Post-Vacation Stupor

We are driving home right now from spending a few days in the vacation Mecca of the Midwest: Branson!

Tacky t-shirt shops and family-friendly variety shows aside (we actually skipped both of those attractions this time), we enjoyed our stay. We had a condo that adjoined my parents' condo, and the girls always have so much fun with Grammy and Bops. We spent a day hanging out at the condo resort and its two pools, David and I made a quick trip to the outlet mall where he bought way more than I did, we spent a day in Silver Dollar City, where Zuzu enjoyed her ride-with-an-adult status of 39" tall and went on every ride that allowed her, including a kiddie roller coaster and Fire In the Hole (twice!), and Coco bemoaned her 32" stature but did rock out on the kiddie rides. (Actually, I'm not convinced she enjoyed them as much as she was determined not to be left out.) 

Serious adrenaline junky.

Coco started out holding the handle but once the ride started, she wanted to hold my hands.

The girls are a perfect pizza pair--Zuzu likes the crust and Coco likes the cheese.

Zuzu was very uncertain about the train robbers in SDC, but Coco was unfazed (also: look at all her teeth!). Zuzu was pretty stoked to dip a butterfly candle. Rainbow butterflies are her thing right now.

Grammy treated them to lollipops at the end of the day.

Our last full day in Branson was a rainy morning, nice and lazy, followed by an afternoon at Moonshine Beach, where Zuzu perfected her underwater flips and dives, and Coco got a little too adventurous for my comfort in the water.

It was bittersweet to be at Table Rock Lake, as this was our first trip back to the area since David's grandma passed away in December. I kept thinking we should be heading over to her house to tell her all about the day's adventures. She would have loved seeing how much fun the girls had in the water.

Zuzu was so proud of the rainbow butterfly sand art that she made with Grammy at an art night for kids at the resort. I was a butterfly princess for Halloween when I was five. Maybe we will resurrect that costume this year. Coco could be an entomologist!

Now, both girls are snoozing in the car (Cooper had his own "vacation" at Pepaw and Memaw's house with their dogs, Xena and Xanders, and was overjoyed to see us today, poor guy). Their pink cheeks and sun-streaked hair is evidence of a good vacation, and we are heading home to make the most of the last four weeks of summer.