Branson Day 4

This day started off bright and early, as we had to be at our timeshare meeting at 8:30 a.m. and it was about half an hour away from our resort at a different resort. We were told it would be about 2 hours but it ended up being 3 hours. I have heard all sorts of horror stories about timeshare presentations and the high pressure sales but I was quite relieved our's didn't turn into a horror story. The guy we had was a super laidback, chill, odd early 40's guy who told us a lot of weird personal stories and wasn't at all what I expected. After discussing vacations, their points system, watching a short video about vacations being a "need," and touring one of the condos at their resort, at the end we found out that they wanted us to buy 15,000 points, which was over $60,000 US and that would get us into the best resorts all around the world and would equal to one or two vacations/year. In addition, there are HOA (homeowners association) fees, which covers cleaning and maintenance which was another $1800 US/year. They did have cheaper options but I think it was still going to be over $10,000 US for 5000 points/year. When we told them that we spent $200 US for a week at our resort and that this was our 3rd time doing that, they stopped talking and said they could never beat that. They finally gave us our cheap tickets to the 2 shows we wanted to see and then it was off to our next activity. It was hot and sunny, so we spent the afternoon at Branson's waterpark (White Water).

These were the sights along the way

This didn't really make me want to eat pasta

The way the park was themed and the waterslides/lazy river/wave pool/kids play area reminded me of Seaworld's Aquatica, except this one was a bit smaller. Our last waterpark visit, Jared was burning up with fevers, so I was really glad he could enjoy this one!

Our first stop was the wave pool. I don't think Blake and Haley had ever been in one and the kids didn't want to leave!

This was Blake going down the slide at the smaller kids area.

This was the big kids area. The kids were a little bit more hesitant because of the huge dumping of water every so often.

There was a lazy river but I didn't get pictures of it. The kids spent a fair amount of time going around it. Next it was time for waterslides. I was super proud of Blake for going down them by himself. He dislikes covered slides because then you're in the dark but he conquered his fear! They also had a great slide that 3 or 4 of us could go on at the same time in a big raft.

The curved slides on the left were the kind where you go down on your stomach while lying on a mat. Blake is usually very cautious when it comes to heights and "new rides" but he went down these multiple times beside me and the girls! I was probably more scared than the kids!

Jared tried both speed slides while I happily watched and decided not to try them. He was scared, too, but he did it!

I saw this as we were leaving the park.

Since I come from the flat prairies, I really liked that Branson is hilly!

We had supper at Pizza World, which was a sub par pizza buffet. There was one close to the waterpark and one close to our resort, so we decided to drive 20 minutes and go to the one by our resort. When we got there, we found out that only the location by the waterpark was a buffet, so then we drove back to that one, which was a bit frustrating to do all of that driving around. I liked that the restaurant had Christian music playing but the food wasn't great and for a while, we were the only people in the restaurant. After a rushed supper, my Mom and I went to see Moses. The tickets were expensive, so we decided before our trip when we were ordering tickets that just I would go and Jared would stay at the resort with the kids.

This was the outside of the building, which I thought was impressive.

This was what you saw when you first walked in.

The ceiling above it which I thought was beautiful.

This was inside the theatre. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures during the performance but it was the most incredible play I have ever seen! The singing was AMAZING, the sets were all handmade and incredibly detailed, the lights and the sound were fantastic and I was just blown away by the whole thing! That evening was definitely a highlight! The play ended with Moses receiving the 10 Commandments, which were impossible to keep, and then they showed Jesus, the perfect one who kept them all and made a way for us. The gospel message was so clear and I wanted to cheer and cry at the same time. There was a resounding standing ovation at the end. If you ever end up in the Branson area, go see the play at the Sights and Sounds Theatre!

When we arrived back at the condo, it was late and Blake was fast asleep on the couch, so I had to take a picture of him.

It was a very full day but aside from the too long timeshare presentation, it was a really good day!

Branson Day 3

When we went to Branson, we decided to buy a pass that got us 3 days at Branson's theme park (Silver Dollar City) and/or Branson's waterpark (White Water waterpark). Both were A LOT of fun! We ended up going to Silver Dollar City twice and White Water waterpark once.

I really enjoyed how the whole theme park was styled in an old western/rustic theme.

They had little signs throughout the park, most of them about family.

There were also beautiful flowers, plants and trees everywhere

They had a fantastic combination of kid rides, big roller coasters and everything in between. I think they had about 30 rides in total, plus a train ride through the park, a splash pad, an indoor firehouse play place and a cave.

It was a little bit cool and cloudy on the first day that we were there, so we saved the water rides for our 2nd day at the park.

Jared went on this barnyard swing that swings up 7 stories and goes 45 mph. I chickened out.

There was an area with picnic tables where we shared some Dippin' Dots and we took turns sitting in this huge chair.

This was the building where they had a really neat indoor play area.

This was inside the play area. The kids shot these balls around everywhere and would have stayed in there much longer than the half hour we were in there for. The park was closing at 6:00, so we had to go.

