VACATION!

I hope you're ready, guys. This is a long one...

We just got home today from our week long vacation to Missouri and man did we have a great time! Our first stop was in Branson for the weekend visiting my family. The whole gang was there - Grammy & Papa, Pop, Jeff, April, Alli, Jake, Kami, Julie and an extra special visit from my cousin, Renea, and her family. We haven't seen each other in almost 10 years so we had a great time catching up! On Saturday we all went to Silver Dollar City to ride some rides and just have a good old fashioned Branson experience. SDC was my favorite place when I was a kid and my parents took Jeff and I all the time, so it was really special to take my own family and enjoy it in a whole new way.

Nicholas had never been on any rides before so he was about to burst with impatience while being forced to wait in lines. But, eventually it was our turn and his little face lit up with pure excitement when he finally got going. This is the jumping frogs, which I think was his favorite because he laughed through the entire thing! I have to admit, for a kiddie ride it was pretty darned fun!

Then Papa took him on the bug ride that flew up & down. He liked it too but I think his heart belonged to the frogs.

And of course we had to take a ride on the choo-choo train!

But the day couldn't end without a trip to jail. Every 2 year old boy should be in one at least once!

After a few hours, Grammy & Papa took Nicholas and Jake, who wasn't feeling well, home for naps while the rest of us "kids" stayed to play. We rode all the roller coasters and ran from one end of the park to the other at least 5 times! We left no ride untouched and some we even went back for again and again. I haven't had that much fun since...well it's been a long time, to say the least. We shut the park down that night, leaving sweaty and completely exhausted. It was the best feeling in the world! It's hard to top a day like that but we gave it our best shot. The next day was my parents' 40th wedding anniversary (Happy Anniversary!) so we went to a lovely family brunch then set about preparing for Nicholas' birthday party. Things were going according to plan at first, but then we hit a snafu. I was picking up the cake and balloons when all of a sudden I felt really SICK. So sick that I had to go home and climb in bed for a few hours while I left the preparations to everyone else. I'm not sure exactly what I had but it was bad. I managed enough stamina to get out of bed for the party but in case you notice me looking a little drab, that's why. It hung around for a few days afterwards, but I didn't let it keep me down one bit. There was too much fun to be had! Anyway, the party was a success and all the kids had a ball!

On Monday, it was time to say good-bye and head off on the second leg of our journey. Destination = St. Louis to meet up with Mimi & Grandpa and visit Grandma Jaggi.

Another great couple of days were in store for us there with a lot of family time and a special little outing to the Transportation Museum which was FULL of old train engines. Nicholas was in sheer heaven. Seriously, he paid no attention to the sweltering heat. Nope, he ran around those trains as fast as he could checking every little nook and cranny he could find. Our boy was definitely in his element.

These things were mammoth. Just look at the size comparison!

Nicholas and Papa working hard on the railroad. It's a tough job, people.

We even got to take another train ride!

Then it was onto the last section of our trip in Rolla, visiting Grandma Smart on the farm.

Nicholas loves it here because he gets to get dirty and play with all the animals! We saw the usual suspects - chickens, cows, and kitties. But Nicholas also discovered the old tractors this time, which you could hardly pry him away from. He loves anything mechanical, what can I say?

And there was more mechanical fun in the form of 4 wheelers! We rode, and rode, and rode some more. And as soon as we stopped, he'd yell "MORE!" Insatiable!

Then we had a little fishing time at the pond with Cousin Adam. We didn't catch anything because we started getting rained on, but there's always next time.

And more birthday presents!!

Before we knew it, the time had come for us to head back home. We were all a little bummed after such an awesome week and so many fun adventures but it's always good to be back in your own bed. But before we left Rolla, Aunt Kathy made one last attempt at getting us to accept Nicholas' birthday present, pretty red bow and all. It was very tough to refuse:

All in all, this was one of the best weeks I can remember. Nicholas is getting older now and we have so much fun exploring the world through his eyes. And being with family is the best thing in the world. Especially when we live so far away and don't get to see them very often. Thanks for hanging in there through all these pictures. I'm terrible at choosing just a few because I love them all!