seniors, and Free to all 18 and under). Dobyns Dining Room offers a farm to table experience without breaking the bank.While we drove around, we bumped into a whole bunch of cows being milked. The two girls working there were students of "Animal Science". They let the kids to milk the cow by hand. It was a wonderful experience! The agriculture department had several green houses. We saw fruit and vegetable and trees. We also enjoyed browsing through the products made by the students. The cafeteria looked very high-end. Maybe in the future we will have chance eating there and chat with the students there or even stay there .

 

On Saturday, we played a couple of quick games before we checked out of the condo. Then we stopped by the fish hatchery on the way home. We met grandparents for a late lunch in Tulsa (Yay- three weekends in a row with grandparents!) and arrived home around 6:30. One sad thing was we left our fish of two years to our neighbor and he died while we were gone. Our neighbor texted us they bought a new one and hoped Andy wouldn't be too sad. When we got home, the kids immediately saw it was a different fish. We told them what happened. They both shed some tears. We still name the new fish "Blue Berry". She quickly brought joy to us.

 We took some old fashioned photo at Branson. We had lots of fun doing it.

 Here are some produce we got from the garden on the day back.

Branson is a rare tourist place that focus on family entertaining. Most of the shows are very clean and patriotic. There are tons of things to see and to do there with the kids. It definitely was a memorable vacation for us. We were so glad we did it!