Parker family vacay

Last week, we went with most of my family (minus 1 brother, 1 brother-in-law, and 1 nephew) to Missouri. My cousin got married in Springfield, so we all decided to go up together and make a vacation out of it. We stayed in Branson for the week and every day was jam packed with fun activities!

We drove up on Saturday and Sunday, stopping in Oklahoma on Saturday night to visit with my grandparents. The girls did surprisingly well with the long car ride. Addie was fussy for about the last hour on Sunday, but other than that we really can't complain. We had a lot of fun getting to spend some time with Papa Joe and Jeanie :)

our hotel had a really fun playground!

On Monday (Memorial Day), it was only our family and my parents there so far, so we made the day all about Emily. We played putt putt in the morning (her first time) and then went to a fun spot for kids in the afternoon. There were kid carnival rides, go karts, bumper boats, etc. Emily was in heaven! She was just shy of the 36" she needed to be to ride everything, so Nana taught her how to subtly stand on her tiptoes when they measured her (shhh!). It worked like a charm! That evening, Fleming's family arrived and we all went out to eat at a fun diner where the waiters and waitresses take turns singing. They were really good! That night we put the girls down and Grant and I went with my dad to see an awesome illusionist show! So fun!

every time she made it in, she would skip around saying, "yee haw, ride 'em cowgirl!"

who is this girl? the emily from about a year ago would've never done anything like this by herself! Now, she's fearless!

she was playing shy ;)

Tuesday, we were supposed to spend the day on the lake, but there was a lot of rain in the forecast. We decided not to spend the money on the boat, but still risked it with zip lining. It ended up being great weather and we had so much fun zip lining! I'm not a super adventurous person, so it was never on my bucket list or anything, but I ended up having a blast and would definitely go again! That evening we went to the Dixie Stampede (my favorite part of Branson). It's a live dinner theater where they have amazing cowboy/girl racing and trick competitions, as well as dancing, more animals, and lumberjack competitions. We went 3 years ago, but had to take turns taking Emily out because she was too scared. This year she was entranced and asked me when she would get to be a cowgirl. Addie really enjoyed it too!

Emily loved waving the flag for the south ;)'

Wednesday, the family split up for various activities. My parents and Grandma went to a show, Stevie and Shianne took my older nieces to some fun museums, and those of us with young kids went to "ride the ducks." It's a bus tour around Branson, and then the bus goes into the water and becomes a boat. The kids even got to take turns driving the boat while we were on the water. The girls enjoyed it for the most part, but it was a little long, so they started to get bored. Our tour guide was hilarious, so that helped it stay interesting for us! Then Grant and I took the girls to steak and shake for lunch and we all met up to see a play about Moses. It was at a theater that does a new bible story each year and puts on really elaborate productions. It was a lot of fun, but we did have to take turns with Addie in the family room. At least we could still see the show from there!

these quacking toys conveniently got "lost" before we made it home

now that's the life!

Thursday was a more low key day. We went to another kids' fun spot with rides, and go karts. Emily was a champ at raising up onto her toes again so she could participate ;) After that, we went to get ice cream at Andy's and then just played and swam at our hotel. Some of us went to see a show that night. It was the Haygood family, 5 brothers and 1 sister. They all sang, danced, and played multiple musical instruments. We all loved it!

On Friday, we drove up to Springfield and spent the day helping our cousin, Brittany, set up for our wedding! And then on Saturday we got to enjoy the wedding! It was beautiful. My Uncle Barry (Brittany's grandpa) officiated and he did a great job! The girls had a lot of fun dancing at the reception. They thought the dance floor was their stage! Right after the reception, we drove back to Oklahoma to stop in with my grandparents again, and then drove the rest of the way Sunday! It was an awesome trip, but as always, it went by way too fast and I'm sad that it's over! Can't wait for our next family vacation!!

the kids were happy to help nana pick up the petals

Hudson is a ladies' man with that phone!