Spring Break in Branson, MO

After a short visit in Mississippi, we all went to Branson, Missouri (during Eric’s Spring Break). For those of you who don’t know anything about Branson…. it is like a mini Las Vegas- without the gambling, strippers, pornography, wild partying, young people, casinos, scantily clad women, drinking, excessive smoking, prostitution…. Hmm… okay so maybe it isn’t ANYTHING like Vegas but it does have some great shows and a road everyone refers to as the “Strip.”
We had a great time in Branson! It was weird at first because 99.5% of the people there were over the age of 65; our family made up the other 0.5%. It was their off-season so none of the shows were packed. The first night, we went to a variety show called Pierce Arrow. The comedy act was by far the best. We also went to an a cappella show called SIX. We were all amazed at all of the different sounds that came out of their mouths.
On our last night in Branson we went to the Dixie Stampede (a dinner show). Before the show, we went to the stables to show Kinsley the horses. She was very intrigued by them and kept wrinkling her nose at them. While our waitress was serving us food, she said Kinsley looked as big as her niece and guessed her age to be six months. I informed her that she was eight months old and then my dad loudly said, “She is a midget.” Guess who was sitting right next to Eric… a “little person."During the show Eric and I were asked to participate. He was instructed to race across the arena and pick out a horse for us to ride for a barrel race. I thought to myself “Grandpa Beck is going to be so proud that I rode this horse around some barrels.” As Eric picked a horse, I remembered one vital piece of information…. I am terrified of horses. I contemplated walking out of the arena but then the MC informed us that he chose from the wrong horses. We were going to ride STICK horses around the arena. Embarrassing…. Yes… but I didn’t break my neck doing it.Kinsley must have really missed her Grandparents and her Aunt Kristi because she cried all of the way home (5.5 hours). Eric and I were pretty much frazzled by the time we arrived home and were even more frazzled as Kinsley cried for four more hours… she refused to eat but we finally got her to stop screaming by rocking her to sleep. Not to worry, today was a better day and she is almost back on her schedule.