an action-packed weekend

Nick and I had a really good time in Springfield this past weekend! Friday evening, we went with my Dad, my brother, and my 6-year-old niece, Gina, to Chuck E. Cheese's. Not to make you jealous, Rebecca, but it was rather empty at the time, and not too loud at all! And the pizza was actually pretty good. We three adults just sat at the table for the most part, letting the two kiddos run amuck. Amuck, amuck, amuck! :) Nick blew through his tokens with alacrity and had a blast. The rat made an appearance while we were there, and Nick rushed to give him a big hug. :) After leaving Chuck's, we walked a few stores down to the PetSmart, where the kids had a ball running around and looking at the animals. I really enjoyed spending some time with my brother and talking with him - doesn't happen nearly enough, and I always enjoy it when it does! After that, Dad, Nick, and I went to Target, where I found a cute pair of shoes for Nick. It's funny - buying new shoes for Nick is almost as thrilling for me as buying them for myself!

Saturday, we got going fairly early (for a Saturday, anyway) and made our way to Branson, where we went to the Dinosaur Museum. This place has life-size replicas of many dinosaurs, along with lots of facts about them. It was pretty cool! Nick's favorite part was the bounce-house, of course. After that, we started to make our way to the new Branson airport for this big air show they were having, but soon changed our minds as we saw the traffic headed that way (it was copious and stationary - not a good sign). In retrospect, we made the right decision, because the next day's newspaper had an article about the air show which said that at one point, it was taking people 2 HOURS to go the 10 miles from the highway to the airport. OMG. My sister and her husband went and they said it was amazing, but I still think we made the right decision. And all was not lost in that respect, which I'll get to in a moment.

So, when we decided to put the ix-nay on the air show, we figured we should do something else fun instead of just going home. We toyed with going to the IMAX theater, but then my Dad suggested the Branson Scenic Railway, which is a real train ride through the beautiful Ozarks countryside and into Arkansas and back. It takes about an hour and 45 minutes, and I'd always wanted to do it. We decided on that, and arrived at the station only to learn that we had just missed the 11:30 train and would have to to wait until 2:00. To kill the time, we went to Branson Landing, which is a beautiful new-ish shopping and dining complex on the banks of Lake Taneycomo. We rode the trolley which takes people up and down the brick promenade, walked around a bit, and ended up at Romano's Macaroni Grill for lunch. Because it was such a lovely day, we decided to dine al fresco on the balcony overlooking the lake. Lovely! The food was excellent and decadent, and it was a very nice, relaxed meal. We finished just in time to head to the train station for our railway adventure, about which Nick was virtually hyperventilating at this point.

We boarded the train and got to sit in one of the VistaDome cars. This is a car with a lower and upper section, and the upper section has windows that wrap up onto the ceiling, thus giving one a fabulous view. All the cars in the train were built in the 1950s or so, and were really neat! Nick had an absolutely wonderful time, and Dad and I really enjoyed the ride as well! And here's the reason that all was not lost as far as the air show - we actually got to see some of it from the train! This almost blew Nick's mind. :) We actually had a wonderful view of a stealth bomber, and even got to see several stunt plans doing twists, spirals, and loop-de-loops. It was great! Not as great as seeing the whole air show, to be sure, but the best of both worlds, in my opinion. The train ride took us through a couple of tunnels, which Nick loved. He charmed the heck out of all the older folks on the train with us - he just chatted with them the whole time, and was quite entertaining. The best part for Nick, though, came when the conductor came through our car to punch our tickets. He took Nick's ticket and held it behind his back, pretending to punch it there, and then he punched a letter "N" in it, a la The Polar Express. Nick about died! It was the icing on the cake of a perfect day.

By the time we got back to my Dad's house, we were all pretty exhausted. I needed to do a bit of shopping, though, so I headed to the mall to do just that. As usual, I scored some amazing deals at JCPenney by combining sales and coupons. I got a $36 pair of jean shorts for $3.69, and I got two shirts for Nick for $6 total. At Bath and Body Works, I got $50 worth of stuff for $24 - not bad! They have a new scent, white citrus, which is very nice. I got back to Dad's in time to put Nick to bed, and I followed not long thereafter.

Sunday morning, I ran out briefly to get the car washed and gassed, and then returned to Dad's house, where I gave the car a really good detailing - beautiful! In the early afternoon, we met my sister, brother-in-law, and two older nieces for a Chinese buffet. It was yummy, and it was wonderful to see my nieces and talk with them. Caitlin, the oldest, will be moving to Florida in a couple of weeks, which makes me very sad. I'm happy for her as she embarks on her dream to become a marine biologist, but I'll miss her sorely!

After lunch, Nick and I headed straight home, and here we are! It was a wonderful, whirlwind weekend, but it's nice to be back home. And we'll be heading back to Springfield this weekend for Caitlin's college graduation. Meanwhile, my baby "graduates" from preschool this week, and I have my last MOPS meeting of the year - it seems to be a week of endings, and of new beginnings...