We left Kansas City and hit the road to Branson. Three and one half hours to go. Not bad, but I was doing all the driving myself and feeling very brave and accomplished to take my kiddos on a trip by myself. Half way there, I spotted what looked like an Amish man on a horse waiting to cross the highway. Then I noticed this sign. I looked for cute signs like this when we were in Pennsylvania this summer, but I couldn't find any. Sorry it's blurry, we were driving. It was an incredibly beautiful drive. We passed so many farms and red barns. I have a thing for red barns.

We arrived at our resort around 6 pm. We checked in, unloaded our luggage and drove back into town to have a nice dinner. Then I spotted Steak N Shake. Cole flies off to Ohio once a year for his drumline to compete in the world championships. Steak N Shake is always on their itinerary. I scored big points with Cole for nixing our plans for a "nice" dinner and dining at Steak N Shake instead. You know what they say, the way to a man's heart! After all, he did have to put up with a lot of girly stops during this trip. After dinner, we took advantage of the resort's recreation center playing pool, foosball, air hockey and sliding/flying down the water slide. The indoor pool was warm, but it was a cold walk back to our room.

The next morning we enjoyed a long-distance treat from Daddy, room service! He insisted. We love being spoiled. Daddy had lots of talks with Cole about being "the man" while on our trip and taking care of the girls. We then went and met the incredibly sweet and gracious Ruthann from Warm Pie Happy Home and Sugar Pie Farmhouse.

She brought me one of her precious books! I am so thankful that we were able to meet.

Our next stop was Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a quaint little Victorian town. One of my life's goals is to visit all of our fifty states.


I'm now officially at 41 states. 9 more to go!




We had ice cream at this darling little establishment.


We had to turn around and drive back to Branson. We had 4 pm tickets on the Branson Belle to see the show Todd Oliver and His Talking Dogs. The show was hilarious. Todd has been featured on both Leno and Letterman. We loved Table Rock Lake and had a thirty-minute break between dinner and the show to go out on deck and enjoy the view.

We are on Fall Break! Yah hoo, I can't tell you how excited we are. We are on a year-round school schedule. It's hard to start school at the end of July, but it pays off when we have a 2 1/2 week fall, Christmas and spring break. I took the kids to see my sister in Iowa. She is very ill and I knew that my teenagers would be bored within a heartbeat so I decided to add an excursion on to our trip. My son has drumline camp this week, so I made our reservations for last weekend. I was trying to work out so many details and I overlooked an important competition date for him. He was so disappointed. We talked about it as a family and decided to work around his competition. I lost our three one-way tickets into Missouri and had to rework everything, but it all worked out in the end. We flew into Kansas City. I had a few spots on my list. Curious Sofa, Nell Hills and Urban Arts and Crafts.
Curious Sofa's Halloween decor was amazing!




We have been wanted to change our sofas in both the living room and family room and I wished I could fit a few of these in my suitcases.


Somehow, I don't think my husband would think this one is as cute as I do!

I have a thing for tin ceilings. I remember my sweet Mama pointing one out to me over twenty years ago before they were in. She loved them too.

Taylor found a few things for her bedroom. We are revamping it for her birthday. It will be black and white damask, chandeliers and hot pink.
Nell Hill's was amazing. Last time we were here, three years ago, we visited the original store in Atchison, Kansas. Loved this new store too.
I think my husband would approve of this sofa. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit in my suitcase either!

I "Love" this pillow and had to bring it home with me.
We also stopped in at Urban Arts and Crafts. I found a few little trinkets. As we were leaving Nell Hill's and driving over to Urban Arts and Crafts I noticed this beautiful home. I mentioned it to the employee and she said it is the home of the owner of the shopping center and suggested that we drive through Briarcliff to see the beautiful homes. By this time, my son had about had it. Both the kids were exceptionally good on our little get away.

I hosted my annual "Fall Bunco" this week. I made these darling little apple pies using my new Williams Sonoma pocket pie mold. I practiced last weekend. It's one thing to make a few, but to make 12 was a little time consuming. I highly recommend it. I love having everyone over. I planned Bunco around an early release day for me and after the kids had finished their finals. We are on Fall Break now. Yippy! We are leaving for a little adventure. We are going to the Ozarks, Arkansas, Kansas City, Council Bluffs, IA and Omaha.
I sugared this little house for the party. I have made several Christmas ones, but this was my first Halloween house. I'm still finding glitter on my face eight days later! It was wonderful, squeezing in a little time to create. Way too rare. I would love to find more time.

My dear friend, Angie, came to visit during Bunco. She brought me this darling crown wreath hanger from Utah.

Our last day of vacation was spent at George and Martha Washington's Mount Vernon estate. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I could have spent the entire day there. It certainly made me think that if we lived nearby, we would spend an entire day. I learned that this estate and farm just sustained their family and slaves. They owned several hundred acres that provided them with a very comfortable income.
I loved the view from these arches. Their home was right on the river.


Martha was receiving guests. She was making bandages for the soldiers as she spoke. I could have listened to her for hours.

Surprisingly, this was just in a small walkway. I wish I could have one of these in our "garden".

The Library of Congress. Without a doubt, this was my most favorite of all. The only book that I saw was the Gutenburg Bible. I was much too interested in the ceilings, walls and floors. They were breathtakingly beautiful. Everytime I plan an important trip, I check out both the Foders and Frommer's guides from the library. I spotted a small little 2 x 2 photo of one of the windows and knew that I couldn't miss an opportunity to see it.

The Senate Building was nearby. We met a very nice guide and informed her that we only had a few minutes and what should we see. Lucky for us, she recommended the spiral staircase.

2nd Day - As promised to Taylor, back to the Museum of Natural History to see the Butterfly Exhibit. I think they liked my hairspray or something. I must have had at least 20 land on me and Taylor only a few. Had a difficult time getting the boys away from the dinosaur exhibit again. Gotta keep moving.
Enough with the train. We were frustrated the first day because there were so many things that we wanted to see that were miles away. I convinced Mark to start driving in and because of that, we were able to see so much more. Parking was a nightmare, but well worth it. Before we went to the Butterfly Exhibit, we drove over to the Bureau of Engraving to get our tickets. Tickets are free, but there are only a limited amount distributed every morning. We also drove to pick up our Ford Theatre tickets. All of this would have been difficult without a car.