Ozarks 2023!

We went to the Ozarks a week earlier than normal, and the weather was much more bearable this year. (Or maybe it wasn't as miserable being outside because I wasn't pregnant). The boys did great during the drive. They both were starting to lose it in St. Louis-which worked out because we were going to stop there for lunch anyway. Then, they lost it when we got to Branson-which worked out because we were there! 

This photo is out of order, but Branko was Nora's shadow the whole trip! Thank you for taking him under your wing Nora! He sure looks up to you.

When we arrived, we settled into our room. It was the perfect room for us-main level, corner room, with no neighbors on either side of us. Hopefully we didn't wake our neighbors above and below us! 

The car was pretty tight, but only because our stroller takes up most of the space! Branko didn't nap the whole way down, but was very content watching shows on his tablet. 

Our first morning, Mary was making bacon, and she set off the smoke alarm. The only way to get them to turn off was the fire department. Branko got a plastic fireman's hat that says "Branson" on it. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only time the fire department had to come to our rescue. I was feeding Conrad during all of this, but they let Branko take a peak inside the truck!

The house we stayed in was part of a resort or condo complex? Unclear what was all a part of it. Anyway, it had multiple outdoor pools and an indoor pool. Branko got to go swimming-a lot!

The house we stayed in was very similar to the house we were in 2 years ago. I love the big balcony, we spent a lot of time out there. Only downfall this year about the balcony, was that Branko kept throwing things over the edge!

Lots of shuffle board was played. Such a fun game! You'll see lots of photos of Branko and Nora.

Who's this teenage boy with his hands in his pocket striking a pose?

We went to a nearby aquarium/zoo/mini golf near our house. You never know what type of places you're going to find in Branson.

I had to take a picture of this sign. Curtis and his dad, Andy, recently bought a vending machine to put in their local town square. The sign says, "More people are killed every year by a bee sting or soda machine falling on them."

Outside of the aquarium park, there were zoo animals. This place was WAY bigger than I was expecting.

My mom always buys souvenirs for the kids. Her is Conrad's new hat! Branko got caterpillar crocs.

Behind our house was a golf course. Patrick got to play a quick 9 and I got to ride along and enjoy the scenery. Our house backed up to the 11th hole (I think).

The Texas crew arrived later this day. I don't have any pictures of this, but Pat and I created a trivia game and drew names out of a hat for teams. My dad, Jodi, Steph, and Nora won the trivia! We'll try and do it again next year. We mixed a bit of Benetti history mixed with pop culture/history/geography.

As always, we rented 2 pontoon boats to enjoy Table Rock Lake. We left the boys at home with my parents who weren't planning to go. It worked out well because when we were golfing the day before, I saw a newspaper stand and the headline on the newspaper was "2 year old drowns in Table Rock Lake." The lake always makes me nervous with the boys, but I felt like that was enough of a sign to keep them back at the house this year.

We left the boat earlier than everyone else and we took the boys swimming to one of the outdoor pools with my mom. The water was cold! When Branko jumped in he said, " HOT HOT HOT." 

The next day, everyone went to the show boat for dinner. We didn't think the boys would do well watching a show and eating dinner on the boat, so we stayed back with my parents and went to a car show with my dad. My mom did a little shopping during this time to find more souvenirs, unfortunately, they were about to close by the time she got there! We were one of maybe 5 people in the museum, Branko went through a phase where he would stand in front of everything and "smile" for a picture. Once we got to the old fashion cars, he kept touching them and going under the rope, so it was time for him to go into the stroller.

This was my favorite car.

Group shot of everyone on the show boat! It looked like a good time!

This was my dads favorite car out of all of them. A 1991 Rolls Royce Silver Spur II.

I had like 10 pics of these two in this pose and one of them always had their eyes closed

My one and only cousin on my dads side, Sherry, came from San Antonio and joined us this year!

One evening, we went and played mini golf across the street from our house. Here is our group, "Spicy Texas chica chili" something. I can't even remember! It was a a saying on Sydneys shirt. We sure had a great time and had a lot of team spirit! When one of us hit a hole in 1 or only needed 2 strokes to get the ball in, we twirled our golf clubs in the air. The volcano would randomly erupt so we tried to get a team pic in front of the flame, here are our multiple attempts!

Branko got the teens into his favorite youtube channel, "Danny Go!"

We made pretty decent time on our way home and only made 2 stops (I think). Once we got home, it was time to go for a walk-Branko's favorite activity. It was a fun trip! We were tired parents at the end with a toddler refusing to go to sleep. Branko did great and did not have a single accident and made it to the potty every time for the whole week! He started a new classroom at school the following week. Rough transition for him to say the least! Thank you mom and dad for providing us the house and we're so lucky we get to do this every year!