Branson, MO
Yes, believe it or not, I do actually get a few days off from photo shoots here and there. It's rarely a full day, meaning once we are done with whatever activities and I get those boys tucked back into bed it's back to work on the computer for me. But I LOVE what I do and never dread a single moment of it. Because my boys are my life, even more than photography, I wanted to share with everyone one of our favorite destinations....
Silver Dollar City (a.k.a. Steal Your Dollar City) has always been a special place to me. I have been visiting this place every since I was a very little girl. My Dad even worked there for a summer or two before he met my mom and I can remember so many things about the place through the years. Some of it has stayed the same, and some things have changed. And it's special to me that I can share these memories now with my own children. Yes it can be extremely crowded at timess, and yes most things are overpriced, but then this is how most vacation destinations are I suppose.
My friend Cathy had called wanting to get our boys together and do something fun before school started so we decided to go here since we both had season passes. The only clincher being that the heat index was expected to be well over 100 degrees that day. So we dressed cool, packed lots of water, did many run throughs of the sprinklers at the park and bee lined to the water rides on more than one occasion. We had a blast to say the least!!!
So this is the boys when we first arrived. Micah (my oldest) and his friend Jake in the back, and then Shane and Kyle (my youngest) in the front. This is the first time Micah and Kyle have been here with friends, and all of them were so excited! Cathy and I on the other hand were wondering if we were in a little over our heads as we headed inside with all these balls of energy. : )
The first place we headed was for the big roller coaster, Powder Keg. This would be Kyle's first time riding this ride and being as adventurous as he is, he was jumping up and down in excitement.
Jake on the other hand, was terrified and had made up his mind he was NOT getting on this ride. He was simply going to cross over to the other side and wait for us. This was his expression as soon as he saw how fast the ride shoots out at the beginning. Lol!!! I love this photo! We kept letting people go in front of us in hopes that Micah could talk Jake into just getting on the ride.
And so after about 30 minutes of talking...Micah succeeded and Jake got on the ride! I kept looking back at him telling him to just close his eyes and it would be all over in just a couple of minutes. As this fabulous ride came to an end Jake threw his arms up in the air and exclaimed "That was the best time of my life!". I absolutely was shocked. I thought for sure we were going to be carrying a very sad little boy out of there. But instead, they all walked out telling each other how "incredibly awesome" this place is. Lol, so that meant, photo opt! Psst...yes Micah (the one slouched by the tree) was happy, but never all that happy about his "momarazzi" that has to take her camera everywhere.
I always love this...it's simply a hole in an old barn that has this sign, and so of course what does everyone do...well look in it of course! It's just a mannequin of a bad guy holding a gun inside (sorry to spoil the surprise).
All the boys wanted to pretend they were dead and pose in the coffin that stands outside Grandfather's Mansion. Shane's was my favorite though, he was a dead dog. Gotta love those imaginations!
Next up was the giant Tom Sawyer playhouse which is a HUGE place that's about 3 stories high full of balls that you shoot everywhere. As a mom, I truly and utterly hate this place. It has to be the number one place in America to get the biggest headache and loose not just one child but all of the children you have with you. Luckily, Cathy had bribery with her to get us the heck out of there...snacks, worked like a charm! : ) Thank you Cathy!
Getting to ride the roller coaster with your best bud...they LOVED this! Mom's weren't allowed unless we rode together they told us, lol, so we watched from the side.
And one of my favorites from the day...
Well we did it, we accomplished the near impossible...we wore them out!
Soooooo....the next week, we got asked to go yet again. This time by their Dad, and I knew the boys would love it, so I couldn't say no, even though, it was expected yet again, to be well over 100 degrees!
This is a clock that is inside the entrance and somewhere in the shoeboxes of all photos my mom has, there is a photo of me as a little girl in this exact same spot. Aaron did a great job taking the photo...but he kind of missed the top of the clock, lol, oh well! I still like it!
The Elephant ride as Kyle calls it, and it's one of his favorites. Micah was determined to ride this by himself and Kyle and his Dad wanted to ride together, so I thought I'd take a pic on the side.
Kyle didn't get in on this photo opt the first time we came, so he wanted me to take his picture this time. But don't ask me what he's doing...I'm thinking he's holding a light saber, but not sure. : )
They were asked to be the sheriff's deputies and help capture the bad guys that were robbing the ice cream parlor. Oh and by the way, we had just walked out of the parlor after we found out it was at least a 30 minute wait to get to order a $5.99 single scoop ice cream cone. Being asked to participate in this mini stage act cheered them up though!
Don't know about you, but I thought the bad guys were awfully scary looking.
And now it's time to shoot them!!! Their favorite part...love how Kyle kept loading up his shot gun. Once again, love those imaginations.
The bad guys were caught and then the boys got to help put them in jail! And then pose for the camera of course. : )
Phew...so that was one of the many activities we did the last few days of summer break. I think I'll be waiting a month or two before heading back for the fall festival...thank goodness for cooler days ahead!
