This year we decided to take our annual fall vacation in October, back in Branson, Missouri and enjoy the festive fun at Jellystone RV Resort. We went to Silver Dollar City, did a little shopping, and just hung out at camp. We participated in the pumpkin patch, chili cookoff, site decorating, costume contest, and trick or treating, too! Needless to say, we had a great vacation!
Nothing like PB&J when you're camping!
My little army men ready to trick or treat
Daddy and the boys hanging out playing
Cooper & Dennis riding a boat ride at Silver Dollar City
Cooper was fascinated in all the things people were making at SDC
Dennis had to work two weeks in Lawton and didn't get to come home the weekend, so the boys and I made a road trip there to visit. It turned out that an area of Oklahoma that I'd only passed through a time or two was actually pretty amazing! We stayed at the camper with Dennis (who was very happy to see us) and went to the Chisolm Trail Heritage Museum in Duncan, had a picnic lunch with Dennis near his job in Lawton, then made a scenic drive through the Wichita Mts. Wildlife Refuge and to the visitor center there. We hated to come home so soon, but it;s time to get ready for Clayton's first birthday party!
Chisolm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Ok- "End of the Trail" marker for the "trail" in the concrete...way cool
View in the Wildlife Refuge
Longhorn cattle, buffalo, and prairie dogs were all spotted on our drive
Visitors Center at Wichita Mts. Wildlife Refuge
A cool wall sculpture/ mural in the visitor center
Well, we finally managed to take some time off in October and November and do a little camping! After the rough, long, hot summer, it was nice to take a break!! This was Clayton's very first camping season and our first time to experience Jellystone Park in Branson and it was so much fun!!
We made one trip for fall break then went back about a week later to stay a week. During fall break, they had trick or treating for the kids, Halloween site decorating contest, a chili cook-off and a hayride...all of which we participated in and had a blast!
Our second trip, we did Dixie Stampede Christmas show...priceless for Cooper! He actually ate (which if you know Cooper, is a HUGE deal!) and I have never seen him sit so still as he did watching that show...he loved it!! We also rode the Ducks to see some Christmas lights and of course, what is Branson without a little holiday shopping!? Oh, and don't forget about adding to the Christmas ornament collection! Needless to say, it's not even Thanksgiving and I am ready to put up my tree!!
Well, with the baby date approaching rather quickly (9 more weeks- right on track and doing good!!), we are trying to get a little bit of camping in while we have nice weather. So, we headed out to Tenkiller State Park and some friends met up with us that have two boys, one a little older and one a little younger than Cooper. We just camped the weekend and didn't do much of anything but a little scenic driving and watching the kids play, but they had a blast and it was a nice way to end our Spring Break. This week, it's back to running around....doctor appointments, speech, church stuff.....it's a lengthy list. It was nice to have a week "off", at least for me and Cooper, and to catch up on some much needed rest.
We had a great time camping over Father's Day weekend! We left out on Thursday for Branson, Missouri and came home Sunday afternoon. We actually stayed in the little town of Hollister, which was great, we were away from all the traffic, but just a few minutes from anything we wanted to do. We did a lot while we were there...We checked out the fish hatchery, got the inside tour of College of the Ozarks (aka Hard Work U) from Sydni (who we were glad to visit and cook for while we were there!), rode the Ducks, did a little shopping at Branson Landing, and rode the train. We had a great time!! We did have a little trouble on the the way home with a tire blow out and a very long wait at Wal-mart "Express" (yeah, right), but we finally made it home safe and sound. Wish Dennis would have had a better Father's Day, but we had a great weekend! Happy Father's Day to all dads and especially my dad and my dear husband!
We took a couple days off to go camping last Thursday and Friday and came home Saturday. We went to Robber's Cave State Park in Wilburton, which we had never been to before and we had a lot of fun taking it easy and checking out the scenery. Luckily, we decided to wait til Thursday morning to leave after we got some nasty storms Wednesday night. On Thursday, we checked out the park area, including making a trek to the cave and visiting the Nature Center. Friday, we took a little drive to Pocola, Oklahoma and picked our own strawberries at Wild Things Farm. We love camping together and making memories that will last forever!
Well, it's been quite a week! We haven't been gone a week straight, but it feels like it! Cooper and I went to Edmond for David and Grace's 3rd birthday party on Thursday, the 8th and came home Sunday. They all had so much fun playing and it was great ti visit with our friends! Happy Birthday, David and Grace!! I can't believe they're three!! We weren't sure if we were going to go anywhere, since Cooper was up Tuesday night really sick, but thankfully it was just a 24 hour stomach virus and he was great by Wednesday evening. We were home a few days and decided to go ahead and take a few days for a family trip starting Thursday. Guess who got Cooper's stomach bug on the way? That's right, that was the longest trip to Branson, EVER!! But, I was over it and back to myself Friday. Darian's kids were out of school, so they all went with Grandma Rains to Branson, and since we had the camper, we camped near and all went to Silver Dollar City together on Friday. Saturday, we headed to Roaring River, Missouri and camped Saturday and Sunday night. We had so much fun, just hanging out. It was kind of sad to come home, but then it's always nice to take a really hot shower without running out of hot water in 2 minutes and sleep in our beds!
Pops! in Arcadia is a really cool place to stop on Route 66- We took the long way home We took a long weekend for the fourth and hauled our fifth wheel camper to OKC to visit our friends there (Happy Birthday, Morgan!). We had so much fun and I think David and Grace really like playing with Cooper in the camper and at their house. They all had a blast together and all three were totally off schedule for the entire weekend, but they had so much fun. Needless to say, Cooper was ready for bed tonight! Here are a few pics I took with my camera, I'll probably have more to post later.
