Retirement……LOVE IT!

Early in June our family got together for a short vacation in Branson, Missouri.  To see Part 1 of Summer Fun click here.

After such a wonderful day at Silver Dollar City, how could Saturday top that?  Well, it did.  We played in the morning, went to my nephew’s wedding in the afternoon at Nixa, MO, ate supper with some family, and returned to Branson to play putt-putt golf that evening.

Saturday morning we all slept in except for the little ones.  They are early-risers…..every. single. day (their poor mom!).  Saturday morning Jade wanted to go shopping and spend some of her birthday money, so her mom took her.   Our youngest son decided to take the two little ones to ride go-carts and bumper boats, so my hubby and I tagged along.  It was a nice, cool morning and lots of fun.

Jackson and Kylee ready to get this race started!

All a board!

Then Mike wanted to take the kids on the “big” go-carts, however, they HAD to ride with a grown-up.  When asked who they wanted to ride with, Jackson immediately requested, “Daddy!”  When Kylee was asked who she wanted to ride with her, she looked at Papa and said, “I love you Papa, but I want Nana to ride with me.”  LOL!  😀  I told my husband, “Sorry,” but inside I was doing the Happy Dance and saying, “Oh, YES!!”  Therefore, the husband took some videos, but since I haven’t learned how to upload videos to Word Press yet, I just took some “snap shots” from the videos.

Mike & Jax (foreground) were in front of Kylee and I (background).

Kylee and I never caught up with Mike and Jax, but the kids had a blast (“big” kids included)!

After lunch in the condo, we got ready to travel north of Branson to Nixa, MO, for our nephew’s wedding.  It was such a sweet ceremony and a beautiful outside reception.  The weather was gorgeous, and the reception area was decorated in a shabby-chic setting befitting a magazine layout.

The kids and grand kids enjoying the outside reception.

The parents of the groom (Jack’s sister, Carol, and Delano).

This setup provided fun photo ops for guests to enjoy.

Jack’s brother’s daughter, Carin, and her daughter, Olivia, enjoying a delicious cupcake.

My husband with his mom, Lil.

Our oldest son, Jeff, with grandma. As you can see, the outdoor country setting was beautiful.

For more information about my nephew’s wedding (and more pictures), you can visit my sister-in-law’s awesome blog here.

After the wedding we went into the town of Nixa and ate dinner while enjoying some more time with family.  Jack’s mom couldn’t resist showing off her St. Louis Cardinals World Series ring  that she managed to have sent to her.  If you want the FULL story (you WON’T believe it!) on that ring, you’ll have to ask my husband next time you see him!

When we returned to Branson, we decided to play putt-putt golf (how can you go to Branson without playing putt-putt?!).  We had fun but didn’t get pictures (DUH!).  Jeff did snap this pic of us at the top of the “Volcano” hole.

Jennifer, Mike, and I tied for first place.  A decision was made that the person with the most holes in one would be the winner — ME!!!  I had THREE (YES! I said THREE) holes in one!   Did I forget to mention that I made that decision?  After we finished playing putt-putt, we checked in our clubs and told the guy about our 3-way tie and my being declared the winner because of my 3 holes in one.  He asked on what holes we got our holes in one, and we told him.  That evening if you got a hole in one on #8, you got a free game.  Guess who got a hole in one on #8?  YEP, me again!   I knew we wouldn’t be back to play before the coupon expired, so I passed the coupon on to a very surprised young man waiting in line to purchase his tickets.  I told him he had to “pay it forward” if he got a hole in one on #8.  I wonder if he got that hole in one?

Sunday was a “lazy” day. Our oldest had to fly out mid-afternoon from Branson Airport, LLC, southeast of downtown Branson outside of Hollister, MO.  This is an unusual commercial airport because it  is privately owned.  If your interested in learning more about it, click here.

Aerial view of Branson Airport, LLC, snuggled among the beautiful Ozark Mountains (Picture from Wikipedia).

Mike and his family wanted to go to the water park, which is an “all day” outing, and we knew we had to get Jeff to the airport by 2 p.m.  We told Mike and Jennifer to take the kids to the water park, and we would meet them for supper.  We spent some relaxing time with Jeff at Branson Landing in downtown Branson where we ate lunch outside by the river.

We texted this picture to Mike to make him jealous – he LOVES Joe’s Crab Shack! I know, we’re awful parents! lol 🙂

The drive to the airport is beautiful.  On the way there, we had a little extra time, so we stopped at a country club house which had a view worthy of a camera much, much better than the camera on my iPhone.

Meanwhile, Mike, Jennifer, and the grand kids had tons of fun at the water park (wish I had more pictures of this).

We went back down to Branson Landing with Mike’s family for supper and the evening.  We ate pizza, shopped a little (did I forget to tell you there’s an outside mall at Branson Landing?), and watched the fountain show at dusk.

Waiting for the fountain show and watching some ducks at the outside mall.

When grand kids get bored waiting, they resort to silliness.

After the fountain show we left Branson Landing and went to Dick’s Oldtime Five and Dime store.  This store has been in business since 1961, and it is the MOST UNIQUE five and dime store I have ever seen.  They have merchandise I haven’t seen since I was a kid.   If you want to learn more, you can go to their Facebook page by clicking here.  Photos are from their Facebook page.

Oh, yes, and they DO buy American whenever possible.

The evening was delightful.  We headed back to the condo to pack up and get ready to go home in the morning.   😦

The only good thing about leaving was the GRAND KIDS WERE COMING HOME WITH US!!  Be prepared for Summer Fun: June – Part 3 coming soon.