Branson, Polar Express, Friends and Fun!

 Some great friends have a time share south of Branson at Big Cedar Lodge and they invited us to come spend a few days with them there. We headed out after Katelyn got done with school for the day (which meant that she missed 2 days). The drive was only a little over 2 hours - it was very nice that we didn't have far to go! The first night we had big plans - to ride the Polar Express!!!

The girls on the Landing in Branson and sitting in a boat at Bass Pro Shop.

At dinner on the Landing

At the Branson Scenic Railway waiting on the Polar Express to depart!

Some VERY excited little girls in their jammies ready to ride the train!

Getting on the train!

The whole GANG! And if you've read the book or seen the movie, the hobo on top of the train makes sense!

They read the book as the train just departed. And our train departed at 6:30 PM so it was tough for Will to stay away.

Cookie and Cocoa time!

Their tickets! And they punched their initials in them. Punching "BELIEVE" would not have fit nor would they have had enough time for that.

And Santa came through! I just love the picture of him sleeping next to Will! And Katelyn loves Santa!

After they saw Santa, one of his helpers gave them a bell. Katelyn held on to her bell and ticket for dear life the entire night. I asked several times if I could take if from her but she kept saying "No."

Then the hobos came through and razzed the girls and everyone else. The conductor caught them and "threw" them off! The girls though this was hilarious and even asked the conductor why he got kicked off.

Top: Will and Kennedy playing after Will work up from his nap. Bottom Left: Singing Christmas carols in the aisle.    Bottom Right: Reagan asking the conductor why the guy got kicked off the train!

The cabin we stayed in was awesome! It had 2 bed, 2 bath, pull out couch, full kitchen and all the works. One of the bathrooms had a jacuzzi tub which the girls thought was awesome. Good thing we didn't try it out until the last night!

We had a GREAT time. Katelyn loved the Polar Express and I was pretty impressed how realistic they tried to make everything. The girls had a lot of fun playing and did pretty well with sharing. The moms even got a whole day to head to the outlet to do some shopping thanks to the guys watching the kiddos! It was great! We stayed in Springfield for the last night and then headed to Kansas the next morning to have Christmas with my family. What a fun and busy week! We are so thankful to have such great people in our life!!