Branson Vacation Day 1

As I mentioned in my last post, we went on vacation to Branson, MO with my parents and my sisters. This is the third year in a row we have done this. It is quite the treat!!! We arrived in Chicken Town Sunday evening and spent the night. Then Monday morning we all got around and headed to Branson. Luckily, it's only a 6 hour drive.

When we got there we inspected our condo. It was fabulous, as was the view from the balcony...

...but unfortunately housekeeping hadn't made it by yet. So we decided to go for a walk while they cleaned.

When you're moving in a group of 9, things happen a bit more slowly than usual. So we waited for our whole crew to assemble.

And off we went! We decided to head down to the club house and check out the pools. Seeing as how swimming was the single most looked forward to activity of the Babione children. I guess I should tell you that we stayed at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake. It is absolutely gorgeous. They have a Lazy River. The kids were ready to jump in with their clothes on! We waited for Grandpa to take care of some things. And Aunt AJ helped keep little ones entertained. Then she gave Popeye a piggy back ride on our way back to the condo. So Daddy gave Princess one. We literally went back, put on our swimsuits and headed right back to the club house again. I didn't take my camera to the pool once, though. So no swimming pics. =( We spent the evening swimming while TamTam and Grandpa went to the grocery store. They came home with lots of good things to eat, including hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner. Grandpa cooked them on the grill. (Big Cedar has outdoor grills for guests to use)

Then we went to bed happy. It was a wonderful first day of our vacation!

Bridget

Slap a Buffalo

Last Weekend, after our garage sale, we headed to Chicken Town because we were going on vacation to Branson, MO with my parents. Between A-Town and Chicken Town is a Wildlife Refuge. When we aren't under a time crunch we like to drive through it because it is very beautiful and you just might see some wildlife. Imagine that.

About half way through we spotted this guy all by his lonesome. He was very friendly and didn't mind at all that I was taking his picture.

This photo gives you a better idea of how far he was from us. I would estimate about 20 feet or so.

As we drove on we came upon a herd. Now, this wasn't our first time to make friends with a herd of buffalo. And since we know their friends I figured they wouldn't mind us taking their picture either.

And, of course, they didn't. But while I was snapping pictures of friends of our friends, Husband started yelling at me.

I didn't like it.

So to shut him up I looked at what he was freaking out about and, lo and behold...

...I started freaking out to.

Yes, people, that's a buffalo headed straight for that suv.

Now, the people in the suv aren't stupid. They've started inching their way forward out of the path of the buffalo.

And then it all started to become clear. The buffalo has no desire to lick the people in the suv. (cause, you know, buffalos LOVE licking people in suvs.)

He just needed some help...

...from the speed limit sign...

...to reach that spot...

...right behind his shoulder...

...that wouldn't stop itching.

Ahhhh. That's the spot.

But now his friends in the suv are leaving.

Sad.

And he didn't even get to lick them. =(

When we told our friend, Tobias, about being super duper ridiculously close to a buffalo, he said...

Hehe. Should've slapped him.

Right.

Because that's what everyone does when they get close to a huge, wild animal.

SLAP!

Bridget

Garage Sale and a Business Lesson

We had a garage sale a week ago. My friend, Quotesy, and I decided to teach our children a little business lesson while we were at it.

All of our children come to us every now and then with money-making ideas. The problem with their ideas is that they always involve some sort of up front costs. And the problem with that is that our children are clueless about this and think that things just drop out of the sky.

So we, in our parenting wisdom, offered to let our children have a drink stand at said garage sale. They, of course, agreed immediately.

We then told them that they would have to purchase all needed items, including ice and posterboard, themselves. They, still, agreed immediately.

Each child ended up contributing a little over six dollars. Luckily, they made enough for each child to recoup six dollars. We were not at all worried about this. The lesson we wanted to teach wasn't how to make lots of money. We wanted our children to start to understand that it's not easy to make money. Many times we put in alot of effort and receive little in return.

And that's ok.

They also learned about buying something and selling it for a profit, advertising, working harder when things aren't going smoothly (they actually took the drinks door to door after the garage sale) and how hard Dad must work to provide for us.

We were pleased with their effort.

And their willingness to learn.


Bridget

Flying on a Jet Plane (or something like that)

So, last weekend, Husband and I took a little vaca with some friends to go visit some more friends. It was fabulous and wonderful and glorious. (Husband with our friends. I was actually across the isle with a total stranger. Luckily, she was small and slept the whole way.)

I haven't been on a plane in 10 yrs.

I was a little nervous.

But all is well and I am now home with my crazies. (Bear is watching me type this. I first typed 'babies' instead of 'crazies' but he said that 'babies' embarrased him. 'Crazies' was much better.)

=)

Bridget

On the Road Again

In honor of my husband and my friend, Quotesy, you really should sing the title of this song in your best Willy Nelson voice.

Seriously.

And the reason I chose that song for the title of this post is because, as you are reading this, Husband and I are traveling home from a weekend away.

I will fill you in on it when I am home.

And rested.

Which, honestly, might not be until next year sometime.

=)

Bridget

Rematch

Notice all the skip-bos in the last photo. We had those in our deck, not our hand! (If you know anything about skip-bo then that will make sense. If not, sorry.)

Wives lead 11 games to 6 games!

WOO-HOO!

Bridget

Girl in Green

Sometimes she's in the mood for my camera... ...so I snap away!

Bridget