Stop Making Me Laugh Or I'll Pee My Pants! Go Back! I Lost My Shoe! Trip Report!

[Kathy Jetson]

I didn't know there were Elk in Arkansas either. What is a black apple I've never heard of them? Your hotel sounds huge! Did you take any pics of the Mickey stuff in the stores? It looks like you got a nice clean room again. Can't wait for more.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I didn't know there were Elk in Arkansas either. What is a black apple I've never heard of them? Your hotel sounds huge! Did you take any pics of the Mickey stuff in the stores? It looks like you got a nice clean room again. Can't wait for more.

I wish I had had my camera out when I saw the Elk Crossing sign. It was such a surprise. Black apples are good and the only place I have ever seen them was in Arkansas near the Arkansas/Missouri line. They are a red apple that's so dark it's a purple/black color. The taste is something between a granny smith and a red delicious. Good stuff!

The hotel complex is pretty big. Not huge but big. I like the fact that you could just stay at the hotel for a couple of days and never have to leave because there's stuff to do right there.

The store that the Mickey statues were in was a smallish store and it wasn't busy. The store clerks were asking if we needed any help and were walking around. I wanted to take pictures but it felt like the wrong place and time so I didn't.

The rooms were very clean. Mama said her television worked on and off but she didn't complain because we were hardly in the room at all. I think maybe it needed reprograming because some of the channels would work and then it'd go to one of those setup type blue screens.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Howdy everybody! I've got a lot of billing to do today. Boss told me yesterday that he wanted to get them out by the time I leave tomorrow at Noon. That's about two weeks earlier than we normally send them out. Guess I'll be busting my behind all day today. But, he's not here yet so I'm going to write a small Branson trip report. I'll be back.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I messed something up before. I said that Hunter changed into his swimming trunks when, in fact, he didn't actually change. He just got his swimming trunks and a towel. There were changing rooms in the indoor water park. And, since it was so cold and windy out, we figured it'd be best if he just changed over there. We told John goodbye and we were off.

We were feeling pretty silly. Happy to be together. Laughing about getting into a "granny van". Etc. The building we were in was at the very back of the complex. The indoor water park was at the very front of the complex. There were maybe three cars on our side of the parking lot and the parking lot at the end of the building. So, I decided to give the kids a little surprise.

I got to the end parking lot and sped up. I cut a donut in the parking lot in my Mama's van. The kids started screaming. The loose stuff in the back started rolling around on the floor. It was hilarious! Then, they wanted me to do it again. So, I did. For just a minute or two, I was a cool Mom in my kids' eyes.

Still giggling, we drove over to the water park building and we suddenly found out why the parking lot had been empty. Everybody had driven to the water park. We drove around the lot and there were no parking places....not even an illegal parking place. I turned the corner and there was a parking place on the very end. I squeezed the van in, we got out and I locked it up. We were almost to the building when I realized we didn't bring our bracelets that allowed us into the water park. Darn it all! We walked back to the van in the super cold wind.

Lacey called John and told him we forgot the bracelets. She told him where they were and to come out onto the balcony in about 2 minutes. Once we reached our building, we could see John standing on the balcony waiting on us. Lacey jumped out and caught them when John threw them down. And, we were off again. I figured we'd get back to the building and have to search for a parking place again. Imagine our surprise when the one and only parking place that we just left was still open. We grabbed Hunter's stuff, the bracelets and locked the van up once again.

As soon as we walked into the water park building, we were hit with a blast of hot air. It was like a freaking sauna in there. I guess they had turned up the heat because it was so cold outside. I bet you it was at least 80 degrees in there.

There are tables and chairs all around the perimeter of the water park but some of them were taken and the ones that weren't looked like they were in a danger zone. Danger as in prone to getting us wet. In the middle of the room is a large wooden structure and on top of it is a humongous bucket of water. It fills up and a bell goes off and it dumps it's entire contents on the people below.

We saw some upstairs seating but there was nobody up there. We thought it might be roped off so Lacey went to ask while Hunter went to change. Lacey came back and said one of the lifeguards said we could sit up there. We went on up and watched for Hunter to come out of the bathroom/changing area. We saw him when he came out and we called down to him. It took him a minute but he realized we were above him. He brought his clothes up and took off.

Did I mention that it was hot in the building? Even if I did, I just said it again. It was hot. Lacey and I took off our jackets and had a seat. Well, first I took some pictures. I wanted to get more but in order to do that, I would have had to walk around the whole building and risk getting wet which I really didn't want to do.

