We decided to venture off on our 2nd day of visiting Oma and Papa
(see full post of our trip here Summer Vacay #2)
to Branson to see the sites and the lake. We wanted to meet up with some extended family in the area but alas our plans were thwarted. We improvised by doing the tourist thing. And what is something all tourists of Branson must do?
RIDE THE DUCKS!
For those who have no idea what these "ducks" are, I shall explain. Ducks are vehicles that can drive on land and in water (like ducks can, get it?). Its basically a fun tour of Branson's main drags as well as beautiful Table Rock Lake and the mountains (well mountains for Texans, perhaps for Missourians those were just hills)...
The kids were pretty much won over the minute we boarded and they were given a duck call. Yup, looks like a beak, blow into it and you have a loud obnoxious duck call.
Life doesn't get much better.
We were having a blast (well in the parking lot)... and then as life often does, a perfectly laid plan goes awry. The moment we left the parking lot in our Duck, a thunderstorm strikes. The plastic windows come down, blocking any real view of the sights and locking in the humid smell and feel of summer. Now if you followed this blog long enough, you know our family. This isn't unusual. Quite often we find ourselves in situations we were not expecting, outings run amuck and carefully laid plans changed forever. But you will also notice something we learned long ago... roll with the punches. You might just end up having more fun. Or at least lower your expectations and enjoy the ride. You will at least get a great story out of it (refer to my October post last year regarding our trip to Aruba and a Hurricane named Ivan).
So there we were, in a humid and kind of smelly Duck vehicle... driven by a driver that liked to hit the brakes last minute while commenting on the drivers who didn't have their headlights on. And it was in this moment that my mommy brain said "Holy Crap, no seatbelts?" That's right people. Monsoon thunderstorm, in the mountains, in a Duck vehicle that is speeding with limited brake use and the windows keeping us inside this thing are plastic sheets... My urge to somehow hold onto all five of us with sheer willpower was instant, then smashed. Logistically, the aisle was just too big for my short height to handle it. What to do? I had to play it cool. So I instead did what any "cool" person would do... I whispered across the aisle to my husband to grab the kid next to him and hold on for dear life and brace ourselves with our legs somehow. Of course, if you know him, then you aren't surprised that he laughed in my face.
Our driver, in his infinite knowledge of the tour (but without any other knowledge from what I could gather) decided to take us up to the highest mountain in Branson during said thunderstorm. His theory: the lake wouldn't be fun in this weather. My mental thoughts back at him: a metal Duck with plastic sheets as our only protection at the highest point in Branson in a thunderstorm doesn't seem all that brilliant. But what do I know? At this point in the tour I started giggling, albeit a little hysterically.
Alex did get a kick out of the Army vehicles they had up there - we risked a camera shot through the tarp for him to have shots of these.
This is the first "duck" they used... ours was a MILDLY updated version. But this at least paints the picture for you all in what we were experiencing.
After the storm passed, our driver in his wisdom decided we should get off the mountain and go to the lake part of the tour. This part was FUNNY. As we see the lake ahead of us (see picture below) our driver asks us how would we like to get into the lake:
(1) Dukes of Hazard style (if you don't know what that is, quit reading my blog you are too young)
(2) Like a turtle
I was jokingly yelling "DUKES OF HAZARD" for the fun of it.... and I was laughing with everyone else. Until. Until the driver said "Okay, Dukes of Hazard it is" and proceeded to immediately with no time to even prepare hit the gas and run our Duckfrom dry land into water at a speed of at least 40 mph...
Guess what? We didn't die!
(If you thought we didn't make it, you are also no longer allowed to read this blog).
The faces of relief that we were alive - and at this point feeling pretty invincible.
AJ thought it was so cool that we raced into the water
And here we are: Table Rock Lake! Beautiful, even after a storm.
Okay so maybe I was still clutching the children a little bit more than needed... hehe.
Your eyes do not deceive you - AJ drove the Duke! On the water that is. He was so proud of himself!
KK took this shot of an island we circled
And Baby Kins... she didn't want to see the view yet. She was all about standing up like a big girl and talking to the strangers around us.
I could have stayed out here for hours enjoying this view. Peace right?
Well.. not in our family! On the other side of the aisle, Baby Kins decided she really wanted to wrestle her big brother. And he takes it all while smiling at her. I love this picture, pretty much shows you their special little bond.
We make these look good!
Of course KK had to drive too!
She is definitely a water-baby, she was loving the view and talking to me and telling me all about it. I did actually have to hold on to her pretty tight as she thought jumping ship was an option.
Our boys!
All in all it was a great trip. I am not going to say I didn't clutch the kids as we drove 60mph in a duck on the way back to base, but the views and the laughing were worth it! The rest of our day got rained out but we celebrated our survival (ahem, I mean trip) with some salt water taffy and naps on the drive home.
See the rest of our trip with our family at the following link:
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