Staycation with Cousins

 We drove up to Kansas City in June to meet Tommy and Nicole. We checked into the Great Wolf Lodge which has been on our "vacation" list for quite some time. It is a hotel with an indoor water park. It is a bit pricey but the kids had a blast. We only stayed for one night. We were able to swim for awhile the day we checked in and then again in the morning. Then we checked out and went to Oklahoma Joe's for lunch. Followed by a quick stop to Trader Joes and then a drive up to Liberty Jail.

Then we drove back down to Nixa and stayed at the house for about four days. While here, we played outside a lot. We went to Busiek one day and Silver Dollar City another. We also checked out Bass Pro. The day we went to Silver Dollar City, we had a surprise visit from Grandpa Brady. He had driven all night to bring the families' new puppies out so the kids could see them.  The Bradys bought one and then Tommy and Nicole ended up buying the sister. Both puppies had been sick so they hadn't been able to bring her along for the trip. The kids were so excited to see these puppies. They may have stolen the show, even over all the other things we did.

The first year Jon and I were here we bought season passes to SDC and forced ourselves to go enough to make them worth it. We haven't been back since. But they added a new kids area and Benson is obviously tall enough to go on the rides (that we feel would be safe for him). So this time around was a lot more fun. Brooklyn would have been tall enough to go on some of the older kid rides but there was still plenty for them to do. We filled the entire day and didn't leave until closing.

 It was also our first time doing the Marvel Cave. They make the hike sound like it will be akin to completing a marathon before you start. Really, it wasn't bad and even the little ones did it just fine. There were a lot of stairs but they were spread out. I carried Annabelle and drug Brig through and Jon had Benson in the Ergo. Brigham had some pretty intense anxiety throughout the journey. There was a lot of dripping water and he kept worrying that it was blood from vampire bats. At the beginning of the tour, they talked a lot about all the bats, though none of them were said to be vampire bats. Despite his worrying, and sometimes crying a bit, he made it through and walked the whole way. It was a really cool cave and I'm glad we did it.

 Here are the puppies. Mitty and Chewy. Everyone loved the puppies but Benson always found a way to steal them from everyone. Especially Chewy.