BRANSON LABOR DAY '08

At the last minute my Dad informs me he has two hotel certificates that had to be used by the 31st and asked if we wanted them. Hmm....let's think there is no football game this weekend so do we want another vacation......YES! My parents and my oldest brother Rob and his family were all going to be there. We went to Celebration City, Whitewater Bay(free - thanks to a generous lady who overheard my conversation w/my sis-in-law!), the Landings to go to Ridemakerz, the fish hatchery(free!) and the outlets (not so free!) then we left on Monday and stopped by Mikala and Josh's house in Joplin to visit for a bit before going home! I must say we really enjoyed this trip. We got to spend time with my brother and his family even though they were actually there with friends and as all of our trips to Branson we got to spend time with my parents. In all the times we've been to Branson this was our first time to visit Celebration City and Whitewater Bay. We like Celebration City better than Silver Dollar City. It is definately more kid friendly and not as spread out!! The kids just loved both places. I must also say Whitewater Bay was unplanned but an unexpected good time considering I spent the day in a bathing suit and got really burnt. Seriously, there is red, burnt and then my situation which was beyond burnt or burnt to a crisp!! Whitewater Bay was way way better than Big Splash could even dream of being. We also finally made it to Ridemakerz. That place is awesome for little boys who love cars - my boys!! It is basically a Build-a-Bear for boys. They get to actually build the car and pick the parts they want to use (I liked the free ones the best!) I also didn't realize how old Joplin is now. It had been years since I had been there and it is OLD and run down! I'm done now April!!