The Cruise to Nowhere:
We started our venture at 9:00am.......yes, Dad told us to be ready at 7:30 and we were indeed ready then. After an hour and a half wait...Dad and Deb arrived. Then we were Galveston bound! Hurricane Alex had been all over the news, but we were hoping that it wouldn't affect our trip. HOWEVER, Mr. Alex sure did come into play when we pulled up to the port in Galveston to find that there was NO SHIP!! Due to the bad weather, the previous cruise ship could not port, therefore causing us to have to get a hotel for the night and load the ship the following day. Due to a day being lost, we were made aware that our already short 4-day cruise.....was now a 3-day cruise to NOWHERE?!?!
We made the best of it and actually stayed (Thanks to Dad and Deb) in a really nice hotel on the fancy "private" floor 15. We ate dinner at a really good restaurant that night where...they forgot dad's salad...dad found a long hair in his food...and the waitress dropped a tray of food everywhere...but, the lobster bisque was great! :-)
After boarding the boat the next day, we all 4 had a really good time while on the ship. David took FULL advantage of the "free food" so to speak. Every night at dinner he ordered at least 2 entrees ....sometimes even 3! Dad packed "enough clothes for 2 weeks" and then soon discovered that the clothes he packed didn't fit and he ended up wearing the same 3 outfits the whole time. We no longer had to worry about spending money on an excursion because our cruise was to "nowhere" so we very quickly decided to put that money towards the casino. Debbie and I really enjoyed playing Roulette....hours of entertainment and we both ended up being "up" at the end. David attempted to learn Craps, but didn't have much luck. At one point, we all four were at the slot machines and thanks to dad's determination and Debbie having us all "look away" we won big! I think between the four of us, we ended up winning a total of about $2,300!
There was no fun in the sun for us, unless you want to count the day that we all humored the fact that Deb wanted to lay out....but, after 20 minutes of us three laying out in the shade and Deb in the sun, she decided it was too hot and we all went inside!
Dad now has a girlfriend on the side. Her name is Helga (or maybe that was just a name that David made up for her)...and she made it publicly clear that she wants to "drizzle sauce all over dad" !!!!! (Wow, I just threw up in my mouth just thinking about it!) Dad took advantage of her crush and gave her little flirty looks and wave to her every time she looked his way. Here is a picture of the cute couple:
Overall it was a great trip, and it was some well-needed quality time for the four of us. I will attach a FEW pictures of the 100 that I took. :-)
Branson, Missouri:
David, the kids, and I left at 8:30am on Tuesday, July 13th in the car for Branson. After a rough start of being lost/turned around/frustrated for an hour and a half we finally figured out the correct directions and were on our way.
At one point during the car ride (after stopping to use the restroom about 30 minutes prior) Camden had to go to the bathroom again. David had him go in a water bottle. It was quite amusing to hear the sounds he was making from the backseat as he was "getting it all out."
Overall, the kids were wonderful during the car ride...even despite the fact that at one point they were counting down the miles by tenths while looking at the Tom Tom.
On Wednesday, our first full day there...we all headed out about 10am. Our first stop was The Track which was a g0-cart facility across the street. We rode our first round and then decided to get in the car and head for our next destination. However, after putting the wrong key in the ignition, the car wouldn't start and had to be towed to Springfield and it was in the shop for the majority of our trip. Luckily, David's parents had a friend who lived close by and we borrowed their Suburban for the mean time.
Later on that day, the boys went golfing and the girls were going to head to the Butterfly Palace. Well, after getting there at 6:30 to find out that they were closed from 6:00-8:00...we decided to go to the "World's Largest Toy Museum" instead. Please let me warn you to NEVER to to that museum if you are in Branson, Missouri. It was full of yellowed, old toys and stuffed animals. The majority of the dolls either had missing limbs or broken necks. I will have nightmares of that place for years to come and I bet Lydia is scarred for life! Nina bought Lyd a dollie at the end of the tour...(and this dolly was made in this century and actually had normal coloring and a cute dress) so Lydia was ecstatic about her new little friend.
The next day we headed off to Silver Dollar City. It costed us about $215 for the 4 of us to get in. However, after being there about 2 hours...it started to pour. Due to the rain and lighting all of the rides were closed. After waiting 2 hours, and being very soggy...we decided to leave and get a raincheck to come back another day.
For the remainder of the week, there was lots of go-carts, mini-golf, ice cream, and museums. Kris, Lydia, Eric, and I went to the Titanic museum and it was really neat. I read as much as I could with a 6 year old tugging on my arm wanting to move on to the next thing or go see the "dogs of the Titanic."
It was a great time with the Johnson family full of plenty of game playing as usual. The kids had a great time and by the time that we got home last night, they were WIPED!!!
I will attach some of the MANY pictures I took in Branson below.
~K
Side note: After eating at Peppercorns (a buffet restaurant) for lunch one day while we were in Branson, David's stomach started hurting....he had severe cramps, frequent trips to the restroom, etc. (I will spare you the details) This continued for about a week and a half after vacation before he decided to go to the Dr. Come to find out....David got a bacterial infection in his stomach (salmonella) from the food he ate at the restaurant. Heavy doses of antibiotics and about another week of stomach trouble. Things are finally back to normal....
