Brian won a trip to Branson, Mo., and so we took our trip there this week. We left Saturday and stayed overnight in Litchfield, Ill., about halfway of the nine-hour drive. That was the easiest drive of all, as Braden napped most of the way, then we stopped for dinner, and then he watched a DVD until we got to the hotel.

We got to Branson (after a lunch stop in Springfield, Mo.) about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. We didn’t waste any time: after checking into our hotel, we briefly shopped, did a duck ride (a tour of Branson and a lake while riding a duck) at 4 p.m. and then went to Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner show at 5:30 p.m. Braden was so focused on the horses that he stayed put in our laps for 95 percent of the 1.5-hour show (thank goodness!).  We decided not to push our luck any further and headed home after the show (though we took a scenic route by the historic downtown on the way).

On Monday, we discovered that the theme park called Silver Dollar City was closed Mondays-Tuesdays, which really made us sad (that was supposed to be our entire Monday). So instead, we went to the new downtown and the old downtown to shop/sightsee, then we had lunch at a seafood place on the lake. Braden didn’t nap at all in the morning, but he finally fell asleep in the early afternoon, which is when we decided to take a winery tour (he slept the entire time).

After he woke up, we went to the Shepherd of the Hills park to try to do some horseback riding, but we couldn’t find where that was taking place. Instead, we climbed to the top of Inspiration Tower, which is 230 feet tall and has beautiful views of the entire Branson area.  For dinner, we went to a steakhouse that had just one waitress, so dinner was very slow and Braden was getting fairly antsy at the end. From there, we went to a 50s diner and had some dessert (Braden ate a waffle cone), then we tried to ride some go-karts but found out Braden was too short (36-inch minimum height). We retired for the evening at that point.

On Tuesday, we took a two-hour scenic train ride through the Branson area that wasn’t as scenic as described, though the experience was still fun. Braden couldn’t sit still for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time, so we took turns letting him wander throughout the entire train. Of course, Braden fell asleep AFTER that long train ride, so we decided to visit another winery while he slept.

We went to a buffet for lunch that a local couple recommended. It was easy grabbing food for Braden and not waiting for a waiter. Also, with a buffet, Braden got a lot more variety, which is helpful as he often gets tired of eating the same thing too long. We then went to a park so Braden could burn off some energy before we went to our 3 p.m. show–the Shanghai Acrobats. Braden was a bit fussy in the first half, so each of us missed parts of the show as we tried to rock him to sleep. Brian finally succeeded right about the time of intermission; Braden slept the rest of the show.

We went home to rest a bit before dinner. We found a resort on the far west end of Branson up on a very high hill–it overlooks Branson on one side and has a lake on the other. Just beautiful! We were the only ones in our area, so it didn’t bother us as much when Braden got noisy.

Braden had some trouble sleeping that night, but instead of just crying, he simply rolled around his crib while “talking” or standing up from time to time. After nearly an hour of this, Brian finally caved and rocked Braden to sleep.

Wednesday was a LONG day. We left just after 9 a.m., and with three stops (lunch, gas, dinner) and two road construction delays (the one in Illinois lasted almost 30 minutes), we finally got home around 8 p.m. We felt really bad for Braden, who slept little but ate a lot. He was in such a good mood when we got home; we’re not sure he’ll ever get in a car again!

Please make sure to check out the photos!

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