Mini Staycation Weekend

This past weekend Hubby & I split our time between home & a lovely rented home near Branson. Hubby's parents, who live in Michigan, and his half-sister and her family, who live in Minnesota, decided to come down for about a week and experience the wonderful are aof Branson. They rented a home for the time there and Hubby I were able to join them for most of the weekend.

We headed down Friday evening and had a nice dinner with the family. That's definitely a bonus of having a house...we could have a casual relaxing evening at the house and all be together. After dinner the kids had some fun with sparklers, snaps, & snakes that my mother-in-law had brought down.

Grace & Hunter writing their names with the sparklers...

And sassy Miss Sarah striking a pose!

Jackson was pretty captivated by the snakes growing on the rocks...

After the sparklers, we took a quick walk down to a small stream & bridge where the kids, young & old, decided to have a short spitting contest! Yes, we're from the Ozarks...and yes, we have spitting contests!

As you can see...Gavin was the winner!

When my SIL Lauren said it was time to head back to the house, her boys were less than thrilled! I love this shot of them all sulking back to the house...like mother like son.

Saturday our plans included renting a pontoon boat for several hours to have some fun at Table Rock Lake. It was super duper hot, so the only options were to keep moving or be in the water. It was the perfect day for the lake, and this momma got plenty of sun!

A view of the lake...near Chateau on the Lake.

Hubby & Hunter playing Captain & First Mate

Grace, Stacy & Sarah ready for a ride!

The water was perfecly refreshing and thankfully the lake wasn't really all that busy.

Then Uncle Nicky got in on some tub action with Gavin & Grace

I tried to get a good photo with Hunter...of course he was being a stinker! And yes, one noodle wasn't cutting it...it would keep me afloat but I had to work so hard! Two noodles definitely balanced me out a little better.

And then the little kiddos all hopped in the tube...Grace & Sarah were a little more experienced with the tube and at the slow speeds they were sitting up looking out!

And then crazy Uncle Nicky decided to ride the tube all the way back to the marina...unfortunately with a 24 ft pontoon, we couldn't go all that fast so there was no flipping going on for this tubing trip.

We spent Saturday evening hanging out at the house with burgers & homemade curly fries for dinner. Hubby & I headed home fairly quick after dinner so we could make it to church the next morning...and let's be honest, the fold-out couch we slept on was LESS than comfy! Springs in my side & back...no thanks!

Hubby & I headed to first service and then had been scheduled to work in the nursery...but apparently all the kiddos showed up to the first service because we had absolutely no kids! So...early departure for us! We had a quick lunch and then relaxed at home for a bit before heading down to spend some more time with Hubby's family. Due to work schedules, my father-in-law was only able to spend the weekend in Branson and we wanted to take advantage of the time with him. We hung out at the house and finished up the day with dinner at Cantina Laredo. It was a pretty fabulous weekend, and while I expected to be exhausted...the relaxation at the house was perfect!

Maybe there'll be more Branson Staycations in our future!