The Last Weekend of 2013

The weather was perfect this past Saturday for a trip to Branson for some shopping and to enjoy all the lights at Silver Dollar City. Since it was in the 50s most of the day, we knew there would be tons of people out but Griffin and I were excited to meet Shiloh there for an afternoon of fun. 

We beat her there and I quickly realized what an uphill battle it is to shop solo and keep track of a 2 year old while pushing the (empty, but should have had the little boy in it) stroller. He had a real good time running wild in the Gap, complete with a run through behind the checkout counter prompting one employee to yell out, "Is anyone missing a kid?" There I was trying to maneuver my huge stroller around as fast as I could to catch up with him. I think he got strapped back in immediately after that. We worked on "staying near mommy" all day. He will never learn if he doesn't get a chance to do it, right?

lots of fun things to ride at the outlet mall

This year, Griffin is really into "kissmas lights" and loves to point them out when he sees them.....so I knew Silver Dollar City would definitely wow him a lot more this time around. If you've never been to see the lights, it is definitely worth at least one trip. We also got to ride the train for the first time. During our summer visit we waited for almost an hour, only for it to break down when it was our turn! Another exciting fact......next summer Griffin will be tall enough to ride pretty much everything in the kiddie area!! Woohoo!

it took an hour and 45 minutes to get from the strip to the entrance,
thankfully, Griffin was able to get a little nap in!

it was dark when we did, but we finally made it!

 

watching the parade go by, cramped with a million other people
on the side of the streets

 

finally on the train!

the train stops and "Grandpa" tells the story of baby Jesus

 

when we got back Griffin had to get a closer look at the steam engine

the next group preparing to leave the station

 

 

 

and Griffin waved them off!

 

the carousel isn't far from the train station

 

Aunt Shiloh was on duty to ride the frogs and butterflies this time
-- it's hard to get good action pictures in the dark

duck faces, haha

 

an exaggerated "cheese"....what a little turkey

his faces are hilarious

 

Thank you for meeting us Aunt Shiloh! We had such a good time with you, as always!