SDC

We were able to take Carly to Silver Dollar City this evening.  I can't even begin to tell you how much she enjoyed it.  She has been crazy about Christmas lights this year and she was in awe tonight.  She loved the "giant Christmas tree."  It was warm enough to ride the rides and she braved the swings and the tea cups again, along with a couple of new ones.  The train was her first priority though, she sang along with the Christmas carols and listened intently to the story of Christmas.  She also enjoyed the hot chocolate.

Silver Dollar City

We spent this beautiful fall day at Silver Dollar City.  Brady enjoyed his first trip to Branson and shared lots of smiles.  



Carly enjoyed lots of rides.

Carly insisted on riding the swings.  Jon hesitated, assuming she would get scared.  I jumped at the chance to ride them with her and it was a huge success!  She loved them and when we got off she immediately asked Jon to ride with her.  She also loved the tea cups.

A kind stranger offered to take our picture.  It was the end of the day, so he didn't have much of a chance of getting us all looking the same direction at the same time. 

Carly was asleep before we made it to the truck.  Great day!

Catching Up

Sorry it's been so long. April kept us busy every weekend and during the week we were beginning to pack. We are preparing for our two moves and trying to stay somewhat organized. I think the organization is going to disappear, but we are packing and starting to move things to our temporary location. Thankfully, we are set to close on our current home 5/19 and plan to be out the prior weekend. Some friends of ours own a rental house, that happens to be empty in May and June, and have rented it to us for the month and a half that we suspect we will need a place to live. Our builder still thinks we can be in our new home by the end of June, so keep your fingers crossed. Otherwise, we may be calling some of you for a place to stay :) That's the quick update for us. I have included some pictures from the last month.



This is my friend's little girl that is hanging out with us during the summer. She and Carly are six months apart and get along great!

Playing outside

Silver Dollar City was extra exciting for Carly this spring. This year she is over 36 inches tall, can you believe it?! Thanks to her height, she was able to ride more of the rides and she had plenty of volunteers to accompany her. Papa, Great Aunt Sharon, and Uncle Jody had the honors this trip and Carly loved them all! She even got to ride the lady bugs by herself. That was quite a moment, expressing her independence and venturing out on her own.

Ice Cream at Cold Stone on a sunny Saturday.

Holiday Season

Sorry it has been so long . . . We have been busy enjoying the holiday season. Since Thanksgiving we have been to Silver Dollar City with Papa and Grandma Willis. That has been the highlight of the season so far. Carly loved the huge Christmas tree on the square. She is also really interested in trains at the moment, so the train ride was a big hit, along with the singing. She even got Papa to ride the frogs with her. That was a true Kodak moment!

Carly is much more interested in everything Christmas this year. She loves the Christmas tree, despite the fact that I tell her not to touch it at least ten times a day. One day she was very clever. She picked up Elmo, looked right at me, and started to make Elmo's hand touch the tree. It was so hard not to laugh, because it was so obvious that she was testing the limits and putting me on the spot.

We were also able to visit the Magic Tree (http://www.magic-tree.org/) in south Columbia, a very unique attraction.

This week Jon started his vacation and celebrated his 30th birthday on Monday. Unfortunately, there wasn't much celebrating. Over the last three days we have endured a nasty stomach bug with nasty symptoms. I think we have it beat, but we are all ready to feel well and more festive.

A Week Off

Jon was on vacation last week so we were able to get in some great family time. Our original plan had been to get in the car and head out for a road trip, deciding our destination as we went. However, life happened, and our plans changed. We had some things to take care of in the beginning of the week so we stayed around home. Later in the week were able to spend some time in Branson and then a night at my parents' house.

Here is a picture from one night after a bath - the back rub line.


During this trip to Silver Dollar City, Carly was not scared of the two rides she was tall enough to ride. We rode each one a few times.