Branson!

We took a super short trip out to Branson, just to get our feet wet as to what it has to offer, and had a terrific time!  We drove out Friday afternoon, after Jeremy got off work.  We got into Branson just in time to check in to our hotel, leave the kiddos with Grandma and Grandpa and get to our show!  Jeremy and I went on a date to see SIX- which we loved!  We are both fans of accapella music, so this show was just the ticket for us :)

The next day we had scheduled to see 2 more shows, but as a group.  The first one wasn't until 3:30, so we took the morning to explore a little bit of Downtown Branson.  So much to see!  And so many cool little shops :)

We took the kids to Dick's 5 and 10 store- one that had been in town for over 100 years!  They had all the toys that I grew up with and tons from even decades earlier, as well as all the old-school candies, etc.  The kids enjoyed the hats and masks :)

Nathan picked a rubber-band powered airplane and a gun for prizes, and Hannah wanted "treats", so she picked some candies :)

Exploring the 5 and 10 was a lot of work, so while we walked to our next stop, the kiddos rode in Johnny's stroller! 

Branson Landing had a car show going on, where I saw my first car that had the engine in the trunk and the spare tire and cargo space under the hood!  It made me wonder at what point the idea surfaced to switch it up :)

They also have a fountain there that was made by the same people who made the Bellagio fountain in Vegas.  It was quite a good show, with water and fire to music :)

The kids enjoyed watching the boats on the lake behind the fountain while waiting for the show to start.

Dad even found one parked they could look at up close!

The flower beds were so gorgeous I couldn't help but get a photo by them, so here's the kiddos with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here are some of the pictures of Jeremy and the kids watching the fountain show:

(they just don't do it justice, but are better than nothing!)

Our 3:30 show was called Joseph, and was about Joseph in Egypt (but was not the Joseph and the Technicolored Dream Coat play).  It was AMAZING!  They had an enormous theater, and this was the waterfall right outside the front door- so cool.

Just inside, they had a giant depiction of Goliath, that the kids were pretty impressed with :)

The show had live camels, sheep, an ox, plus Joseph flew out over the audience.... very well done play, music, everything!  

After that we headed to our 3rd and last performance for the 2 days we were there- which was the Hughes Brothers.  They, as always, did an AMAZING job!  Nathan was super impressed with a particular Spanish guitar number where the kid went nuts with a medley- was laughing and enjoying himself immensely :)  We drove home late after that show and had Sunday at home to rest up before another week!  All in all, we decided that there is so much to see in Branson that no amount of time would be enough to see or do it all, but it certainly merits a return trip at least once!