The Mad Chatters thread Part 18

[RobInBigKC]

The eagle has landed.

-- Rob

 

[momrek06]

The eagle has landed.

-- Rob

RobbIe, are you THERE??? How did the ROAD TRIP go???

Details, we want details and oh ya, pictures, we want pictures

!!!!!!!

 

[Rella Bella]

Hi Rob...

looks like they partied without you.

What's new up north???

 

[Rella Bella]

Nice pumpkins Rob! Great job! I like the vote one best!!

Hi Kar

 

[momrek06]

Nice pumpkins Rob! Great job! I like the vote one best!!

Hi Kar

RELLA BELLA BABY!!!!!!!! HOW ARE YOU???

To ROB:

 

[Rella Bella]

RELLA BELLA BABY!!!!!!!! HOW ARE YOU???

Sorry I missed you Kar! Doing great... keeping busy, my Dis hours seem to be different than everyone elses, but I still check in from time to time. How did you move go? Are you all settled?? That was probably a long time ago now wasn't it? Time flies. 7 weeks to Christmas! Unbelievable!!!

Hi to everyone else.
Hope you have a great weekend!

 

[RobInBigKC]

Where are all the Chatters at?

Fabulous O'bama-o- lanterns!
I spy with my little eye: Nike's in the sink and cup collection and horizontal surface clutter, a fun-size play dough, and the free hospital basin from the last birth...or maybe kidney stones.

Some of which might STILL be on that counter a week later...

You mean bullied?

No!

Bye BFF!!!!!

Wow! Very impressive. You posted, WITH a quote, under the same timestamp (i.e., the same minute) as the post you quoted.

Have a great time, Rob! We'll be heartbroken until your return (or something like that)...

Me too Kristi!

Let's PAR-TAY!!

I'll bring the cheeseball. What's everyone else bringing??

You ARE a cheeseball!

Did somebody say MOJITOS???

Heyyyy, I wanted to bring the cheese ball!

1. Like a sweet innocent mama from Utah would know anything about mojitos! (Hmmm, maybe you should have three Saturday night. )
2. Just goes to show you that this thread is full of cheeseballs!

RobbIe, are you THERE??? How did the ROAD TRIP go???

Details, we want details and oh ya, pictures, we want pictures

!!!!!!!

I am HERE.

Hi Rob...

Hi Rella!

-- Rob

 

[RobInBigKC]

Greetings from Branson, MO! I'm currently sitting on the loveseat in our third floor condo looking out the sliding patio doors down to Table Rock Lake. We arrived after dark so I haven't been able to FULLY see the lake yet but I can see the lights on shore reflecting in the water. It's been FOREVER (8 years or more) since I've stayed overnight right on the waterfront anywhere so it's nice to get back to such a setting -- I've forgotten how peaceful that can be.

We left home around 4:15 and got to our condo about 9:15. Not bad for 267 miles with two stops along the way.

I think we brought five or six pillows from home (haven't taken the time to count them) including me bringing one for myself as well. You can somewhat see in the pic below, over DS7's right shoulder, that the Mickey Mouse pillow made the trip.

The kids started getting hungry so we stopped to eat at the newly built Nevada, MO McDonald's, about 50.9 miles short of my "first stop" goal (which was Carthage, MO). Long time thread readers might remember that DS10 played two baseball tournaments in Nevada this past spring/summer season -- at those times, Nevada had NO McDonald's. They had one but it was torn down so a new one could be built on the same spot -- imagine those poor kids in town having to go without the only McDonald's in town for six months! (For those who might be worried about what I am eating, I had a McChicken sandwich (which IS fried), a side salad with Italian dressing, and a large sugar-free vanilla iced coffee.)

We broke away from McDonald's and drove about 123.4 miles to the Quik Trip in Nixa, MO where we filled up the Explorer tank and emptied our McDonald's filled-bladders. Going with the theory that "it's always 'out of town' people who win", I bought TWO Powerball lottery tickets for tonight's drawing (there was a winner about two weeks ago so I'm ONLY going to win about $7.5 million after taxes though ).

(I'm glad we filled up in Nixa because here in Branson, gasoline is a stiff $1.999! We basically paid $30 in gasoline to get here which is a bit cheaper than SIX airline tickets.)

As I said we got here after dark so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the exterior of the place we're staying at BUT I did take some interior pics. The condo is pretty nice and the price can't be beat, 1153 square feet -- right on the lake -- for $144 per night including tax, even if the pools are closed for the season (the hot tub, however, is still open).

When the kids saw this, they said, "Look Mom, you can do laundry!" I said, just what Mom wants to do on vacation.

Kitchen shot looking into the living room (note that DS10 is doing his homework like a good son should).

"Kids" bedroom. I say "kids" because, while the room has two QUEEN beds, only the two oldest boys are sleeping in their tonight. DS10 is sleeping on the Living Room sofa and DS7 is sleeping in the king bed with his Mama (so much for first night of vacation nookie for me which is why I'm able to make this DIS post -- NOTE that even if I do NOT post tomorrow night, it does not necessarily mean I was able to "get lucky" ).

