Wow! We just had the most amazing few days down in Springfield and Branson, Missouri. We started out at the Wonders of Wildlife (WOW) Museum, which is built onto the "Grandaddy" of all Bass Pro Stores, their original location in Springfield. And holy cow, that place was a kid's DREAM. From the wildlife exhibits to the historical sections about fishing, to the AQUARIUM, I was going crazy. If you have kids like me, you need to take them! There's also some great restaurants (you get hungry from hours of running!) where I had a pizza. Dad tried to eat his AND mine, like always...but I beat him to it and ate the whole thing myself. I am 4 years old, you know. I can eat a lot now that I'm a big kid.
When we were finished at WOW, I was pretty upset that we had to leave, but I needed a nap in the car (it's true, that place wore me out - and I don't even like naps). But the good news is that when I opened my eyes, we were pulling into Big Cedar Lodge! We were finally here, after weeks of looking at all their videos on YouTube Kids. I was so excited to take the cave tour, fish, and see the HUGE table rock canyons from the Top of the Rock!!! We also got to go to the Bass Pro Shops Shooting Academy where really only Dad got a turn shooting...but that's ok. I'm not old enough to shoot a gun yet, and I was having too much fun - you guessed it - running around!! (Nowhere near where Daddy wasn't shooting, of COURSE!) Heck, I was basically running and screaming from the moment we got there. My parents definitely had a hard time keeping up with me!
We couldn't stay long because Teal Season starts this weekend, and Dad has a ton to do to finish getting the farms and lodge all ready...but on our last day, we got to go to Dogwood Canyon and see some super cool stuff! My favorite part that I asked about the ENTIRE tram tour was the end where we got to see Buffalo!!!! There were also Elk and Texas Longhorns, but I really just wanted to see the Bison - especially the baby buffalo!!! I may have cried because we couldn't get out and pet the baby...I really wanted to pet her. Oh well, can't have it all, but we came CLOSE this week!
Thank you to Bass Pro Shops, Big Cedar, Shooting Academy and Dogwood Canyon for giving me the best end-of-summer vacation a girl could ASK for!!! And especially thanks to my favorite waitress Jennifer who made a whole gigantic ice-cream Sunday for me, and my favorite girl Liz who held my hand through the whole museum tour and drove us around during the cave tour, AND answered my millions of questions and let me sit in the front seat of the electric golf cart. Whew! I can't wait to go back!!!!!