Warming up to Branson

I always thought that Branson was a place you either loved or hated. Outside of the outlet malls, I have always hated it. Even the outlets rarely lure me north of the state line. However, we spent just under 24 hours in Branson this weekend, and I have to admit that we all had a really good time. We stayed at the Grand Country Inn (and "Grand" is a stretch for sure!) which has an indoor/outdoor water park. Nathan loved it! He stayed there with my mom earlier this summer and has been wanting to go back.

We all spent some time Thursday night at the water park and went back on Friday morning. Ashley and I only stayed at the hotel for about an hour, and then we spent the rest of the day shopping. We have not been up there since Branson Landing opened, and I must say, it was nice. They don't really have many stores that we don't have in central Arkansas, but the layout was nice, and it was right on the river. We ate lunch out on the deck at Joe's Crab Shack because the weather was perfect.

Ashley is such a good shopping partner. She compliments everything I try on ("Oh, that is so cute. You look en-dorable!"), and she is so portable these days. I'm generally a huge fan of strollers, but we didn't have one with us. I just stuck the truck key, phone, and debit card in my pocket, and off we went! I had to carry her a little bit, but she did great!