We really wanted to do SOMETHING for Spring Break but timing with Jon's job, our own energy levels and schedules, we knew it needed to just be somewhere drivable for a couple of days. We did some vrbo and airbnb surfing, looking for a place with a hot-tub, because I figured that if we at least had a hot tub then we'd have something to have fun with wherever we went. We also decided to go South, hoping we'd get somewhere at least a few degrees warmer.
We ended up finding a little cabin in Branson, MO! I had heard good things about Branson but never been so we figured it should be a good time! We just drove down Thursday of Spring break and came back Saturday so it was very short, especially considering the drive ending up being a lot longer than we anticipated. The 6 hour drive (which was actually 6 1/2 but we had rounded down in our heads), plus 4 kids and food and bathroom breaks, plus pit stops, ended up being more like 9 hours and was very tiring! Next time we will have to stay in Branson a couple more days to make it worth it!
On the way down we stopped at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It was slightly out of the way but we figured we might as well since it was so close! Adam-Ondi-Ahman was revealed to be the place where Adam and Eve came to live after being kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It is also the place where Saints are to gather around the 2nd coming of Christ. It was basically a big empty valley and fields, but it was pretty and neat to be there!
Thursday night was pretty cold when we got to the cabin but everyone still wanted to get in the hot tub! The kids had a blast playing around in it, even long after Jon and I decided it was too cold to be outside!
Friday morning we went to a place called Top of the Rock for the Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail. It was a 2 mile loop you go on on a golf cart that goes by a bunch of waterfalls and through a big cave with waterfalls. It was really cool and gorgeous! Only downside was that it was a bit chilly and about halfway through kids started needing to go to the bathroom and whining a bit, but overall it was definitely worth it! I would go again for sure!
After grabbing some lunch, the kids spent the afternoon playing in the hot tub while Jon and I relaxed and read books. Then we went out and walked through the cabin community- which appeared to be an old golf course, and explored some of the ponds and trails and played on the playground. Colton found some tadpoles in the pond and was pretty excited about it, but also pretty bummed he couldn't catch one. For dinner that night we opted to go to a local restaurant. It was...not good. Haha, I tried to stay positive, and I guess it was sort-of fun to be out at a restaurant with the family after the last year of being home all the time, but the food was not good. After dinner we did another walk around the trails and played on the park some more. After kids went to bed Jon and I watched a movie, and went out to enjoy some kid-free night time hot tubbing :)
Saturday we stopped by a Wild Animal Safari that had been recommended on the way home. It was about an hour north of Branson so we opted to do it as a pit-stop on the way home. In hindsight, it made the drive home REALLY long, so I probably wouldn't do it that way again.
The safari was cool. They had a "walk-about" and a drive-through portion. The drive-through portion was pretty cool and felt legit enough. The walk about was....interesting. It felt a little to close to a Joe Exotic establishment (from Tiger King). It seemed a bit run-down, the cages didn't seem totally up to code, there were monkeys in random cages in the corner of the gift shops and it reeked in there! It was a little weird. Hopefully it was all on the up and up! The drive-through part was pretty fun. Lot of animals to see and many came right up to the windows for the kids to pet! Zach was ecstatic that he got to pet a zebra. He said, "It's always be my dream to pet a Zebra!" There were some pretty huge long horned cows that freaked us out trying to stick their heads in the window as well, and ended up slobbering all over the inside of the window. Madi did not much care for the animals sticking their heads in the window. She would lay all the way down on my lap to get away and shake her hands at them to go away. She said her favorite were the piggies. She really wanted to pet the piggies but unfortunately they were too short and we weren't allowed to get out of our car. We saw ostriches, wild pigs, elk, caribou, bison, zebras, donkeys, something that looked like a mix between a donkey and zebra which we named a Zonkey, a bear, wolves, and much more! (The more dangerous animals were fenced off.) It was a pretty fun experience but got a little long in the end.
As I mentioned, the drive home felt REALLY long and we were pretty exhausted when we finally got there but overall, though not a rejuvenating trip, it was fun and nice to get out and do something different!
