Breaking the Silence

So, I have been MIA (missing in action) for a little while...sorry about that. We've had great weather lately, and it's just been too nice to be inside blogging! Things have also been relatively quiet around here, so I didn't want to bore you with a post about nothing.

But...that all changed this weekend. It was finally time for something that I've been looking forward to for a month...my mom and nephew, Nolan, came for a visit over the weekend!

They arrived on Friday afternoon by TRAIN - pretty cool for a three and a half year old. Curt and I both had Friday off, so we both got to go and pick them up at the train station.

We had lunch at a cool new restaurant by the water - while waiting for our food, Nolan and Uncle Curt enjoyed checking out the boats in the marina and watching turtles from the dock.


We didn't have much planned for the afternoon/evening, so we just came home and let Nolan run and play...something he was really ready for after three hours on the train!

Saturday was our only full day together - so we did LOTS of fun stuff! Curt had some work to do for Three Hills Engineering, so he stayed home to work on that...but, Mom, Nolan and I went to check out some local yard sales. Nolan definitely came home with the most - but my mom came home with the best deal, she paid $1 for a board game that normally retails for at least $50, and when we got home and opened it, we realized it has never even been used!

By the time we got home, it was lunch...so, while we got some hotdogs ready, Nolan took another opportunity to run around in the backyard...he played 'baseball' with an empty gingerale bottle and plastic ball all weekend! He also had fun with our aerobie (it's like a frisbee), and learned how to play bocce ball (although he wasn't big on the rules, and preferred to just kick his ball closer so he was always the winner!).

Taking in the baseball game...notice the 'bat' that Curt is using, and the ball in mid-flight...and, most important, the expression on Nolan's face!

A baseball action shot! Uncle Curt running the bases, and Nolan running to get the ball. As soon as he got to the ball, he would yell 'YOU'RE OUT!'

And then, it was time for the 'field trip' of the weekend. A few weeks ago I read an article about a dinosaur attraction in a nearby town, and I knew it was something we would have to check out with Nolan. He told a few people this weekend that 'he's all about dinosaurs', and he really is crazy about them, so it was perfect for him. There is a world renowned casting company in our area; one of the things they are famous for is their dinosaur castings, they have shipped their work to museums all over the world...and, they recently created this attraction for kids.

Nolan 'being a dinosaur' while sitting on a dinosaur :)

Nolan and a baby Maiasaurus. He was very hesitant when he approached this dinosaur, he definitely thought it was alive! He asked if he could pet it, and even though we said yes, he wouldn't get that close until one of us touched it first. Eventually, he decided it was his favourite, and named it Nolan.

And then there was 'Walter' the 12 meter Tyrannosaurus-Rex buried in a giant sandbox. We all had fun helping Nolan dig to find different parts of Walter. This isn't a great picture, but it shows the main part of the dinosaur...his tail extended out to left.

Nolan and I digging, and Grandma keeping a close eye on us.

Hard at work with Uncle Curt.

Grandma got right into it, getting down and dirty. Here, Nolan decided to take a break and just watch Grandma work hard.

Conveniently, we were going right past a splash pad on our way home, so we stopped by there, too! It wasn't that hot, but the boys still really enjoyed themselves!

Our dinner is worth mentioning here - we had ribs, Curt's favourite, and in order the convince Nolan to eat them, we told him that he would be eating just like dinosaurs eat, right off the bone! ha! It worked, and he dug right in.


And, as if that wasn't enough for a day, we had one more activity to fit in...we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows.


Sunday was a lot more laid back...we attended a different church this morning so that we could be part of two special baptisms...two of Curt's cousins had babies within a few weeks of each other, and they were both being baptized today. Nolan went off to the nursery to play during the service; he went in without any hesitation, and when mom checked on him midway through the service, he was doing great, but, when she went to pick him up he was crying a little :( The nursery workers said he cried a little off and on, so mom and I felt really guilty.

Our afternoon was pretty relaxing - we just played and visited and tried to soak in every last minute with each other.

No trip to visit Auntie Boo and Uncle Curt's is complete without a trip to Reid's Dairy for icecream, so we made sure we had time to go there before heading to the train station for mom and Nolan to head home.

