Branson part 2

Our last full day in Branson we headed to Silver Dollar City, an amusement park.  The kids were so very excited to ride roller coasters again.  They are the perfect ages, Eric is tall enough but sometimes doesn't want to.  Eric is in that in-between age of wanting to and being tall enough but still liking the little kid rides and not always liking the big coasters.

In the picture below Will and Eric are riding one of the kid coasters.

This was a fun do-it-yourself ride.  Pull yourself up, then let go of the rope to go back down nice and easy.

Eric did this one several times!

I did not do the water ride, but everyone else did and really loved it!  I'm not a fan of getting my clothes wet and then walking around soggy.  So I held everyones phones and wallets.  This was the longest ride wait all day.  There was some mechanical error and empty rafts came through for about 10 minutes.  But otherwise all the coasters and rides we didn't wait more than 5 minutes to get on and most we just walked right up to.

Thanks for coming with us Grandma and Grandpa!!

Branson part 1

Over Labor Day Weekend we drove about 4 hours to Branson.  Grandpa and Grandma drove and met us there!  We had a great long weekend relaxing, playing games, hanging out, swimming, and going to Silver Dollar City (an amusement park).

We also celebrated the 3 September birthdays that were coming up!

Grandpa had a lap full!

 Our view for the weekend.  The weather was incredibly beautiful.  Perfect fall temperatures until the last day.

 Teaching Grandma and Grandpa how to play 7's.   Then they taught the big kids how to play Settlers of Catan.  I just have to say when the adults played Catan in the evenings I won 2 out of 3 games!

 The best thing about the pool was the zero entry on one end.  Even though the pool was small and chilly, the kids were the only ones in it and enjoyed it.

 One evening we went to see the Haygoods.  It was a great show that we all loved.  Caroline knew every song that they played.  We enjoyed singing along.

 The only Haygood sister could play many instruments but my favorite was when she played the harp!  Love the harp!

 We went for a walk along the lake on afternoon and enjoyed skipping rocks.  And watching the duck boats, you know the ones that can go on land and water, enter and exit the water.

 Grandma and Will doing what they do best....talking!

A mini flood and an eclipse

The eclipse was so cool even though it was a cloudy rainy day!  It got so dark that we could see fire flys on the school playground.  The sun came out a little later and you could still see the moon partially covering it.  The kids in my class thought it was the coolest thing ever!!

Justin got to see it and take these pictures.

 The back to school germs were in full effect last weekend and Caroline had a slight fever.  Lili was there to make sure she felt better.

 Then Sunday night 2 weeks ago, Justin and I got back from walking the dog to see Caroline and Will waiting for us on the front porch.  They told us the kitchen was flooded and the dishwasher was shooting out water.  I asked if they had turned off the dishwasher, they had.  But when I opened the dishwasher water was just pouring into it.  So I went under the sink and turned off the main valve.  The kitchen had several inches of water on the floor and Justin was grabbing towels.  I went to the basement to make sure it wasn't leaking.  It was almost as wet as the kitchen!!  So Justin got the shop-vac and the kids helped him suck up all the water.  He also had to get buckets and bowls to catch the dripping water.  I got the kitchen floor dry then went down to help in the basement.  It was a huge mess!  The kids were a big help with all the clean up even when it got past their bedtime.

We had to pull up almost all the foam pieces in the workout area.  Not fun.

 We had a repair man come out the next morning and replace the solenoid, and remove a piece of plastic, a rock, and dead mouse.  He said the pump was still leaking a little but I could use my dishwasher.  Well I didn't use it as much as usual and Saturday it leaked again.  And into the basement again.  We didn't have to pull up the foam pieces again, thank goodness, since I had just put them back down just hours before.  And they aren't easy to get back in the right way.  So I called to see when they were going to finish fixing my dishwasher since it had been almost 2 weeks and I (read: the kids) am tired of hand washing dishes!  I was told the part was in and they scheduled me to install the new pump on the 18!!  Are you kidding me!!  I was not a happy momma hearing that news.  I ended up talking to a manager and now they are supposed to get it installed by Wednesday.  I won't hold my breath that's for sure!

Since Justin had to go to DC last week for 3 days so Eric had to go with me.  He didn't complain since there is an amazing playground for him to play on.  In the picture below he has made it to the top so he can go down the big slide.

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More bike riding

Justin has been helping me get ready to do a 100 mile bike ride, not a race, just a ride.  The local bike shop has rides and was increasing in distance to train for the Hotter Than Hell century ride in Texas last weekend.  So we did those long Saturday morning rides too so I could get ready.  

I have really enjoyed riding with a group and feel like I have improved greatly from the first part of July when I first started.

The picture below was before we headed out for a 'pizza ride' and ended up at one of the guy's house for a pizza dinner after the either 17 or 25 mile ride.  You can pick your loop.  

 On Saturday mornings there is a 'faster' group and a 'not so fast' group.  Which is great because Justin can ride faster and I can now keep up with the other group.  The picture below was a stop on the way back from Lawrence.

 And this was in Lawrence for a stop at a bagel shop to refuel!

 One Friday night we were riding to Atchison for the pizza ride.  It's 20 mile ride.  At about 6 miles in I got a flat front tire.  Justin and Brendan, the bike shop owner, changed it for me.  Then we did a time trial, just the 3 of us, to try and catch back up with the group.  It was the fastest I have ever ridden in my life!!  I averaged 17.9mph for 23 miles!!  Brendan pulled most of the way and he is great to follow behind.  He sets a great even tempo and doesn't let me fall off his wheel when going up hills.  It really reminds me of learning to ski by following in my dad's tracks.
I love this picture of the 3 of us pounding it out, with synchronized pedaling!  The weather looked iffy so we had a mom of one of the teenage riders following us in a big truck in case we needed a safe place.  She also took some great pictures.

Last week was crazy with Justin gone and Caroline babysitting for 2 families in the neighborhood on bike nights, so I didn't get to ride last week.  The century ride is at the end of the month so this week it's time to get back on the bike!