Hey, I'm on the ball. The report you are about to read was actually written on the day of the events. 10 bonus points for Kim.

Wait, I have to share something exciting.... before The Haygoods last night, we noticed a bunch of lights and cameras set up outside. While I thought that perhaps the local news had heard that the famous Miss Kim was not only in town, but attending the show that night, it turns out that The Vacation Channel was there filming a promo. This is mucho exciting for me and my girls, who have the whole Vacation Channel jingle memorized.

Welcome friends
Let us entertain you
Let us show you
What there is to see and do...

And here's my picture of the vacation channel dude. He's in yellow. The guy in black is David Sandy, who runs Music City Centre and produces The Haygoods. I'm telling you, my knowledge of that family's show is scary.

OK, back to today....

So I woke up way too early again this morning. Dan tells me that the owner of the condo calls her upstairs neighbor "Big Boy." We found out why at 5 am, when Big Boy got up to get ready for what I assume was his work day. We heard the toilet flush, and the shower run, and what seemed like lots of pacing back and forth. By the time he was gone, I was wide awake.

By some miracle, our children weren't. They slept until after 7 am, so Dan and I had a good hour in our bedroom with him watching ESPN and me reading a book. Aren't we romantic?

We all got up, had breakfast, and then sat around looking at each other. The next 3 hours are punctuated by Mykiah's constant questioning, "What are we going to do today? Can't we just go do something? Are we just going to sit here all day?" Me, I was checking my email, finishing my book, taking a shower, taking everything slow. Dan was watching ESPN, playing Chesney's DS, taking it slow.

Way too slow for Mykiah.

We finally gave in about 10 am and went to do something. I can't remember what we did. Let me think....

Hm. I know we ended up at Quizno's, where we bought subs, then came back and ate them on the patio. Let me ask Kiah...

Oh, we went to the used book store. Just down from Music City Centre, where The Haygoods perform, there's a great little used book store. It's musty and smelly and has a resident cat. I love that place. I got 4 or 5 books there, mostly Kay Hooper books. Chesney got 3 Jigsaw Jones books. I gave in and bought Brady a book I bet he never reads, but he wanted because it's in his Battle of the Books. It was a good haul of books and only $30. I love to stop there and browse and stock up.

OK, then fast forward through lunch....

We had a 2 pm show, so we left about 1 pm. Because although traffic is really light, Dan is very early to everything. Since we were so early, he decided to stop at the $1 Shop, which is my kids' favorite place in Branson. And hey, I actually found something there. Mykiah got some scrunchies, I got a set of ponchos for everyone and I got the girls each their own brush and comb set. Not a bad haul for $1 each.

While we were at the $1 Shop, Dan noticed that it was conveniently located next to the Bart Rockett theater. Bart is a magician, and Dan has wanted to see him for a year. Which is approximately the same amount of time that I have spent telling Dan I really don't want to see the show. I know, I'm a show ho and will go see almost everything, but I have an intense dislike of Bart Rockett, and I don't even know the man. I do know why I have such a dislike for a show I've never seen, but it's not really something I want to put on a blog without firm proof rather than a suspicion, so let's just say I think his marketing tactics are questionable.

And really, how good can a show be when the day before you want to see the show, you're offered front row tickets? OK, I'll quit being so judgmental. We're going to see Bart Rockett tomorrow afternoon. He's going to have to be pretty amazing to impress me, because I'm going in with an attitude. But Dan really wants to see it, Brady wants to see it, and we didn't have anything to do tomorrow anyway.

So after getting our tickets and shopping, it was off to see Six. I'll review their show tomorrow so I won't go into it today.

Came out of Six, slipped their CD in the Uplander (Ok, that's a little hint about how much we liked the show), and drove down to the Landing.

We had a mission... to spend Chesney's Build a Bear gift card. The girl has been dying to spend that thing ever since she got it for Christmas, and I had asked her to wait to spend it until we were in Branson. She agreed, but the girl knew the minute we hit town, and has been asking for approximately 40 hours when we're going. So off we go, down to the Landing.

Branson Landing is such a great place. Very pretty, and it has such a fun atmosphere. We stopped first and went through the Disney store, where we picked up a gift for my niece's birthday.

Finally.... FINALLY... we got to Build A Bear. Ches wanted a new bear, but we've already got a half dozen (or more) of the things. I talked her out of it and tried desparately to talk her into the cute little Branson shirts and the stuffed guitar accessories.

Girl wasn't having any of it. No, she needed another baby outfit. Because we only have 2 of the 3.

Which is fine. Her gift card.

