Day 1,634 - Christmas in the (Silver Dollar) City

Thanksgiving is this week…obviously. As a result, I find myself kind of thinking back on the past year about some of the highlights of our year. If you were to ask the kids about their highlight though, I’m fairly confident that both of them would list our three trips to Silver Dollar City high on their list. Yes, I did say three trips. While that probably seems like a lot, the fact that we purchased season passes makes all of those trips make a little more sense.

The last of our Silver Dollar City trips for the year took place two weekends ago on Veteran’s Day weekend. We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, hopped in the car, and set off for Branson with the expectation of being there as soon as the park opened at 11:00. Never fear as we actually made it with time to spare.

As soon as we made it into the park, Ellie and Ethan were pretty adamant that the first thing they wanted to do was ride the iconic “Fire in the Hole” one more time. If you didn’t know, Silver Dollar City is in the process of building a new version of the ride that will open next season. Over the course of our multiple trips this season though, the kids have fallen in love with the ride. I have to say that it’s actually one of my favorite amusement park rides as well and has been for a long time. While it’s relatively simplistic in nature, it’s just a fun little adventure with a good story to go along with it. After a relatively short 15-minute wait, we boarded the ride for the final time and said our goodbyes to one of our favorite rides.

After that, we began winding our way through the park in a quest to take in all of the Christmas sights that lay within. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to a theme park without riding a few more rides along the way. I have to say that I’m proud of the kids. Over the course of the year, they conquered their fears about “big” roller coasters and were more than ready to ride. Before we knew it, lunch time had arrived and we headed to the park’s pizzeria to enjoy a pie.

After we finished our pizza, one of our next planned stops was to head to the Opera House to watch a production of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Truth be told, there was plenty of bellyaching and complaining from one of our little friends about taking time away from the park to watch a play. However, those concerns ceased once the play began. Both kids were totally engaged and hanging on every scene of the play. Ellie was especially intrigued by the way the set opened up and spun around to show the interiors of homes.

Once the play was over, we wandered over to the train to take a quick ride through the woods which was highlighted by “Grandpa” sharing the story of the birth of Christ during a brief stop at his cabin in the woods. Once we finished our trip, it was obvious that both kids required a bit of individual attention. Therefore, I took Ethan to go play at the children’s playhouse and explore Grandfather’s Mansion while Bethany took Ellie to one of her favorite areas, the Grand Exposition.

When our family came back together, it was over in the Rivertown area of the park where we met for a live nativity. After that, Bethany and I decided that it was time to start making our way to the parade route for the lighted Christmas parade. We found a spot rather quickly but found ourselves with about 30 minutes before the parade would begin. Ellie, for her part, was still less than agreeable about things so I decided to take her for a brief stroll around the area to enjoy some Christmas lights. Our brief stroll led us right by “Fire in the Hole” where we decided it was time for our last, last ride ever!

Once the ride ended, Ellie’s personality shifted dramatically. She was much happier and excited by the prospect of the lights getting brighter and brighter in the darkness of night. We headed back to where Bethany and Ethan had been holding our spot on the parade route where we watched Rudolph, Santa, and others ride through the park on ornately decorated floats. This was honestly my favorite part of our trip because I was able to see the intense joy on Ellie’s face as she watched the lights parade by.

Once the parade ended, we decided to go and grab a quick dinner at the Rivertown Smokehouse and then spent some time just exploring the park and enjoying the beautiful lights. Before we knew it though, the kids were getting tired and it was time to leave the park and head to our hotel for the evening. However, we did let them talk us into a couple of rides on the lookout balloons at Fireman’s Landing before it really was time to leave the park.

Overall, I’d say that our year of trips to Silver Dollar City was a ton of fun. While we’re not sure that we would want to do something like this every year, Bethany and I were also in agreement that we’ll definitely do this again a few years down the road. After all, there’s an entire world of adventures out there for us to find first.

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Day 1,627 - Ethan Plays at the Movies?

Aren’t bizarrely warm fall days the greatest? That’s certainly been the case this week and I feel like I’ve made the most of it. Between working on our deck (the project that will never end!), mulching twelve bags worth of leaves, and helping my dad wean calves, I feel like I’ve certainly made the most of my time outside. For most of those activities, Ethan has been right there alongside me, patiently waiting for me to take a break to play football with him. Don’t worry, I take those breaks plenty!

Of course, the thing about fall is that you’re not guaranteed to always have those warm fall days. In fact, there are those times when you instead find yourself subjected to a day with less-than-desirable temperatures and/or precipitation. When those occasions happen, it’s only fitting to start trying to figure out what to do. For Ethan and me, last week provided one of those days which led us to perhaps the most unique movie theater experience of all time.

Like most preschoolers, Ethan is a big fan of Paw Patrol. He can name each pup by name, knows all about their vehicles, and even has a favorite episode (Ready, Race, Rescue). Therefore, when the second movie, “The Mighty Movie”, was released recently, he knew that he wanted to see it. We had been content to wait for it to hit a streaming service so that he could watch it on the projector at home. However, when I saw an offer for $5 tickets at the B&B Theaters in Liberty, I knew we needed to make a trip to the movies.

I realize that a trip to the movies probably isn’t the most unique experience in the world. However, I can basically guarantee that this was pretty unique for us. For one thing, I can’t say that I had ever been to a theater with a playground in the screening room before this trip. Yes, you read that right. B&B Theaters offers a special line of theaters called “Screen Play” that provides a kid-friendly experience across the board. There was the aforementioned playground that opens 30 minutes prior to the movie starting. There also was kid-friendly pre-show programming on the screen and get this, NO TRAILERS!

Ethan, for his part, had been completely in the dark about our plans for the day so he was understandably excited when we arrived at the theater. As you can guess, his excitement level increased once he started winding his way through the maze of a playground built into one side of the auditorium. Over the next 30 minutes or so, Ethan went up and down the slide more times than I can count. Occasionally he would jet out of the playground and come find me just to check in.

Eventually, a large countdown clock appeared on the screen alerting us that it was time for us to take our seats in the large recliners awaiting us. As the lights went down, Ethan’s huge smile plastered across his face told quite the story. While the last time we went to a movie, Ethan had tons of questions about the subject matter (Kung-Fu Panda). However, this time, Ethan was so familiar with the subject material that he was completely engrossed. Outside of brief sips from his water bottle and the occasional bite of Skinny Pop, Ethan’s eyes didn’t deviate from the action on the screen.

After the movie ended and we left the theater, it only made sense that we could head to the car. However, I don’t know that I was ready for the rapid-fire recall of Ethan replaying everything that had happened over the past few hours between the playground and the movie. I also wasn’t prepared for him to immediately ask what we would see at the Screen Play next. LOL.

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Also, after everything that happened that day, Ethan still found time to take a short nap in the car!