Travel Day + Branson, Day 1

I was so anxious leading up to this trip. Especially about the plane rides - we had two scheduled out to Springfield, Missouri. The first was about 90 minutes from Phoenix to Denver, then about 2 1/2 hours of layover, then another 90 minutes from Denver to Springfield. Then, a 50 mile drive to Branson. Oh, I was so worried, mostly about Jeremiah being one of 'those babies' who screamed the whole time on the plane and made everyone around us give us dirty looks. I couldn't have been more wrong!


J's first plane ride! He was getting over a cold - you can tell he wasn't 100%.


J slept nearly the whole flight from Phoenix to Denver. I'm sure the gentleman in the aisle seat appreciated that - in fact, when we landed, he said: "I'm pretty sure none of my children EVER did that." Once in Denver, we met up with Dan, Karen, Alec and Krystal, who we'd be vacationing with. As pure coincidence, we were on the same flight from Denver to Springfield and they were all sitting in front of us. We ate lunch and while J did not sleep on the way to Springfield, he was happy. I didn't even have to bust out the candy or other 'emergency' tricks I had packed!

Branson - Day 1
I know what you may be thinking - Branson??? Isn't that a little cheesy? I have to say that it isn't - we didn't go to any shows, but it sure is beautiful. Lots of grass, trees, flowers and bugs, it's very different than the desert.

Morning cuddles...


Where J slept! (he adjusted to it so well, he only really cried the first day at naptime and then again at bedtime. After that, he was great.)


We woke up earlier than the rest of the crew so we needed to find ways to stay entertained and quiet. Here is J on the back porch.


Next, we went for a morning walk - it was cool and beautiful.


We decided to check out the lighthouse - I'm not a fan of heights but did it anyways. I did not go outside, though.


View of Table Rock Lake from the lighthouse.


View of where we stayed - Stormy Point Village. Each timeshare is a seperate house, and they are all really cute.


We all rented a boat and headed out on Table Rock Lake. It was fun.


Daddy and J.


J driving the boat with Grandpa Dan.


Daddy dunked J in the lake - he liked it, then didn't like it!


Just the three of us went home so J could nap. While Shawn went to pick up the rest of the crew (they spent another 2 hours on the lake tubing), J woke up and I took some photos of our house.
The view from our back porch.


The living room area.


The kitchen.


While I was taking pics J decided it was just too dirty so he swept up.


A pic of the outside.


There are more pictures but this post is huge! I really need to go grocery shopping and unpack...so more tomorrow!!!