Less than 24 hours in Branson= perfect

When we learned the good news that our Samantha would be playing in Springfield, we started making travel plans. Initially we were going to drive down, watch a game, drive back. BUT, asking our children to sit in a car for 3 hours, then sit and watch a ball game for 2 hours, then sit in the car again for 3 hours seemed pretty mean spirited......especially when we had a open scheduled weekend, money to blow, and only 30 minutes to Branson.

As a rule, we are not Branson-ish people. Not fans of country music, not fans of paying big money for entertainment, not fans of slow traffic on a two lane road. We are, however, fans of the outlet mall(love Coach and Nike) fans of hotel swimming pools, and new fans of the Titanic museum.

We arrived in Branson around 4pm, went to the outlet mall, power shopped, went to eat at a steak house in the hotel parking lot(no driving on the busy strip) and then swam the evening away at the hotel pool.

The hotel pool was above and beyond my wildest dreams when picking our hotel on priceline.com the night before. I just prayed for clean and fairly warmish. We got big, clean, and really warmish! JOY! and those that know me know that I need warm water to enjoy a pool. This water was delightful, even by my standards.
We woke up the next morning and swam some more, packed our bags, and headed across the parking lot to the Titanic museum(shown below)

We highly recommend this museum to anyone who enjoys history and learning something. Everyone in our family enjoyed this museum, even Jane! When you enter the museum you are given a boarding pass of an actual passenger on the Titanic. As you walk through, you can watch for your "story" and at the end of the self guided tour, learn if you survived or died on the Titanic. Thankfully, everyone in our family lived! Really great museum....totally worth your time and money.
Here is a picture of the four other family members.....I am out of the pool taking the pictures, so you are spared me in my swim suit, for which you are welcome. All the girls could touch in the shallow end. Jane had a real fondness for the hot tub, which she kept calling the "little pool". She would sit on the top step, lean back, and say "Ahhh, this is the life!"

We are not a spontaneous family by history, mainly because it's hard to be spontaneous with three little kids, a husband that works 24hours every 3rd day, and me, who is a self proclaimed control freak. I am proud to admit that the spend-the-night part of our weekend was totally my idea! It is fun to know that the girls are old enough, even Jane somewhat, to recognize that vacations(even mini ones) are special....not to be taken for granted....and a chance to really enJOY each other's company.