Overall, it was an AWESOME weekend! I know Curt and I really enjoyed ourselves, and hopefully Mom and Nolan did, too?!?


A BIG THANK YOU to Mom for being brave enough to tackle a train trip with a three and a half year old, alone, and for giving up a weekend with dad to come and hang out with us...and, to my brother and sister-in-law for letting Nolan make the trip - I'm sure it was lonely and quiet at home without him, and I know you missed him, so I really appreciate it and we loved every minute with him!

Branson - Everything Else

THE WEATHER

The weather was...not too bad, except for the tornado warning we had on Sunday night! ha!

The clouds were crazy. This picture is from early on - they got more interesting as the night went on, but I wouldn't let Curt go outside to take a picture :) The color of the clouds later on was creepy!


The tornado that we saw side effects from was actually really bad - it completely wiped out the town of Joplin, Missouri (about an hour and forty-five minutes from Branson). We spent the night in our room watching the weather channel and tracking the storm; staff from the resort called our room twice, first let us know that we were under a storm watch and then a storm warning - which was nice, I suppose, but I thought it would have been nice of them to let us know what to do, and where to go, if we actually did get a tornado - I know I'm not a tornado expert, but I don't think our fifth floor room was the best spot!?! But, it never got to that point, and I'm very thankful for that!

And, the rest of the week, we had a real mix of weather...and we made the best of each day, no matter what was happening outside.

We had a few really nice days...sunny and warm. And on those days, we lounged by the pool. Sunday, our first full day in Branson was really nice...and we didn't feel like doing much after our long drive, so hanging out poolside was perfect. Unfortunately we both got sunburned that afternoon, so we were a little sore in spots for the rest of the week. Our first round of golf was also played on a really nice day (probably one of the reasons I enjoyed that round better then the second round).

We had a few rainy days, so we went shopping. If you ask me, that's a perfect rainy day activity!

And, Friday, our last full day, was pretty cool. The plan was to play golf in the morning and then have some more time poolside in the afternoon; but, it never really warmed up, so we didn't get to the pool.

COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS

When booking our show tickets with the concierge at our resort, it was recommended that we try out a restaurant called 'The Keeter Center', located at the College of the Ozarks. This College is located in Hollister, just outside Branson, so we decided to check it out on our way back from a round of golf. We had no idea we were in for such a unique experience...it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip!


Here is a line I found on the College website, describing who they are..."The mission of this unique institution focuses on providing a Christian education to those who are found worthy, but who are without sufficient means to obtain such training."

None of the students at this school graduate with debt...instead, they work various on-campus jobs to pay for their tuition. The more we learned about this school, the more I thought 'why don't more universities/colleges do this'?

Our waiter was a third year student and was very willing to tell us about the school (I think they're used to getting lots of questions). His name was Kyle, and on his name tag, it said he was from Papua New Guinea - his parents are missionaries. He asked us where we were from, and when we told him Ontario, Canada, he told us that he had some friends from Papua New Guinea and that they had returned home to Ontario to go to school, he thought the name of the school was something like 'Redeemer College'?!? HA! (I graduated from Redeemer University College) Talk about a small world!!!

The food was amazing, too!

Kyle told us more about the school throughout our meal, and then gave us a map of the campus so we could do a little self-guided tour when we were through.

The chapel on campus. Wow!

Inside the chapel! Prospective students, and their parents, were sitting in the chapel as part of a campus tour, so we had to be discreet.

The concierge who told us about The Keeter Center, also gave us a coupon to use at the restaurant - but, when as we learned about the school and it's mission, we we so impressed by it we couldn't use the coupon...it would have seemed wrong to discount something we believed in and wanted to support?!?

BRANSON LANDING

Branson Landing is one of the shopping areas we went to - I wouldn't say that it was 'upscale', but, it wasn't an outlet mall either.

Really, the only reason I'm mentioning this place is because we took some pictures of the flooding that they're experiencing.

This is the result of having to open the dams at Table Rock Lake, which then feeds into Lake Taneycomo...the latter is more like a river in a lot of areas, including where it runs beside Branson Landing.