The wooden structure is the main focus in the building. There are two or three water slides that come down from it. There are a couple of bridges to climb. Things to turn, shoot and ring. It's pretty cool.

Hunter went down the water slides oodles of times. One of them came out right underneath us.

Also in the building is a swimming pool where you can play basketball. I think there were two, maybe three, goals.

On the other side of the building is a lazy river. It's not long but it's long enough to float around for a while and just be lazy. Also in the building are two hot tubs. They're big enough that probably a dozen or so people could get in them at one time.

While Hunter was playing, Lacey and I talked about her leading the children's ministry at the church she attends. When she went back to the Mission this year, they asked her to get more involved in the children's church. She was already involved and led the Wednesday night services. She also did the special events. The lady who was the main director had recently had a baby and the church pastor asked her if she wanted to resign and stay at home with her three children. She said she did but had been putting off making a decision. They gave Lacey the leadership role.

The lady that was leaving was doing it in small steps. Phasing her out, so to speak. Anyway, Lacey wanted to clean out the rooms at the church and see what all they had to work with. The pastor told the lady to make sure any and all personal things she had in the rooms were out because Lacey and her crew were going to start the cleaning out process. Lacey found an after school daycare facility that could use some of the things. Once they had everything gathered up, they took them to the daycare. Lacey got a call the next day from the "phasing out lady" who said Lacey had gotten rid of some of her personal stuff. Lacey told her she didn't know it was her personal stuff because the pastor told her everything could go. Anyway, long story short, Lacey said the lady has had an attitude lately. Not being outright ugly to Lacey but making a few comments here and there.

We talked about it some more and we came to the conclusion that the lady really wanted to keep doing children's church but knew she couldn't keep doing it. She also doesn't really like the fact that Lacey is many years younger than her and now has her job. We also think that the lady liked having a title.

Lacey also told me about their money making projects for the Mission. Every home UGA (University of Georgia) game, they run a concession stand. They get 10% of the sales which adds up to anywhere between $2,000.00 and $3,000.00 a game, depending on who Georgia is playing.

Every once in a while, they also get to work the Atlanta Falcons games. When they do that, they are in the boxes. The boxes where all the rich folks are. The last time Lacey worked one of those games, she served Condelesa (spelling?) Rice.

I asked her if she was going back to the Mission next year. She said she thought she would. She feels obligated to since she's working off her tuition by leading children's church. She also knows that she has to start making money someday. When she's at the Mission, she can't have a paying job. I also asked if she would ever come home again. She couldn't say that she would for certain which made my heart sink. John and I had already said we didn't figure she'd wouldn't come back to Louisiana. But to actually hear it from her made me sad.

It was nice to actually sit down with Lacey and have some one-on-one conversation. When we talk on the phone, we usually have only a short time to talk and it's hard to talk because she's so busy.

John called about that time and asked what we were doing. Lacey told him we were sitting around sweating because it was so hot in there. They talked for a few minutes and I started looking for Hunter amongst all of the kids running around. I finally spotted him and told him to come up there with us. I gave him his clothes and he dried off. This is what his hair looked like after:

See how red his cheeks are. Even soaking wet, he was hot.

He took his clothes and went down to the bathroom/changing room. Lacey and I waited. And waited. And waited. I told Lacey that I bet her 20 bucks he was going number two. She didn't take the bet because she figured that was what he was doing too. Just when I was ready to find a man and ask him to go into the bathroom, Hunter comes out. I asked him what took so long and he said "I had to go to the bathroom." Told you! Takes him forever!

We picked up all our stuff and walked rather quickly to the van. It was starting to get a little dark and Hunter's hair was still wet. I didn't want him getting sick. When we got back to the rooms, John was awake as was Mama. Not ones to sit around and do nothing, we started planning what to do next. We had a few hours to kill before the show started.

Up next: The Hollywood Wax Museum

 

[mickeystoontown]

Forgot to post a picture of the waterpark building:

And one of the hotel sign:

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Oh, the memories. We did that over Valentines weekend one year with the kids. Did the shows and everything. No SDC cause it was closed. The kids really had a good time. We had a crummy room in the old part. Tiny and dirty. So after we cleaned it wasn't so bad.

Looks as if Hunter had a good time tho.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh, the memories. We did that over Valentines weekend one year with the kids. Did the shows and everything. No SDC cause it was closed. The kids really had a good time. We had a crummy room in the old part. Tiny and dirty. So after we cleaned it wasn't so bad.

Looks as if Hunter had a good time tho.

Maybe we have been lucky but all three times we have stayed there, the rooms have been really clean. The only problem we had was with Mama's television. Nothing really worth complaining about.

