A Week of Field Trip Heaven

We spent last week on a family trip. Even though it was Thanksgiving, it totally felt like Christmas! We drove 8-9 hours to visit Kimberly, Missouri......and Branson. It was so relaxing and just plain fun. We visited the Discovery Center in Springfield, MO one day....lots of pictures. Three days were spent at Silver Dollar City which was adorned with over 4 million twinkling, dancing lights and filled with holiday cheer. Silver Dollar City also has a cave tour, Marvel Cave. That was physically challenging but it was fun. And we spent some time swimming in the indoor pool at the condo we stayed at, played lots of games, and went down to the local bowling alley for some more fun. We discovered a one lane, wooden bridge that stretched over a wide lake in Arkansas. Yes, I took pictures. lol The whole week was so refreshing. I hope you enjoy our pictures and please stop by the Field Trip Blog Hop to see what others have been up to. 

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It was cold, in the low 40's the entire week. The first night we stayed in a one room cabin. We liked it but it was expensive and didn't have a full kitchen which was important to us being that we were going to be there for a week and we didn't want to eat out for every meal. Isn't it cute though?

 

After that, we found a condo with a very close balcony view of Table Rock Lake. Just lovely! We mainly went to Branson for Silver Dollar City. It was beautiful! They also had many Christmas shows and of course, lots of rides for our son. I think I will just shower this page with lots of pictures. Some pictures didn't turn out so great because it was night time and our camera wasn't cooperating. Go figure! 

We had a blast! Marvel Cave was physically challenging. You had to go down steep stairs that equaled a 50 story building. When we reached the bottom my legs were trembling. We went through the rest of the cave, going up and down steep passages. Then at the end, we had to climb 10 stories worth of steep stairs. It was hard but we did it! We were a huffin' and a puffin'! So worth it though!

Now for the pictures:

Down time in the condo.

We went to the Springfield, MO Discover Center. This was a lot of fun for all of us.

Bouncy bridge! I tried this, too, and it was very bouncy and fun.

Tops table!

234 cans! Wow!

Pull yourself close to the poll and it would go super fast. This thing nearly made me sick! Of course, you don't see a picture of me doing it. lol

About to go flying! Look at his face.

He has his hands on a static machine. You can't see it but the guy's hand is making his hair go up and down. It was funny as you can see us laughing.

Then it was my turn. Can you see my hair standing up? It was pulled up in a pony tail. We decided to let my hair down to see what would happen. See the next pictures.

Yes, my hair goes down to my butt. These pictures just don't do justice to what that static machine was doing to my hair. It was everywhere. It's hard to see it all.

Yes, I know, I look like a mop head but my hair had just come down out of a pony tail and I was hooked to a static machine. lol

Talk about a bad hair day!

I think this was called a pixel board. We had fun with it.

This is a drinking fountain...made to make you squirm a little. They did it to play with your mind. Did we drink from it? No way! I just couldn't! See my son scratching his head. He was thinking about it and he even said he would drink from it BUT I said, "NO WAY!!!" Protective Mommy coming out! Ha! Would you let your child drink from this? Just curious! It even had a dirty ring around the inside of the toilet. Was it really dirty? I don't know! No need in finding out!

A real human brain.

Inside the eyeball.

This was one of my favorite things. I just love bubbles, especially when they're this huge!

Can you believe this?

He's being eaten! lol'

Then we got to pretend we were doing a news caption. This was fun too.

He looks really serious here! Something big must have happened! lol

He was 3 stories in the air. It took awhile for him to conquer his fear but he did it! I'm so proud! Look at his face.

Now look at his face...he's calm and having fun!

Josh on a balance board that we could never get to balance. Oh yes, we all tried it.

This "hamster" wheel actually created electricity as you walked in it. Very cool!

Silver Dollar City

I want to mention, too, that Silver Dollar City is a Christian run business. Over and over again, they told the story of Jesus...during the Christmas tree lightening, during a magic show, in the live Nativity play, in there music played throughout the park and also during their parade of lights. If you are anywhere close to a Silver Dollar City, it is so worth taking the time out to go. Also, it is mostly run by older folks which have wonderful, cheerful attitudes and seem to love their jobs. They keep the park super clean, too. Most days, there's not much of a line for rides. Of course, we usually go during the year when most kids are in public school. That seems to make a huge difference. Over Thanksgiving week, it was a little more busy the day before Thanksgiving and then the day of. But on Black Friday, it was so chaotic and almost dangerous. The crowds were so dense and filled with lots of impatient people. We even saw 2 married couples in a push and shove match. It got ugly and the police were called. Not to mention the fact that that day, the lines for rides and shows were like an hour long. Not fun! We decided that even though the park is beautiful and filled with fun, Thanksgiving week is not the time to go there.....maybe the week after when everyone else is back at work and school. Anyways, on with the pictures: 

 

Glass blowing

Holiday spirit? Ha! Don't ask...lol

Just beautiful! This was a huge display ... look at its reflection in the water. My son and I sing this song that says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!" Every time I see this picture, that song plays over and over again in my head. I just love it!

 

Look! Santa Claus!

 

Okay...this was the only ride I rode. I'm not a ride kind of person. I hate the way it makes me feel. This was fun though!

This is one of the many rides they rode together.

Isn't this just the sweetest thing? My baby!

Major huggins!

Gettin' some lovins! Our 8 year old took this picture. Can you believe that we don't gross him out? lol

He's having his hand made into a wax statue. This was really cool. I'll have to take a picture of the final art piece.

See my guys on there. You don't see me on there! Are you crazy? lol This ride had 5 loops in it. Acckkkk!

Silver Dollar City: Marvel Cave

This was the beginning of our cave tour. See the picture behind her. This was were we would be traveling by foot.

In the cave now.

Going down steep stairs that equaled a 50 story building.

Back to the rides:

Bouncy bridge!

They had a live Nativity play. This was after the play was over.

On our way home, we took some back roads through Arkansas. This is Beaver, AR. This is a really long, one lane wooden bridge. You don't see this every day.

That's it for now. I hope all of you are doing well and I hope I didn't bore you to death with all these pictures.