Something tells me the White River Comedy Club may not be doing a lot of business?!?


That little sign over to the right says 'Slow - Speed Bump'...it's beside a sidewalk that usually runs along the side of the water.

Oh boy, I tried to break this up, but each post still got really long?!?! If you're still reading this, thanks for sticking with me...and, I hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip.

So, to wrap it up and keep it short and simple...it was great, and Curt and I would both recommend a visit to Branson for anyone!

Branson - The Shows

When we booked our trip, we knew there was a lot of live entertainment to see in Branson, but, we thought it was all country. I had heard that Branson was like a northern Nashville...or, a spot for people who don't make it in Nashville to go. We did some research online before we left, and did discover that there were other options, so we figured we would see one or two of those. But, we hadn't really decided on anything for sure.

I think there is something like 112 shows you can see while in Branson - how are you supposed to decide!?!? I mean, we could easily eliminate the old school country shows, but beyond that, it was a guessing game.

One of the activities our resort offered was a 'Celebration Dinner' - it was a $10 buffet dinner and preview show; they had about a dozen different people come in from the different shows, and they each performed a piece from their show. It was a great way to get a taste of our options - and it was on Monday, so it was early enough in the week that we were able to wait and decide on our shows after seeing the previews.

One show that we had read about, and was in the back of our minds was 'Noah - The Musical', and people we met at the resort recommended it, so we decided to make it our first show.

Curt and I during intermission. We went to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner before the show, so we decided to dress up a little and make it a nice night out.


Throughout the show, various live animals were used, which was really neat - there were 65 live animals used in the show, as well as 100 animatronic animals, and 6 'actor animated' animals. We were amazed at some of the animals they managed to train, namely goats and pot belly pigs - apparently they'll do anything for food!

And when the curtains go up for the second half of the show, the interior of the Ark is revealed - and it's going to sound crazy, but it actually feels like your inside the Ark! The stage at the front remains the main performing area, but either side is set up as various cage like areas where the various animals are kept. And, when the rain comes, Noah goes up to an elevated platform and opens a window, and you see the rain. Words can not do it justice!

Curt and I were both really glad that we chose Noah, and would recommend it to anyone!

And for fun...

Curt bought some cotton candy to enjoy during the second half...


The second show we chose was also recommended by some people at the resort, and a few locals, and it was called 'SIX'. This was a music/comedy show put on by six brothers; I would say that they're an a cappella group, but that makes me think of guys singing with no instruments, and you would think these guys had a full band, except all of their instrument sounds come from their mouths. It was crazy really - one brother provided the drum beats, another brother did electric guitar sounds, you get the point...and they were all GREAT singers. I seriously had to remind myself throughout the show that there wasn't a band.

One of my favourite parts of the show was when one of the guys broke into Lady Gaga...I don't know why I found it so funny, but I laughed hysterically! Best part, I was probably the only one laughing...most of the people at the show (or in Branson in general) were too old to even know the song he was singing, and that it was by Lady Gaga...I think that made it even funnier to me! (note: that's probably another reason I liked Branson, I was always on the younger side of the population!)

One of the brothers also spent a bit of time down in the audience, interacting with a couple sitting up front - he was joking around with the husband, and giving him a bit of a hard time, which was funny in itself...but, Curt and I were more amused by watching the other brothers up on stage; you could tell it was all obviously being made up as he went, because some of the other brothers were laughing so hard they were crying, and they kept having to turn around and take a deep breath in order to keep singing!

I don't want to go on and on about the shows, because explaining them in words is obviously boring compared to seeing them live! But know that if you go to Branson, and see a show, you are going to see some very talented people! And you won't be disappointed!

Branson - The Golf

Despite the fact that this trip started out as a golf trip, we actually ended up playing only two rounds of golf.

Our first round was at a course called Branson Creek Golf Club. This is a Troon Golf Course (think Clublink), and we had played a Troon Course in Florida a few years ago, and it was incredible. So, when we arrived at Branson Creek and discovered that the Pro Shop was in a trailer, and cart storage was under a tent, we were a little disappointed. It wouldn't have been so bad if it were temporary, but the deck built by the Pro Shop had obviously been around for awhile!

