Branson & Summer Just Go Together

No summer would be complete without a trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City.  We headed there for a long weekend in July with Grandma and Boppy.  We were blessed that the weather cooperated and it was fairly cool and not very crowded.  Harper was so excited to get to ride the new roller coaster...Outlaw Run!  I rode too...whew it was intense.  I just can't believe how much of a ride dare devil she is.  Owen rode everything he was tall enough to ride too!

We splurged this time and Grandma & Boppy treated us to a ride on the DUCKS.  The Duck is an amphibious vehicle that took us on a tour of Branson and then out to Table Rock Lake.  Our Duck drove from land...right into the water.  So fun!  Each of the kids got to take a turn driving the Duck on the lake.  We even got quackers...funny thing is...they just can't be found now! :)  The quacking was great when we were on the Duck.

As always...a great Branson trip!

Sumertime Fun with Friends!

In July, we also got to take some time to visit our friends in Coldwater.  We LOVE visiting them because we get to play outside and go on all kinds of adventures.  The kids had a great time and did a ton of stuff.  Favorite part...Sara told the girls to go water their new trees.  Next thing we know, Harper and Cambree are running through the sprinklers.  That's what good country fun is about!

We also got to visit their brand new pool in town.  It is awesome!  Owen absolutely loved the slide!  He could have gone a hundred times on it I think!  We had a great visit and the kids were all tuckered out on the way home!

Tanganyika Wildlife Park

Back in July, we visited the Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Kansas with our friends.  We went last year with them also and I couldn't wait to take the kids back.  It is by far one of the coolest "zoos" I have ever been to.  It is interactive...you get to pet and feed a ton of different animals.  This year, we bought a special pass that allowed the kids to do a ton of feedings.  They got to feed the lemurs (their favorite), giraffe, bunnies, guinea pigs, tortoises, and the lorikeets.  The lemurs are so much fun to feed because they crawl on your lap with their super soft paws and nibble the craisin right out of your hand. 

The kids even got to pet several kangaroos.  They were especially interested in the babies in the pouches...asking if that is how they came out!  Yikes!  I pretended I didn't hear them! 

And they even got to take turns riding the camel.  So fun!

The best story of the visit was when we went in to feed the Lorikeets for the first time.  All of the kids got a cup of nectar and as soon as they entered the birds flocked to us.  They were hanging from the kids' hair, tank tops...everywhere.  They all were screaming.  Harper finished feeding the birds and went to run out of the exhibit and when she did, she got a surprise.  The bird that Katy was feeding went PEE right on Harper's face as she ran by...yellow bird pee was running down her face.  She was completely sicked out...I was just upset that I didn't get a picture of that! :)  They had one more feeding ticket for the Lorikeets and needless to say, they stayed outside and watched the moms do the feeding!

Celebrating Independence Day!

We are very "routine" in our family!  So no surprise that this year we celebrated our 4th of July the same as we have for the past 5 years.  After the triathlon, we headed to Uncle Cole & Aunt Melanie's house.  We gathered up our picnic goods and headed down to the park in their neighborhood with our floats.  This year, we were very excited because Hazen got to be in the parade too.  This was going to be Harper's first year to ride her bike in the parade, but we didn't have time to repair it...so she rode her scooter!  The parade was a blast.  Owen drove and waved at "all" of the spectators and Hazen had a blast riding and eating his puffs!  They were so cute that they won FIRST PLACE parade entry!

The luck continued at the cake walk.  Harper was the first winner, which meant she got to choose the first cake from the cake decorating contest.  She picked the cake from the same lady that she did last year.  This cake was huge and beautiful!  The lady couldn't believe that Harper had gotten her cake again and she was so excited!  We shared cake for days after that. 

We settled down for a great picnic lunch and enjoyed the cooler temperatures and fun with family!  Sad part is Mel & Cole are moving away from this neighborhood and we won't be able to celebrate here anymore.  But at least we had the chance to create our memories over the past five years!