Kids bath:

Master bedroom:

Master bathroom:

After we got settled in a I posted my "Eagle has landed" post, the boys and I headed out to look for something to eat. DW had gotten up at 3:30 a.m. and actually worked a full day so she was beat so we let her stay at the condo while we went in search of food. Let me say that Branson has lots of restaurants but very few "non fast food" ones that stay open past 10:30 p.m. (even on a Friday). We headed to Downtown Branson to one that a website said stayed open until midnight but the website (a Yahoo! site I think) was either wrong OR those were summer season hours. With that restaurant closed, we drove the Highway 76 strip looking for some but we were pretty much limited to Steak n' Shake, Denny's, or IHOP (by this time, it was about 11:30).

All that effort was not for naught however as we spotted a Dunkin' Donuts (which are NON-existant in the KC area) and I picked up a dozen of DW's favorite donuts for her (ok, I picked up four of her favorites because I couldn't remember EXACTLY which ones they were so I got four Chocolate Kreme, four Vanilla Kreme, four Bavarian Kreme -- I think the Vanilla Kreme are the "right" ones).

I told each boy they could get either ONE donut (however plain or fancy) or SIX donut holes. Two boys got donuts and two boys got six donut holes each. I got NOTHING but will surely partake of the dozen of Kreme donuts that were purchased for DW.

At that point, the younger boys were getting tired but DS15 was still hungry and I was getting there so we took the younger boys back to the condo and then DS15 and I went out to eat. We ended up eating at (what we didn't KNOW at the time was) the world's worst IHOP. Food was fair at best (actually they did do my three "over medium" eggs almost perfectly and it did NOT stop me from eating five buttermilk pancakes) as only 1.5 of the 4 bacon strips I had was edible and DS15 proclaimed his omelette "terrible".

We also had to ask a busboy for a fork and knife as our waitress served our food without making sure we had dinnerware. We also never heard another word from her after she took our order (she delivered the food to our table without saying a word to us and DS15 and I were NOT in a discussion of any type at the time -- which MIGHT make it understandable). My free refill drink lso ran dry and was never refilled (or offered to / asked about). I normally tip "Waffle House type" waitresses very very well (sometimes as high as $18 on a $22 bill), especially on the night shift, figuring anyone working there at that time really HAS to work there because they NEED money. Tonight, I left 13% and would have left less than that if I had any change with me.

After IHOP, DS15 and I headed to the 24-hour Walmart Super Center in Branson West and got milk and juice and turkey lunchmeat (Breezy's favorite brand! -- heh).

So, all in all, not a real exciting trip so far but not a bad one either. I'm sure Saturday will be much more fun. Night all!

-- Rob

 

[RobInBigKC]

One more thing... there are definitely Christmas lights around here. Nothing that has really floored me yet BUT I haven't really sought them out yet either. The turn off of 76 Highway onto Indian Point Road (as if you are going to Silver Dollar City) that we make to get to our condo has these trees on BOTH sides of Indian Point Road.

The blurry text that you can't read says "Silver Dollar City".

Driving down we started reminiscing about past trips including those to Branson. We came here in 1994 with one married couple who was childless at the time while we had DS15 (then DS1), in 1996 with a married couple who the guy was a friend of mine and he is now divorced from his second wife (in 1996, it was his first wife that was with us on the trip), and in 1998 with DW's parents. The last time we've been to Silver Dollar City was that 1996 trip so I'm looking forward to it.

-- Rob

 

[RobInBigKC]

Sheesh. Am I the only Chatter who doesn't have a life?

In other words, where is everyone? Sleeping in? Sleep is for wusses!

-- Rob

 

[Toot Sweet]

Hey hags and Rob!

I have bad news, my husband got laid off this past week. Scary. He is an architect, so you can imagine that right now, in this economy, people arent' exactly building things. So we are kinda worried.

But anyway, how are you freaks? Everyone having a good weekend? I am just thrilled to have a day off! My assistant has been buggin' my nerves as of late. I need a couple mental health days!

You will all be devastated to know that Panera no longer serves their breakfast sandwiches!!! They have these lame souffles instead! Not cool! Those breakfast sandwiches were da BOMB!

 

[UtahMama]

BFF- First of all, DONUTS????? I thought I put you on a diet???

Secondly, and most importantly, Breezy hates Buddig pressed "meats".

ThankGod, you picked orange juice and "melk" or I'd worry your poor family was stuck without recognizable food groups.


AND, that kitchen is cute! LOTS of horizontal surfaces to clutter!
Not a fan of the 80's Santa Fe-with-a-hint-of-tropics decore ("day-core"), but it's clean, spacious, and fills your needs fabulously. Plus it was cheap.

Hey, that bathroom is nice! Almost enough counter space for your nanny's makeup tackle box and hair care trunk! SWEET!

