family vacation

We're getting back into the swing of normal life around here after being on vacation with both of our families for a total of 10 days.  First we went to Brown County with my fam and then Branson with Chad's.

There are many fun highlights of the trips that I will post about, but of course there are always a few negatives that I must mention too, just to make sure I don't sound like everything was perfect. :)

The downfalls (but none really all that bad):

+ sleeping in the same room as our kids - worrying about Beck waking up Creighton, Beck getting out of bed a million times at night and wanting to get into bed with us, having to be quiet and maneuver in the dark after the kiddos are sleeping... you've probably been there too and understand.

+ having oddly gray/rainy weather.  there were only 2 completely sunny days the whole time... although the cooler weather felt great and it was nice to not have to slather on the sunscreen

+ taking Beck to the ER at 9:30 one night... turned out to not be anything serious

+ getting caught in construction traffic late at night on the way home, delaying our trip by a good hour (which is a big deal when you just want to get the kids to bed and the car unloaded!)
+ Chad had to work during my families trip to Brown County, but still stayed with us and was with us in the evenings.

Some highlights:

Brown County

+ Meals made on the grill at the campsite.  Lots of yummy grilled meats and veggies were consumed.

food prep.  it was fun to have great gma and gpa furrer on vacation with us.

+ Playing at the indoor water park.

cute little Keaton 

giving the cheesiest "cheese" face.

+ Playing at the playground during meal time.

Beck LOVED wagon rides and it was always a fight to get him to eat his food before running off to ride in the wagon.  Although Braden isn't much older than him, he was usually the one pulling Beck!

+ A visit to Oliver winery, complete with a tour and wine tasting, and then a trip into Bloomington for dinner.

There is much more to Oliver Winery than this picture shows.  I guess I thought this captured everything since it's the only one I took. :)  The landscaping is beautiful and it would be a fun place for a date of wine tasting and an outdoor picnic.

 + Pony rides for the kiddos.

 "Uncle Lukie" leading Beck on his pony ride, which he loved.

We decided to break up the trip from Brown County to Branson with a stop in St. Louis.. which turned out to be a great idea and very fun.  We took a little walk along the river to find some food and then ate on the grass close to the Arch.

Branson

+ Boat rides and water sports

driving the boat with uncle Blair and feeling like pretty big stuff! 

+ Driving the quarter operated school bus.

We only let him ride once (I know, so cheap and impatient of us!), but I'm pretty sure he would have done this over and over!

 + Putt-putt!

Beck has asked to putt-putt several times since we got home... it may have to become a vacation tradition of ours!

 + A trip to the ER... ok, maybe not a highlight in the "fun" sense, but we decided it was a bonding experience.
Oh yes, you want to know why we were at the ER at 10pm (with a bunch of questionable looking people who didn't seem to need to be there)?  Beck was playing with Creighton on the bed when he fell over and I heard a pop.  He was crying and crying that his arm hurt and wouldn't let us touch it or move it.  We decided to take him in and found out that it was just nurse maids elbow.  The Dr. just had to pop his arm back into place and he was good as new, but the whole experience took a couple hours.

A rare moment of smiles during our ER visit when Beck realized that the fruit snacks would stick to his chin. :)

 + Dinner along the water at a fantastic gourmet Mexican restaurant.

being super silly with cousin Dela and eating way too many chips!

+ Pool time! (despite the cloudy weather)

And many other fun times with family that I didn't capture since my arms were often full with a baby... and if they weren't, I was just enjoying the moment.  :)