Make that purchase and walk across to Brady's favorite place, The Discovery Store. Right up front is a Mythbuster's book that includes fun experiments for kids. Brady decides he wants to spend his money on it, so he stands in line behind some woman who has apparently never purchased anything before and 10 minutes later, he finally has his book

By this time, we're all mighty hungry. I wanted to try Cantina Laredo, a Mexican restaurant, but the sign outside said "gourmet Mexican" and well, we ain't gourmet. So we walked down a bit further, thinking we'd eat at Garfield's Pub. We've eaten there before and enjoyed it.

'Bout halfway there, we walk past Famous Dave's barbecue, and hey, that looked good. Let's try it. Again, there's one 15 minutes from our house, but we've never set foot in the place. And right now, I can tell you the best thing about Famous Dave's is Mama's Punch. Or whatever it was called. Big honking drink with rum and something else and something else and Sierra Mist.

Made me feel mighty fine.

I don't drink much, but when I'm on vacation, I do like to indulge with dinner. So I did. Just one. But it was a big one.

On the way back out of the Landing, I bopped into Bath and Body Works, where they had travel size containers of their 3 in 1 bath stuff on sale 4 for $10. So I got a Dacquiri, a Melon and an Apple. I'll take at least one to Disney with me. I love this 3 in 1 stuff for travel. Use it as bubbles for the kids when they want a bath. Use it as shower gel for me and Dan. And in a pinch, it works as shampoo. Love it. Need it. Bought it. And in much more fitting scents than the Pumpkin Pie I've been using at home. It's spring, and I love the new Spring scents.

OK, back in the Uplander, drive down the strip. Our destination? Maggie Moo's. I forgot to mention that while we had a treat here on Thursday, we got a coupon for buy one, get one half off.

Just couldn't let that go to waste.

So we all indulged. I had Better Batter with chocolate chips and almonds. Dan had chocolate Better Batter with almonds. Mykiah had Better Batter with M&Ms; Ches chocolate Better Batter with Oreos. Brady had Cotton Candy with Kit Kat. Yes he did. And ate every bite, so I'll keep my mouth shut.

Since I forgot to do pictures at Famous Dave's and at Maggie Moo's today, here's yesterday's photos. I had the same thing as I did today, minus the almonds. Brady had Very Yellow Marshmallow with Butterfinger. Yes he did. And ate every bite, so I'll keep my mouth shut.

Went back to the condo, where my mission was to try out that jacuzzi tub. Splash a little melon in, grabbed one of my new books and a Diet Rite and quickly found myself in heaven.

And that brings us up to the current time. I'm thinking I should go throw some clothes in the washer. The thought of going home with a suitcase full of clean clothes has me positively giddy. And I've got my book, and my Diet Rite and I plan to stay up past my bedtime and read and enjoy one of my last nights before Spring Break ends. I had a rough week last week, followed by a rough day on Tuesday. I want to take all the time for myself I can get.

Coming back to add 2 postscripts, because they just don't fit in my Six review:

1. Six has the best marketing ever. First, I love their brochure and artwork. The graphic design part of me is really drawn to it. And how cute are their cars? They make quite the picture, driving up and down the street. If I hadn't already had tickets, I might have thought about it when I saw those cute cars. I love this idea.

2. When we were purchasing our CDs at the show, one of the performer's wives was taking my money. She asked if she had seen me at The Haygoods the night before. Why yes, she had. My girls were pretty excited to see the six brothers in Six at The Haygoods the night before, and we had actually been standing next to both sets of brothers (Haygoods and Six) while they were chatting after the show. And how cool is it that I was recognized? See, I told Dan, I really am famous. I got recognized. He laughed.

Comments

[Melanie (lemonyr)]

Oh my...here I was thinking you were home already!! *blushing* I love your play by play of the day. Makes me want to be on vacation right now too. It's so nice to be able to just do what you want with no pressure!! :)

Oh, and I just read your comment that you live in a doublewide on my blog. We saw a bunch of those too and found a couple that we LOVED!! If my parents end up moving out of their house for us, they are going to put one of those up on the property that they own (3 acres).

Enjoy the rest of vacation and chill out! I agree with you though...doing laundry there is WAY nicer than doing it when you come home! I love nothing more than coming home with a suitcase of clean stuff that just needs put away. WAY less stress!!! :)

[MandaKay]

oh - I gree with Melanie- this read makes me want to be on vacation! Glad you enjoyed it and took some "you" time!!! Great post and pics!

[Shari]

Sounds like a GREAT trip Kim. I sooooo wish it had worked out so we could have met. Maybe next time you go... ;-)
So, did you like Famous Dave's? We used to have one near us and it was GREAT food. We ate their all the time - LOVE their ribs and their fries! Maggie Moo's is a favorite stop for us too... one right down the street actually. Ü My favorite... Cinnamoo Ice Cream with caramel mixed in. Oh man, wish I wasn't on a diet. LOL