It was a beautiful, very fun theme park and we all really enjoyed our time there!

Branson Day 2

So, over 6 months later, I am finally taking time to continue blogging about our trip in August. I've spent the past month uploading our photos to Google Photos and so far I have uploaded 5 years worth and have another 5 years to go. So, we drove through the night to get to Branson and spent the first day and a half just relaxing and doing a bit of exploring. Our first supper in Branson, we chose Cracker Barrel which is always fantastic! I had meatloaf, chicken and dumplings, ham, mac and cheese, sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, fried apples, a cornbread muffin and a warm biscuit with jam. It was a feast in my mouth! During our second day there (Sunday, August 14), we went swimming during the day and I read my Karen Kingsbury book on the deck. We went to pick up the tickets for the Moses show that my Mom and I had decided to go to. We ended up at a place that sold tickets for a whole bunch of other shows at 75% off, which we were really excited about, but then found out that we would have to go to a timeshare presentation to get them. We had heard horror stories about timeshare presentations but decided that we really wanted to see these 2 other shows and we didn't have a lot of extra cash to spend, so we decided to go for it. That story I will continue another day. I picked Mel's Hard Luck Diner to go to for supper, which ended up being my absolute favorite restaurant in Branson! It is a 50's diner where the waiters and waitresses sing. SO fun!! They were quite talented, too. Their albums were available for purchase in their gift shop and they were displayed on each table so we could request a song if we wanted to.

This was outside the restaurant. There was a gift shop and a pretty courtyard area.

The burgers were massive and we asked for 3 kid-size pop drinks with their meals and soon regretted that. They were HUMONGOUS!

I enjoyed the decor.

I saw on one of our waitress' albums that she sings "Let It Go." I was secretly hoping, for Haley's sake, that someone would request that song but I was too embarrassed to request it myself. Sure enough, someone did, and Haley was thrilled! She came and sung to her which was super cute!

I liked the jukebox, too.

Branson has been nicknamed "Little Nashville" as there are so many music shows, a lot of which are country music. I've never been to Vegas, but part of it reminded me of it in that there is definitely a "strip" where there are many attractions and bright lights, although much more family friendly. Branson is in the Bible belt of the States, which I think is wonderful! I heard one of the waitresses talking with a customer about which church she goes to and how they knew mutual people and that was neat.

I like how their water tower is lit up at night.

That's a sneak peek of Branson! Hopefully I'll post again before it's another 6 months!

The Battle of Offense

I woke up at 5:45 a.m. this morning, which was an hour before my alarm was going to go off. Not my favorite time to wake up but I had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my mind and it gave me time to pray. Since we lost a year and a half of our photos when our computer died, I have been busy uploading all of the rest of our photos to Google Photos instead of blogging. This morning, I had it on my heart to blog something more personal. Right now, our community group (Bible study) is going through "The Bait of Satan" by John Bevere. I have done this study quite a few years ago but it is still just as relevant today as it was then. It is all about the sin of offense. Last night's session was about being offended at leaders. As I watch what is going on in the world around me, the many different opinions on social media and how people view the prime minister and the president, I thought this session was extremely challenging and thought-provoking. He talked about the story of Saul and David in the Bible. God appointed Saul as king and David was appointed his armor-bearer, married Saul's daughter, ate at the king's table and had favor with Saul's sons. Fast forward to after a battle when people sung, "Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands." Saul became bitter and turned on David, his son-in-law. For 14 years, (David was ages 16-30), Saul and his army of 3000 men pursued David in the wilderness. On more than one occasion, David had the opportunity to kill Saul but chose not to. When Abishai was about to kill Saul, who was in a deep sleep, David said, "Don't destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless?" David was very aware of the fact that it is God who appoints leaders and he trusted God to remove Saul in His timing. Saul was a terrible leader who even had 85 of the Lord's priests killed. David had every opportunity to be angry, bitter and full of revenge but he held no offense in his heart toward Saul. Amazing! When Saul died, he even wrote a love song (a psalm) about Saul and taught it to the people. Now I think of today's current leaders. How do I react to the decisions they make? Am I quick to point fingers all over social media or in the quiet places of my heart that people don't see? Is my first reaction to judge them or to run to the Lord and pray? Have I ever sat in the seat of the prime minister or the president, having to make decisions that will affect an entire nation while millions of people watch and wait to pounce on me for every thing they don't agree with? No. I am guilty of judging instead of praying and of harboring offense instead of forgiving. Do I forgive their mistakes as the Lord has forgiven all of mine? Good leaders nurture and bad leaders refine. My character will either grow stronger or bitter. Those are my options. So my challenge for all of us and especially me is to extend grace and to pray. To trust that God is moving even when I don't see it and to pray. To forgive and to pray. To continually place our leaders in God's hands. I don't want my heart to be clouded with judgments. Lord, help me to honor and respect those in authority and to trust that you are in control.