Trip to Branson, Day One

In September, we took a family vacation to Branson, MO.  We left our house on a Tuesday and came back on Saturday.  Driving in the car with our crew is always, shall we say, interesting?  The resident three year old can always be counted on to, ahem, liven things up. 

A round of suckers brought out the smiles (and bought us a short period of quiet).

Minivan got to 88,888 miles on the way there!

We got to Branson early enough in the afternoon that we couldn't yet check into the hotel.  So decided to go Ride the Ducks!  The Ducks are replicas of amphibious vehicles used in WWII, and the Branson tour goes through town, up on a mountain, and then down onto Table Rock Lake. 

Waiting to board the duck, we got a nice family photo.

On the duck.

Each person got a quacker when they boarded.

View from up high on the mountain.

Through the woods.

Old army tank.

Splash!  Into the water we went!

Quack! Quack!

While cruising around the lake, each kid got to take a turn at the wheel.  The captain informed us that girls unconsciously will steer to the right and boys to the left, and it was true!

Captain Catherine.

Captain Anne.

Captain Dominic.

Captain Joseph.

Captain Anthony was grinning from ear to ear.

The island that once was the top of a mountain.

The kids loved their ride.

Table Rock Lake is man-made.  This is a pic of the dam.

After we got back, just a mite windblown, we headed to the hotel to check in and unpack.  At dinner time we went to eat at Whipper Snappers, an all-you-can-eat lobster and seafood buffet.  We sat down and the waitress came over and said the buffet was $35 per person.  When I asked how much it would be for the kids, she said $35 each.  Even for Anthony!  Wow!  Needless to say, the kids did not get the buffet, but instead got kids meals, which was too bad, because the kids meals weren't that great.  The buffet was good, of course the stars and main attraction were the lobsters.  You really could eat as many as you wanted.  Not easy to handle buffets and lobster cracking with all the kids, but it tasted great.  I would not recommend this as a place for family dining, but it would be fabulous for a seafood-loving couple.

Our restaurant was in the basement of the big chicken building.

After we got back to the hotel, we went swimming in the hotel pool.  The oldest four kids are really getting to be good swimmers, so it was a lot of fun. 

Day Two to come!