LOOOVE the lights I can't wait to see Christmas lights up around town.

Don't stop the Trip Report.

 

[UtahMama]

Hey hags and Rob!

I have bad news, my husband got laid off this past week. Scary. He is an architect, so you can imagine that right now, in this economy, people arent' exactly building things. So we are kinda worried.

But anyway, how are you freaks? Everyone having a good weekend? I am just thrilled to have a day off! My assistant has been buggin' my nerves as of late. I need a couple mental health days!

You will all be devastated to know that Panera no longer serves their breakfast sandwiches!!! They have these lame souffles instead! Not cool! Those breakfast sandwiches were da BOMB!

Awwww CRAP! I can sympathize with you!!!

And, what's this Panera? OHHH, the free internet from the parking lot place. I forgot.

I'm anti-lame souffle, so I feel your pain there too.

 

[UtahMama]

Sheesh. Am I the only Chatter who doesn't have a life?

In other words, where is everyone? Sleeping in? Sleep is for wusses!

-- Rob

Yes.

 

[2girlsmom]

Yes.

It's okay, Wendy. I can't get the multi quote to work either.. But it improves the post count, so its all good.

 

[2girlsmom]

Hey hags and Rob!

I have bad news, my husband got laid off this past week. Scary. He is an architect, so you can imagine that right now, in this economy, people arent' exactly building things. So we are kinda worried.

But anyway, how are you freaks? Everyone having a good weekend? I am just thrilled to have a day off! My assistant has been buggin' my nerves as of late. I need a couple mental health days!

You will all be devastated to know that Panera no longer serves their breakfast sandwiches!!! They have these lame souffles instead! Not cool! Those breakfast sandwiches were da BOMB!

Oh, Bon, I am so sorry to hear about your dh getting laid off. I hope he finds something soon. That is SO scary. My dbil was laid off from July till October before he found a new job, he's in IT, and they sent his job to India. It was really miserable for my sister and bil.

They got rid of the breakfast sandwiches already?!? They haven't even had them very long yet. I generally have to have an orange scone with my chai tea, so hadn't even tried them yet..

 

[kimmar067]

OK, this is the plan, Shay picks up Bon, swings by and gets Squid and then they all head towards RobbIe's, picks him up and then drive up to Kristi's and over to Wendy's and then you are all on your final leg of the trip to the OC!!!!! Wendy will bring all the games for the car as she has volunteered. Rob promises no farting!!!! Before you know it you will all be HERE!! OH and Kim, they will pick you up as well if they can find EXIT 16W in the good ole USA!!!!

I figure by THANKSGIVING!!!!

...just follow the smell.....

 

[UtahMama]

It's okay, Wendy. I can't get the multi quote to work either.. But it improves the post count, so its all good.

I do know how to multiquote, and "improve" is relevant since I'm a little embarrassed about my huge post count (kimmar!!!!). I SWEAR I take care of my kids and bathe once in a while.

Wonder why your Multi quote feature doesn't work? You can borrow my Geek Squad if you want, except he's on vacation.

People, the Twilight sound track is freakin' AWESOME! Loves me some vampires!

Went to the dump today and I think the smell is IN my hair!!! *shudder*...so I'm thinking I need to shower before working out since I fear my sweating will activate the dump-stink that is clinging to my person. On a positive note, I know where you can find a free mattress or sofa.

 

[2girlsmom]

I do know how to multiquote, and "improve" is relevant since I'm a little embarrassed about my huge post count (kimmar!!!!). I SWEAR I take care of my kids and bathe once in a while.

Wonder why your Multi quote feature doesn't work? You can borrow my Geek Squad if you want, except he's on vacation.

People, the Twilight sound track is freakin' AWESOME! Loves me some vampires!

Went to the dump today and I think the smell is IN my hair!!! *shudder*...so I'm thinking I need to shower before working out since I fear my sweating will activate the dump-stink that is clinging to my person. On a positive note, I know where you can find a free mattress or sofa.

I am really looking forward to Twilight,I think it will be really awesome.

WHY were you at the dump?!?

 

[UtahMama]

I am really looking forward to Twilight,I think it will be really awesome.

WHY were you at the dump?!?

I was helping a friend de-clutter her yard before it snows. We hauled off 2 sofas and a bunch of stuff that didn't need to be snowed on or left out. Their "bulk trash" service isn't being offered lately. I have clutter issues, I guess, and it spills over onto my poor real life friends' yards/horizontal surfaces. It actually was FUN...why is it fun to clean/organize for other people? Something to chew on as we finish up the weekend.

You want to come to Salt Lake to party for Twilight properly on Nov. 21st??

We (Twilightmoms.com) MAY have rented out the entire movie theater. There's goody bags worthy of the Acadamy Awards, a grand pianist to play "Bella's Lullaby", a dinner, a Forks High School PROM, and the media will be there. By media I mean "THEE" media. Big time. I can't wait!