If you'll recall the Facebook-style vacation summary, this first set was right after the "what's open at 8 a.m. question." We eventually were directed to the local fish hatchery, which, as it turned out, was not officially open until 9, but brought us to an area near a lake where the kids could run around until it opened.
For a quarter, you could buy fish food and feed the thousands of trout thrashing around in these pools, helpfully covered by strong wire. This was deemed highly entertaining by the five-and-under set. Later, they saw the ranger net a couple of trout and feed them to a huge turtle inside the park building. This station is maintained through the fishing license fees anglers pay, which makes sense, since they raise the fish that eventually get dumped in the fishing lakes and streams.
We stopped riverside for a bit to watch the fishing action. This was just downstream from a huge dam, which was letting out a higher-than-usual volume of water due to heavy flooding in the area. The boys were eager to get all the way down to the river bank, but the way the water was rushing, we kept them up on higher ground. A very chatty fisherman who appeared to be mostly an observer, allowed the boys to handle some of his gear.
Being rained out from this mini-golf wasn't the worst thing in the world, given that our kids were more interested in seeing how far they could throw their balls than in attempting to sink any putts. Of the dozens of area mini-golf establishments, this one was selected for its knights & castles theme. Turned out it had hosted the U.S. mini-golf open just the week prior. We don't mess around!
Even with all we saw and did, there's no doubt that the highlight of each day was our late-afternoon swim. Since the average age of our fellow hotel guests was around 70, it's safe to say we basically had the pool to ourselves. Daniel is quite the jumping dare devil, assisted by inflated arm bands (muscles.) Edward mostly eschewed the floatation devices in favor of the weighted sticks he could throw to the bottom of the pool and dive down to retrieve--a very new skill. He did not seem to feel any affect of the constant belly flopping from the pool steps (first swimming pic above.) Perhaps he doesn't have enough stomach surface area...
Who knew when we accepted this trip offer back in September that Edward would develop a Titanic obsession and that Branson would be home to a Titanic Museum? It was obviously fate. To cement the experience, one of the two "boarding passes" he and John received upon entering the ship was for Captain Edward J. Smith. John quickly handed it to Ed, who was the hero of his tour group.
These two pictures stitched together might make a nice shot of John and the boys, but unfortunately we lacked the time and patience to capture one with both boys actually looking at the camera. This was outside the Talking Rocks Cavern.
This was inside the Talking Rocks Cavern. It was VERY wet and we were glad to have accepted the ponchos the guide offered as we entered the mouth of the cave. I had dressed the boys in pants thinking it might be chilly inside and gym shoes for better climbing traction. Needless to say they were pretty much soaked to the knees by the time we emerged. It was cool, but difficult to take pictures in the low light.
This is one John managed to capture--this formation is described as "cave bacon." Two weeks ago I might have been able to tell you how it was formed, but alas, that tidbit did not stick around long.Outside the cave kids could mine for gems (after the parents purchased a large bag of sand with gems hidden inside.) John got some really great close-ups of this activity, so forgive the long-ish series. (Again, be thankful you're scrolling at your own pace!)
They gave us zip-loc bags for the kids to carry their gems home as well as a card to help identify the stones. We didn't quite get around to that level of detail, but perhaps some rainy day that will be our afternoon activity.
I take a lot of heat for sticking to a strict schedule of afternoon naps (which is morphing in to rest/quiet time) but truly, our boys were not able to function for an entire day of this trip without a break in the afternoon. It was difficult to get them settled with all of us in the same room, but this was an important part of all of us being able to last through dinner in one piece. Vacation naps also were later in the day than home naps, followed by swimming and a late-ish dinner (7 p.m. is a late meal for us.) That allowed us to stay up later all together, which somewhat mitigated that whole "nothing to do before 10 a.m." deal--though we were still always at breakfast by 8!
Everyone who rides The Ducks receives a quacker souvenir. Oh, lucky, lucky us. These were immediately banned from the car and hotel room and eventually just stashed in the bottom of the suitcase until we got home. Thankfully they have been of limited interest since then. I had thought the boys would really delight in the surprise of the truck driving into the lake so we didn't tell them what these vehicles were when we drove by a few times before our own ride. They took to referring to them as "those car-truck-bus things." The boat surprise was a bit less dramatic as the driver was required to make a safety speech about life jackets and such before we entered the lake. Also, with the flooding, there was no big splash, since he had to ease the boat down a ramp that was covered in water and through a stand of trees that should not have been submerged.
They did a good job taking turns at the wheel and allowing a few other passengers to do the same. Daniel actually had started to fall asleep on the drive out to the lake and I had to shake him awake with a promise that he could drive the boat.
Here is Ed trying a mini-bowling game at the "Chuck-E-Cheese"-type place we went to on the last night. This is where Daniel's vacation diet got the better of him (#underwearintrash) so he missed this activity while we quickly returned to the hotel for clean clothes. Edward had gotten a foot scrape at the pool that his sandal was rubbing, hence the attractive socks/sandals look (to reappear later due to unexpected chilly weather.)
This is the Jack and the Beanstalk climbing exhibit at The Magic House--St. Louis Children's Museum. Fantastic place!
Our children's museum does not have a water exhibit so our boys were thrilled with this opportunity.
They also both enjoyed the mechanic shop, complete with a roller bed for sliding under to complete repairs.
Top of the Gateway Arch.
Bottom of the Gateway Arch.
John's best attempt at a Gateway Arch family photo. The elevator to the top was deemed a "spaceship" and is probably one of the things you'll hear about if you ask the boys about the trip.
Our final stop was the St. Louis City Museum, an attraction that defies easy explanation. It was simply, amazing. I can not recommend it enough for kids and adults alike. Our kids were a bit on the young edge of the spectrum, as we were a bit nervous sending them climbing into tunnels for which we could not see the exit. Luckily they (Edward) knew enough to turn around and come back if he couldn't find us at the end. Or simply stand above and shout out "Mom!" or "Dad!" John and I marveled at being able to identify and locate the sound of our own children's calls amid the absolute caucaphony of hundreds of kids and teens. (MANY school groups were there that day!)I've been telling people it's basically a huge old downtown building or warehouse that an artist converted into an indoor playground, complete with three-story slides, caves and tunnels, a "skateless skate park" (kids slide and climb on the ramps), a series of outdoor climbing mazes, and a rooftop with more slides, a Ferris wheel, and a school bus perched over the edge.
Inside the school bus.
Edward climbing up to the rooftop slide.
To give you a perspective on the climbing (Ed is the tiny dot of blue shirt just to the left of the mid-climb tree.) The sphere and point you can see just beyond is
this structure for more spiral climbing. And when you're all done, you simply
slide
on
down.
It will come as no surprise that this was all quite exhausting. But very fun and great to have the time together for a new adventure.