I love a rainy night....

If you need rain, let me tell you who to call: US! Let me explain.....

We made our second trip to Branson this year on Friday, instead of the beach in Alabama/Florida as we had planned, so we could use the free tickets I won to Silver Dollar City/Whitewater/Celebration City. (that's another post altogether!) We didn't get to leave until Friday after 4 because the 2 youngest boys were to find out who their teachers were for this year. The class lists were posted at 4. So we waited around. Bart had a couple of conference calls until almost 4, so that worked well. The boys and I spent the day getting the travel trailer ready, clothes and food in the camper, all manner of toys and paraphernalia that a family of 4 boys needs for a long weekend.

But I digress.... we arrived here Friday night about 8:30 and the weather was WONDERFUL! It was dark, mostly, and only about 75 degrees and not humid at all, unlike when we left home where it was 98 or so and very very humid. We got all setup and all, ate dinner and went to bed.

The next morning, we got up to get ready for SDC, I cooked some breakfast, everyone showered and dressed and we left. It was still only about 75 degrees maybe, and there were quite a lot of dark clouds around. We fell into the unbelievably long line of cars going to SDC, it wasn't very far, but at 12:30 on Saturday, everyone seemed to be going at the same time!

We parked on the "back 40" of the parking lots, at least it seemed like that, and realized we had forgotten Tyler's stroller. Now granted, at 5 years old he doesn't need it. But as long as he wants to ride in it and it keeps him happy and keeps him from complaining when his older brothers want to ride the scary/fast/thrilling rides, I'm going to take that stroller on trips until the wheels completely fall off. We hop on the tram from the parking lot, get to SDC, bypass the ticket line and go on to the turnstiles. We had a great time walking through the park to go to the Grandpa's Mansion which is like a funhouse. I found a really great store with primitive decorative stuff which I LOVE! I managed to purchase a few things while the boys were entertaining themselves in the fun house, then we played some checkers and I watched my 5 year old beat my 12 year old! We meandered to the Christmas shop where I found an adorable snowman bell for our tree.

(aside: I've made a habit of buying an ornament everytime we go somewhere on vacation or on a trip of any kind and our tree is completely bursting! When I was younger, my parents owned a gift shop that had ornaments and Hallmark stuff. They started buying my sister and me an ornament every Christmas so when we got married, we had our ornaments to start our tree with. I have done that with the boys, also, but I have bought one ornament that's fairly distinctive to the place we have been on our travels. )

Anyway, we gobbled some dinner/lunch at a great restaurant with wonderful fried chicken, mashed potatoes, etc., then guess what? The rain started! When we were here on 4th of July weekend to use our free passes for the first time, we had a torrential downpour on the day we came to SDC. It pretty much rained the entire time we were in Branson, soaking our towels, outdoor rugs, and the chairs that we set under the awning of the camper for our campfire or just for hanging out in the campground wherever we are staying.

And today was no different. I took Tyler and the rental stroller and went in search of the ponchos that they sell at every theme park in the world when it rains. I managed to find one that would fit over him and most of the stroller and then one for me. The older boys and Bart had gone to a water balloon catapult type thing and were laughing like maniacs while throwing water balloons at each other. When they finally had to give up and let someone else have a turn, that's when they decided to ride the Lost River of the Ozarks which is a water ride that you get completely soaked.

Keep in mind that the temperature had dropped with the rain, of course, and it was now a balmy 65 degrees and frigid rain falling, still. It had been raining for approximately 2 hours now and there was no end in sight. I finally talked them into leaving the park then, everyone was leaving, and a lot of the rides were closing, but mostly WE WERE FREEZING! Have you ever said that in August before? Me, neither!

We drove back the short distance to the camper, after getting to ride in an open air tram through the rain (just like July 4th weekend) which just added goose bumps on top of goose bumps! And still it rained. It rained almost all night, off and on hard rain and then sprinkles. I had to haul the wet stuff down to the laundromat because really, who wants to have sopping wet clothes hanging around until Tuesday? NOT ME!

The next morning dawned with very dark clouds, breezes and a high temp of about 75. I wore a jacket all day with my shorts, Tyler wore a long sleeved shirt while we shopped at Branson Landings, which is fabulous!

The entire weekend the boys have begged to go to White Water. But until 4:00 today, the temperature had not gotten above 75 degrees. And we all know that since school starts on the 18th, they cannot come home from vacation with a cold, can they? So we have put them off. We have used our free White Water tickets one time all summer. And we won't use them this trip at all due to the cool weather. Our next planned trip here is in November when the boys have a couple of days out of school and White Water will be closed, but it's too cold then anyway!

Am I complaining? No way! I never thought I would be wearing a jacket out in August, last night it got down to 61 degrees! We have had the doors open and the windows in the camper open to catch this beautiful fall-like weather. I have enjoyed it so much and apparently when we head home tomorrow, the weather in Conway will still be cool and rainy. Savor it while you can, I sure am!