a blast in Branson

Neal and I have gone to Branson in the past a few times. We have always had a good time but I think it is going to become a more regular place to visit now that we will have kiddos to enjoy it with. There are so many fun things to do with kids. It is funny the things that we notice, now that we have a baby to enjoy things with, that we never noticed before. In the past we might see a show, do some eating and do a lot of outlet shopping.

Shopping definitely had to be done in short shifts on this trip. Reese can only stand so much and luckily they have a ride on toy about every hundred yards at the outlet mall. We got lots of cute clothes for the girls and my favorite would be the matching pink skeleton pj’s for Halloween. We did the outlet mall in two short rounds and did a little shopping at the Landing.

We headed to Branson Thursday late afternoon. We did the Landing the first night just as we got into town. We ate at White River Fish House which is Bass Pro Shops restaurant. It is on the lake and has lots of interesting things hanging from the walls to keep Reese’s interest including boats and moose heads. After dinner we walked through Bass Pro Shop, which Reese thought was the most amazing place she had ever been, and we then did just a little shopping.

Friday morning we cooked breakfast at the condo and then headed to do a little shopping at the outlet mall and then off to the indoor/outdoor water park. The park was fun but the inside part was kept at around 75 degrees and the water felt as if it was 40 degrees. So, it. Was. So. Cold! Reese was pretty uninterested in the water due to the temperature. She had a blast in the outdoor portion though. I wish I had gotten more pictures of her playing in the water but I was busy playing with her. It took less than a minute for her to fall asleep in the car on the way back to the condo. While Reese slept Neal and I made BLT’s with some tomatoes that we picked up from a roadside stand on our way into town…they were really good. When Reese woke up we fed her lunch and took her swimming in the condo pool. There wasn’t a whole lot to the pool but she had about as much fun in this pool as she did at the water park. We then went up and took a bath and go ready to head out to dinner.

On our way to dinner we did another hour and a half or so at the outlet mall. We then ate at a steakhouse. Reese was much more interested in eating ketchup by the handful then she was about eating anything else. She is turning into a finicky eater and it breaks my heart. I miss my baby that eats anything and everything set in front of her.

Saturday Neal made pancakes and sausage and after eating we headed out to the golf course for Reese’s first lessons. We stayed on the Payne Stewart golf course in the condos. We stayed in the Villas last October with some friends and their babies and I don’t know if we will be able to stay anywhere else. The location is great and the amenities are wonderful. Back to the golf lessons, this was the highlight of the trip for Neal and I have to say that Reese and I really had a great time as well. He taught her how to hold her plastic clubs correctly and they hit the ball quite a few times. I cannot say that she can do this on her own but practice cannot hurt and I bet in a year’s time she will be quite the golfer for her age. We then took a long walk to the club house and took some photos on the first hole, it is really a beautiful course. We headed back for Reese to get a nap in and then packed the car and headed home. We had a great trip and look forward to many trips to come as a family of 4!

a fun trip to Houston

Last weekend Reese and I got a chance to go to Houston for the weekend. I had a great time hanging out with my family and spending time with Reese. Although, Reese did not feel especially well. She had begun breathing funny and kind of wheezing and coughing the Tuesday morning before we left. Daycare called mid morning to let us know that she was having trouble breathing while her binky was in but it wasn’t worth it to her to take her binky out…silly girl. They said overall she had a good day just got very congested through the day. On Wednesday she was still sounding pretty bad so we decided to get her into the doctor before I took her to Houston. The doctor said that he thought it was just viral but that he was going to prescribe an antibiotic just in case. He prescribed Cefdiner (a penicillin), which she had been on once before. That night she began running a fever as well. We began the antibiotic on Thursday morning. By Saturday she was still running fever off and on so we were thinking that surely it was viral and not an infection since the antibiotic was not really helping out. When she woke up on Saturday she looked like this!!!

Only her face was affected. Our best guess is that she had a reaction to the penicillin. We stopped the antibiotic and started Benadryl. Being home with my 2 nurse parents during this ordeal really came in handy. Through the entire thing she acted a little bit clingy and a bit more fussy but she seemed to have a good weekend. When she woke up on Sunday morning it looked like nothing had ever happened…her face was completely clear.

Outside of Reese’s being sick we had so much fun being home. We ate lots of good food, had a big family get together, went swimming at a really fun pool, Reese did lots of swinging and did a little shopping for the new baby girl. I only wish we could get down there more often.