Time Flies When You're​ Finally Having Fun

2016 was so full of Adventure!

Our Family spent the last year making amazing family memories. 
They were way over due.

We did more last year than the prior four years combined. We actually had not even left Colorado since our daughter was born. Our Gypsy souls (which is really an Army brats soul) needed to travel again.

Hitting the highway.

Finding myself exploring the beautiful world God created again was very healing. 

A piece of my traveling heart was back. A little reminder of the life I had growing up. Constantly traveling across the country or the world.

It was exactly what my family needed​. I really was excited to begin the endless journey of showing my daughter the world, sharing my passion for exploring with her. I wanted to watch her fall in love with new places and old favorites. This was exactly something this Momma needed.

Our first family trip was a blessing, to Missouri. This was my first road trip with my toddler, other than to Denver. I was nervous about the car ride, but my daughter watched Frozen and napped the entire way there. She was perfect. We found our new travel buddy!

We headed east to stay two nights at the Welk Resort in Branson, Missouri.

We arrived in Branson the end of Memorial Day weekend. Just in time for most people to head home, leaving the resort fairly empty. This was perfect timing. The lack of people, provided us with more fun at the pool and splash-a-torium. We never ran into any crowds or lines our entire stay.

The Welk had a very comfortable room.

We had a fabulous view from our room of the rolling hills and the second pool that was usually always empty. I love pool views.

We saw the Million Dollar Quartet on our first night, which was actually playing at the resort. It was very convenient to have a theater right on the resort grounds.

 I love Johnny Cash and thought the show was pretty awesome. I just read online that Hollywood was making a movie based off of this show and actually happened to see the preview last night. It looks very good. 

Of course we left early! We wore our bathing suits under our clothes so we could hit the pool before it closes. We are all water babies. 

The Welk had some really awesome elevator doors!

        

The following night we saw The Dutton's perform. It was really cute, but I wonder if there are child labor laws for these shows. Maybe they do not apply when acting or when you work for family and probably do not get a paycheck? 

My daughter loved both of the shows. We got a soda and popcorn at each one. That may be half of why she loved them so much.

Of course we left early again to hit the POOL!

My husband hit the HOT TUB!

We did not do anything extra in Branson. It looked overwhelming with fun. There was so much to do. Branson would be great for teens. We were content swimming as much as possible.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, they had a mini version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall on display. They also lined the walk way with the flags of all the military branches. Of course I had to fix any flag that was wrapped up by the wind. Must be the Army brat or girl scout in me. They even had a pencil and paper for you to do a rubbing off the wall. This was very respectful on the Welk Resorts part.

If you have not realized by now, we love to swim, so we spent almost all our time at the hotel. It had an indoor/outdoor splash park with an indoor/outdoor pool as well. They called it a Splash-a-torium.  My daughter's love for swimming really broke through here and she swam for hours. There was a big slide that she went down many times all by herself.  There was never a line and the water was warm and the air temperature comfortable. One day it was a bit cloudy and a bit chilly with no sun so we didn't play outside to much. Indoors stayed nice and warm so you could continue to enjoy the water.  

She had a blast! 

   

        

   

If you know my husband, than you know we had to go to the river. However he had no interest in fishing here. 

               

(This actually should be a story of its own.)

There were fish hatcheries everywhere and they emptied into the the river. Four guys were fishing the spot where the hatchery poured into the river. I do not see the thrill or the the sport here. Fishing a hatchery run is just wrong and kind of lazy. There were so many guys casting into the same spot they all got their lines tangled together. I almost died laughing. I laughed so much my husband was laughing. We had to walk away. 
No offense Branson fly fisherman.

           

                         

I would say this is for Anglers over 80 years old. My husband was not putting a toe in this water.
This is reason one. Reason two is even better. 

No toe or line will go in a river full of SLIME. Didymo, Did you know? 

How disgusting. Sad. More disgusting.
You are supposed to use a foot bath to clean your boots before entering the river. 

