This past week/weekend was our annual Armor Seed MAP conference in Branson. You wanna hear something real crazy??? This was my 10th year to plan this meeting! And the 9th year to have it at the Chateau on the Lake. Wow. The first time I planned it I wasn’t even married yet! How things have changed. . . .
We left after work on Wednesday night. We decided to take the truck since there was a possibility the weather might get bad. Jarrod ran to Walmart and bought a dvd player set for his truck to keep the kids occupied! What did people do before!! He also took Sadey to the kennel to stay the weekend! We had a sandwich and then hit the road! I think we got there around 11:30pm. Of course both the kids slept almost the whole way there so they weren’t tired once we got there! Whew! I had to get up and be in the meeting room to set up around 9am, the meeting didn’t start till after lunch but we like to make sure everything is set up and working correctly! We grabbed lunch at the hotel and then Mom and Dad took the kids up to the rooms to take a nap. I’m not sure what Jarrod did. . .come to think of it. I guess he enjoyed some alone time! Ha! Thursday night after the meeting we went to Branson Landing for dinner and did a little (very little- it was freezing!) shopping. Stopped to see Santa, Stratton had no fear this year! He wanted to go talk to him. And we were surprised when he told Santa he wanted a soccer goal set and a chocolate bear and a chocolate BUNNY!! I think he’s confused about what holiday it is!! I guess in his mind the Easter Bunny and Santa are probably friends and what would be the problem?! Arden didn’t want anything to do with Santa! So I didn’t force her. Santa remembered us! He asked where we were from and then asked if we come to Branson every year. I said Yes, and he said he thought he recognized us! Haha! After we left the mall we had to stop by Target and buy a new Stroller. We got a Sit and Stand one. I have been eyeing them since Arden was born, and I think we will get some good use out of it, especially at the zoo!
Thursday
Telling Santa all about it. . .
Friday the meeting lasted until noon. So we had an interesting afternoon. We had lunch at Mel’s, which Stratton always likes. Except this time he didn’t hardly eat anything. Then Jarrod’s back starting really hurting again and then Stratton got his hand shut in the truck door (luckily a doctor was standing right beside us and he looked at it and said it wasn’t broken! And Stratton cried a while and then never mentioned it again!) And it was nasty cold and rainy. We headed to the outlet mall for some shopping, both kids passed out so Jarrod took them to the truck while I shopped for a little while. Then we met my mom and dad for dinner and headed back to the hotel.
Friday
Little Ham!!
Whew! Long day!!
Saturday morning Jarrod couldn’t hardly get out of bed his back was hurting so bad. We had already bought tickets for a Saturday morning show and Stratton was excited to see it (Amazing Pets!) so I had to call and wake my parents up and ask them to take the kids to see it while I took Jarrod to an urgent care clinic! At the clinic they did an x-ray and since this is the 3rd time in about 3 months, the doctor suggested he start doing some physical therapy. They gave him a steroid shot and a script for some muscle relaxers and pain pills. We found the kids and my parents and they were already done with their lunch so they went back to the hotel to take naps and Jarrod and I had lunch and went to get his meds and hit a couple of places before heading back ourselves. He was feeling much better but thought some rest would help. We got tickets to see the Haygoods on Saturday night, so after everyone rested we headed back to town to eat at Landry’s and then go to the show. Arden fell asleep and slept through the entire show! Stratton loved it of course! We got back to the hotel and my mom gave them a bath and occupied them for a little while so I could pack all of our stuff up. Thank goodness they came too! Especially since Jarrod was down on his back and not able to help me much! They were lifesavers!!
Saturday
Sunday we got up and were out of the hotel by around 9:45am. We stopped at Bob Evans for brunch before getting on the road. Arden took a good nap and was great. . .Stratton didn’t sleep AT ALL!! And was whiney and fussy the whole time. I thought I was going to have to put him in the back with the luggage! We got home just in time to unload the truck, clean up a little and then it was time for church! After church we came home and I started laundry (the joys of being away for 4 days) and got busy putting stuff away. The kids were so tired I didn’t even make them take a bath! I think we were all just happy to be home and sleeping in our own beds! We took a toddler size blow-up mattress that has sides on it for Arden. It was Stratton’s, but he hasn’t used it much. She did pretty good with it. Except our first night, she made it almost all night on it every night. I was actually pleasantly surprised! Stratton does so good on a pull-out bed. Most of the time anyway. We had a couple of nights that he wanted one of us to lay down with him, but I think that had more to do with us having separate rooms. His bed was in the living room part, and even though there was an open door, I think he was a little scared.
Waking up Sunday in their matching Jammies
We had a good trip, despite all the issues! I think this year is the last year for the meeting (but then again, I think I’ve said that for the last 2 years) but I have a feeling that even if we don’t have the meeting we will probably try to keep this a tradition. It will just be better since I won’t have to work any!
We all opened presents, ate breakfast and then it was time to get ready to go to Hickory Ridge for lunch and Christmas with the Gibson side of the family.