The course wasn't as disappointing, but wasn't as good as we had hoped for, either.

Curt and I at a picturesque spot on the course.


Another picturesque spot - and a difficult tee shot for Curt.


I know I'm probably a loser, but I really liked all the natural waterfalls...small and large. It had rained a lot in the days before we got to Branson, and because the area is so rocky, the water doesn't absorb into the ground, instead, it flows wherever gravity takes it.


This hole reminded us of Glen Abbey Golf Course - the bridge on the left is just like the one you see on the 13th and 14th holes, down in the valley.


All the holes on this course were named, this hole was appropriately named 'The Cave'.


Overall, we really enjoyed our round at Branson Creek. It was a beautiful day - the sun was out and it was nice and warm. And, although we usually enjoy getting to play with new people while we're away, it was nice to get to play as a twosome for a change!

Our second round was at John Daly's Murder Rock Golf & Country Club. The best part about this round was that it was free - we went on another time share tour, and as a gift we received two free green fees, beats paying $90 each! And, the time share tour was short (they knew we were already owners) and on a rainy morning, so we wouldn't have been doing much during that time anyway.

Unlike Branson Creek, Murder Rock had a beautiful Clubhouse! That's it, way up in the hills, the views were gorgeous!


Me and my fascination with the water again - here, they put the cart path right through a creek!


I wasn't enjoying this round as much as the one at Branson Creek, so I didn't take as many pictures. I wasn't enjoying it because I felt like I wasn't playing well, so I was surprised when I totaled my score and realized I was 9 shots better then Branson Creek!?!?

We had planned on playing a third round at Payne Stewart Golf Club - we were busy enough with other stuff though, so we decided to save that for next time.

Branson - Getting There & The Resort

Why Branson, you ask? A few reasons I guess...we had heard it was a good golf spot...knew it had some live entertainment/shows...we found a great resort to stay at...and to us, it was within driving distance (granted, an 18 hour drive may not qualify for everyone!).

Our drive down went really well. We left on Friday night, spent the night in Acton, and then got up bright and early on Saturday morning to hit the road. Our trip down took us through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (briefly) and then into Missouri. The whole drive went really well; Curt and I took turns driving, and because we took the Jeep we had room to set up a little bed in the back, so when we weren't driving, we could get a good rest.

Here's Curt sleeping on the way down. As you can see, we put all the luggage and golf clubs on one side, and then we had a futon mattress doubled up on the other side, and that's where we slept. It was great!

I know people are going to think we're crazy when they see this - and, I agree, I was really against the idea at first, too. I know it's not safe, but now that we've lived to tell about it, no one can really say anything.

Arriving in Missouri - crossing the Mississippi River and seeing the Gateway Arch, all at the same time!

We stayed at Willow Ridge Lodge, a Marriott Vacation Club, and it was A-MAZING!

From the Main Lobby, looking down to the pool area.

From our building, looking down to the pool area.

We decided to take it easy on our first day in Branson - after breakfast and grocery shopping, we just hung around the pool for a few hours.

Curt and I enjoying the pool area! Or, Curt and I getting a sunburn. Ooops! And, OUCH!

And now for a funny story from our first morning...we got up around 8:30am but we weren't really in a rush to get anywhere or do anything, so we took our time getting showered and ready. Around 10:30am we went up to the main lobby to get some coffee; on our way, we noticed that the pool wasn't open, and thought that was weird because we were pretty sure that it was supposed to open at 10am...we figured we better double check that when we got to the lobby. As we continued walking, I realized our stupidity...we were in a different time zone, there was a one hour time difference, and we hadn't even realized! You'd think our first clue would have been the two clocks in our room...but no, I just commented that they were wrong and went about changing them the night before! Once we clued in, I couldn't believe that I had gotten up at 7:30am on my first day of vacation! I'd like to think that I'm pretty well traveled, but this little story kinda says the opposite, doesn't it?!?!

Just as I figured, this is getting long...so, I'm going to stop for now, and I'll try to think of a fun way to break up the posts about our trip.