     

This was the foot bath for your wadding boots. I think you would get Didymo trying to rinse your boots in this disgusting tub. I would not scrub anything in there. No wonder the river bottom is filled with this stuff. No proper cleaning station. It obviously never has been cleaned. They should rename it the dirty station. Salt Solution? Looks like pollution. Who is in charge of this station? 

We had fun checking everything out. However,

I was glad we weren't staying because after Didymo, I was not ready to watch out for the Siren!

                 

 

 In September we got to say Goodbye Colorado, again! 
This time on an airplane. We are heading to the Sunshine state!

Since I have not traveled in a while I forgot they had this box at the airport. 
Only in Colorado.
  I guess you drop your pot in this box before you leave, if you are dumb enough to bring it to the airport. You are stupid if you don't. I knew our airport had this box installed years ago. I am guessing it is used or they would not still have one.

As we go through baggage there is a Zika warning. As a woman trying to get pregnant this made me uneasy. Security was a breeze. It was way easier then going through security at the social security office. We forgot about some milk in a cup and the nice TSA lady poured it out. She didn't try confiscating my cup like the rent a cop. Pretty ironic. 

It was my daughters first plane ride. She was an angel. Of course big eyed pink puppy had to come with us. He's a world traveler as well. 

Changing planes in Atlanta is easy when Daddy lets you ride your suitcase through the airport. I think this was more fun than the tram and the plane ride. 

  

This to me it was so cute and funny I have to share a few photos! She is loved!

You never can get to your vacation​ fast enough. Our flight was overbooked and they were looking for seats. After going to bed at 1 a.m. and getting up at 4 a.m. (plus a toddler) no amount of Delta dollars would of kept me in Atlanta. I just wanted to get us all safely to FLORIDA! 

It's been 7 years since I've been to my parents home and I was super excited.

My cousin lives nearby and has 3 beautiful girls. My daughter currently has no girl cousins or friends and she spends most her time with boys. Her best buddy is a boy.  

Luckily three girl cousins live a few streets away from my parents. We decided the first thing we would do upon arriving in town was to visit them. They each have a name like a princesses and their ages range from 8-14 years old. My daughter was extremely excited to meet them. The first thing we did was hit their pool. (Of course!)

Sadie was in hog heaven: a pool, three girls to swim with, and a swimming dog!

See Cosmo on the left. He reminded me so much of my late Buddy Boy, that I could not stop kissing him. Tearing up a few times. I had a crush on him. 

 After swimming they went upstairs to play in their bedroom. She did not want to leave. Sadly, we had to go since it was getting late and the girls had school the next day. 

We unfortunately did not get in more time with them during our trip. 

Sadie asks at least once a week if she can go back to Florida and play with her "girl cousins". She needs a sister.

Go Cosmo Go!

The next week was a whirlwind. We spent 5 days at a Disney Resort and hit all 4 Disney World Parks. It was fun and exhausting. It was great to go with my husband, daughter, Mom, & Dad. 

We made memories that will last a lifetime and I bought the pictures to prove it. Sadie did really great for her age. No tantrums or fits, just a few tired moments. It was hot. So hot I barely ate. It was hard adjusting to humidity after a long seven years. Poor Sadie had no idea what humidity even was. 

I think I see my daughters future in the making here. Throw in a fake accent and horse teeth and she will look just like Princess Aurora one day. She was gorgeous and sweet, just like my daughter.

Taking my husband on the Tower of Terror and Rocking roller coaster for the first time,  was pretty awesome. I enjoyed​ knowing he was a first timer and I was excited to watch his experience. He really enjoyed both rides. Even if it meant missing the special seats at Fantasmic. However, I like to call that mis-information. 

The rest of the trip we relaxed, hit up some awesome Orlando outlets and Cocoa Beach. My daughter had no fear of the waves and my husband lost his sunglasses. It was tons of fun. I will spare you the details of each Disney park because I prefer we move on to GERMANY. Next and soon, I promise, I will share that amazing trip with you very soon. 

Currently the beach is calling...... or is that Beaches Resort that is calling?

Either way, I want to see blue water!