Rewind a Few Weeks...

Well - I've been hoping to put some pictures from my Branson trip up for a few weeks now, and finally just got some of them uploaded. I'm not too experienced with arranging photos on here yet, but I'll do my best...and there are a lot! :) I sort of made myself the "trip photographer" to make sure we didn't miss any memories! The trip was over Memorial Day Weekend, and I went with my "adopted" family who I've known since jr. high. Brandy is one of my best friends, and also another one I can just pick up with where we left off, though I've been blessed to live close enough to her to hang out on a regular basis over the past two years! Anyway - here come the pictures!

Jared, our faithful navigator is expressing hsi frustration that the directions to our condo were...wrong...but he's excited that we made it there anyway! Show us how you really feel, Jared!

 Brandy is always nice enough to share her little brother with me, since I am the youngest in my family...over the years, he has become my "adopted little brother." And as any good brother would do, he gave me my first lesson dunking people on the pool...what a good volunteer he was...

  

We went putt-putt golfing, and decided that we would start the "Members Only Pirates Cove Country Club..." or something like that!

 It happened to be my birthday weekend...and this was just the first time I celebrated. Mmmmmm....chocolate cheese cake at Olive Garden! (That was totally on my Weight Watchers plan, I promise! haha)

Saturday was Silver Dollar City day! We rode lots of rides...we were brave...don't let our s-s-sc-scccaarrred faces fool you! :) 

  Good thing we had an "adult" to ride with us! Jared made the cut, but I just wasn't sure if I was tall enough!

 We got wet, and don't tell Mom and Dad...but we went to Jail too! Yikes!

            

  We had dinner at Shorty Smalls on the Branson Landing...and birthday celebration number two...the best one ever! They brought an ENORMOUS dessert, and had me stand on a chair while they sang to me...gotta love having an excuse to stand on a chair in a restaurant! :) By the way, those were the most GINORMOUS mozarella sticks  logs ever too! ha...Good thing we had five people to eat them all!

          

 

 

We spent Sunday relaxing at Table Rock Lake! It was a beautiful day, and the weather was perfect! The lake wasn't too busy, and David's friend had a private dock where we could swim, and a boat to take tubing...It was my very first tubing experience ever! I'm proud to say I was brave! Brandy and I went together, but maybe next time I'll try it on my own! :) And you have to know - the talk of the trip were David's steaks he bought just to grill for us...I'm not usually a steak person, but they WERE delicious! 

Branson Landing was beautiful at night! (The last two pictures are some of my favorites from the trip!)

We had a Spades party, and I left to take a phone call during the last hand, so David filled in. I think I'll let him play in my spot more often...get a load of that hand! lol

Another adventure full of memories with one of my best friends! 

Happy Summer to all of you - thanks for letting me share my vacation with you!
 (Well, one of them! Tomorrow I'm off to see three wonderful friends from college...we haven't all three been together in at least three years! Two of them are married now and live in D.C. and Alabama, and one just returned from serving 2 years overseas in the Journeyman program I am applying for...so being together is rare these days! Fun times will be had, and more pictures are sure to come!)