Hunter had a good time. He made friends with a few other boys there. You know he's not shy about talking to other people.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Oh, Wow! What a huge place you were staying at! It all looks and sounds like so much fun. That indoor water park sounds so cool, too. Hunter really seemed to be having a wonderful time.

Love the mother/daughter time you guys had. I envy you that (but in a good way, of course!). It sounds so lovely. You guys are so lucky to have one another.

And all that talk about pizza has my stomach gurgling. I L-O-V-E pizza! When I was pregnant with Mitchell, that's all I wanted. Well, that, and Kit Kat bars!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh, Wow! What a huge place you were staying at! It all looks and sounds like so much fun. That indoor water park sounds so cool, too. Hunter really seemed to be having a wonderful time.

Love the mother/daughter time you guys had. I envy you that (but in a good way, of course!). It sounds so lovely. You guys are so lucky to have one another.

And all that talk about pizza has my stomach gurgling. I L-O-V-E pizza! When I was pregnant with Mitchell, that's all I wanted. Well, that, and Kit Kat bars!

The hotel is a nice place to stay when in Branson. Nothing fancy but still a nice place. Hunter had a great time playing in the water park. He really wasn't ready to go but knew that we were going somewhere else so he was okay with leaving.

I cherish the moments I get to spend with Lacey. I soak in as much as I can because I never know when I'll get to see her again.

I could use some of that pizza right now because I'm hungry. I have errands to run during my lunch hour so I'll eat on the run. I hate doing that because you get full at the time but then seem unsatisfied later in the day.

When I was pregnant with Lacey, all I wanted was homemade tacos. Poor John was so tired of me cooking them. With Hunter, I didn't have any real cravings.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

GREAT BRANSON update! The indoor water park looks like alot of fun!

EDIT: I just realized I forgot to comment on your conversation....taht was a wonderful time the two of you were able to share...you two are close and the miles will not matter...I have a sad feeling that although Gwendolyn will be just a few miles from me we will not be close once she moves
we'll see what the future holds... Gwendolyn has chosen a very hard path for herself....at least you know Lacey is happy and enjoys working and serving others

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

GREAT BRANSON update! The indoor water park looks like alot of fun!

Yes, Everyone should come up to Branson and we can have meet.

 

[mickeystoontown]

GREAT BRANSON update! The indoor water park looks like alot of fun!

EDIT: I just realized I forgot to comment on your conversation....taht was a wonderful time the two of you were able to share...you two are close and the miles will not matter...I have a sad feeling that although Gwendolyn will be just a few miles from me we will not be close once she moves
we'll see what the future holds... Gwendolyn has chosen a very hard path for herself....at least you know Lacey is happy and enjoys working and serving others

Hunter had a good time in the water park. There were a few adults going down the slides too. But, in order to get to the slides, you had to go through a few smaller sized areas. The adults were enjoying the lazy river, pool and hot tubs.

It was really nice to sit down and talk with Lacey with no interruptions. We rarely get to do that.

I hope that you and Gwendolyn remain close. It was really really hard on me when Lacey moved. Heck, it still is. I'm just counting down the hours until she comes home this Sunday. I know that we will have to share her this visit though. She didn't get to visit with our church friends during Thanksgiving.

I know that Lacey is happy in Georgia and will be happy wherever she goes. She is one of those kind of people who fits in no matter where she is.

Yes, Everyone should come up to Branson and we can have meet.

Wouldn't that be fun!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Yes, Everyone should come up to Branson and we can have meet.

Everyone needs to come to New Orleans after the holidays to meet and see the Disney art show at New Orleans museum of art....we could have a weekend of fun....I think Jan normally has a long weekend doesn't it!!

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

*sigh* I hate living in Raleigh/Greenville, NC. We have no cool places like that around here. So when my family goes on vacation...well, we go to Disney. One year we went down to Myrtle Beach, and that was pretty cool. We have that Disney addict problem though.

I wish y'all hadn't said anything about pizza. My boyfriend once asked if I was pregnant 24/7 because I am ALWAYS in the middle of some sort of craving. If I see a commercial for food, or read about something, or even just think about a certain item, I will crave it. And continuously crave it until I get it. Currently I'm fixated on ribs. It was an eggnog milkshake from Cook-Out, but I got that last night!! Oh, and just to clarify, I am most definitely NOT pregnant. There are a few years to go before that happens. I just happen to be very food oriented. All the time. My mom says they cut their grocery bill in half now that I'm gone. I feel the love....

 

[racefanof88]

I'm loving the Branson report. I think it is great that your mom went with ya'll. I have invited my mom, more times than I can count, to go to Disney with us, but she always refused.

I can't believe you rode ToT. Amanda got up the nerve to ride in last May with Matt and she said she hated it.......... Hey, I 'm like Hunter on that one, I wouldn't care if they had a court order, I wouldn't get on it or RRC.

Your tree is so pretty. You and Connie have me wanting to get a real tree next year. This is the 4th year we have had our pre-lit tree so this will be the last Christmas we use it. We generally get an artificial tree every 4 or 5 years. When we put our tree together this year half the lights were out and we had to go buy more, so bye bye tree.

 

[aprilisis]

Hey, Lisa! I just got through reading your Wal-Mart ordeal- you have the patience of a saint!!!! I think I may have lost it in that situation. What kind of camera did you end up getting?
I also wanted to say- your tree looks great! I love all of the decorations, too.
I'm going to read on through the next couple of pages now.

 

[aprilisis]

That place in Branson looks awesome!!! You are so great at writing trip reports. I'm looking forward to more!

 

[jenseib]

I got 4 pages behind!!! Love your updates. Branson looks really fun. Those waterparks are usually hot like that, but when you come out of the water it never feels that warm...at least to me. LOL!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Good morning Lisa. I'm back and all caught up again. Loving the Branson update. We have a very similar indoor water park close to here and it is definitely HOT in there! Hunter looks like he had a good time!

Good for Lacey for stepping up to take over the Children's Church. That's my job at our church as well... Director of Children's Ministries. Just one more reason our families would hit it off!

I can't believer the late night Wal-Mart trip! What a good sport you are!

Beautiful tree and I love the old stove....very cool! I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season...it's so busy here, but I love this time of year.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Everyone needs to come to New Orleans after the holidays to meet and see the Disney art show at New Orleans museum of art....we could have a weekend of fun....I think Jan normally has a long weekend doesn't it!!

I think I'd have a hard time convincing John to come to New Orleans. He just doesn't like it. But, I bet I could give it a shot!

*sigh* I hate living in Raleigh/Greenville, NC. We have no cool places like that around here. So when my family goes on vacation...well, we go to Disney. One year we went down to Myrtle Beach, and that was pretty cool. We have that Disney addict problem though.

I wish y'all hadn't said anything about pizza. My boyfriend once asked if I was pregnant 24/7 because I am ALWAYS in the middle of some sort of craving. If I see a commercial for food, or read about something, or even just think about a certain item, I will crave it. And continuously crave it until I get it. Currently I'm fixated on ribs. It was an eggnog milkshake from Cook-Out, but I got that last night!! Oh, and just to clarify, I am most definitely NOT pregnant. There are a few years to go before that happens. I just happen to be very food oriented. All the time. My mom says they cut their grocery bill in half now that I'm gone. I feel the love....

Don't feel bad, we don't have anything to do around here either. We have to go at least 4 hours away to find anything good to do. Thus, the trips to Hot Springs (4 hours) and to Branson (8 hours).

I just can't make myself plan a vacation to anywhere but Disney. We have fun elsewhere, just not the kind of fun we have at Disney.

I also get cravings and I am definitely not pregnant either. I get on a kick wanting one thing and can't wait to get a great big ole plate of (insert whatever I am craving at the time).

I'm loving the Branson report. I think it is great that your mom went with ya'll. I have invited my mom, more times than I can count, to go to Disney with us, but she always refused.

I can't believe you rode ToT. Amanda got up the nerve to ride in last May with Matt and she said she hated it.......... Hey, I 'm like Hunter on that one, I wouldn't care if they had a court order, I wouldn't get on it or RRC.

Your tree is so pretty. You and Connie have me wanting to get a real tree next year. This is the 4th year we have had our pre-lit tree so this will be the last Christmas we use it. We generally get an artificial tree every 4 or 5 years. When we put our tree together this year half the lights were out and we had to go buy more, so bye bye tree.

We took my Mama to Disney in 2000. We stayed the entirety of Thanksgiving week. She absolutely loved watching Lacey and Hunter's expressions. We wore the poor woman out which is probably why she hasn't gone back with us even though we ask her every year.

I can't believe I rode Tower of Terror either. I just knew that I was going to hate it. It'll probably be years before I get Hunter to go on it.

Thanks for the compliment on the tree. We have a real tree every year. This year, the tree is pretty small compared to the trees in the past. I like big trees but couldn't make myself spend the extra money to get a large tree when Christmas is coming up so soon.