Surprise Birthday Trip

John surprised me with a birthday trip last weekend. My parents watched Mark and the boys and we spent two nights at Big Cedar Lodge just outside of Branson, Missouri. We had a great time and surprisingly I did just fine leaving Mark for the first time. Maybe because he did so great. I called several times a day and only had good reports. I don't know, maybe I should be sad that he didn't miss me more! I guess he's used to me being gone since I seem to always be at work. Anyway, John and I first drove up to Branson Landing, a new outdoor shopping area and boardwalk, and then we went on to Big Cedar Lodge. It is really pretty and has a neat waterfall that runs through the campus..you even drive through it several times...its pretty cool. When we left Big Cedar we stopped back through Branson and did some serious shopping at the Tanger Outlet mall there! Whooo-hoo! Here's a pic of me at the entrance to Big Cedar.


This is me at the spa about to have a massage on my birthday...I was one happy camper!

I have never seen more animal furs, deer heads, and stuffed animals in my life! Big Cedar is owned by the same people that own Bass Pro Shops so it is pretty rustic and outdoors-y. We stayed in the "Falls" lodge which was huge and beautiful...this bear was in the main lobby of our lodge.

On Friday morning, we slept in, ate at the little deli on campus where I had hot apple cider(yummy), and then we had some time to kill before we went horseback riding, so we went canoeing! We didn't realize that the 20 mile/hr wind was behind us when we started out...but needless to say we got our work-out in as we headed back towards the marina!

Then here is one of me in front of the stable. Not the best pic but the ones we took of each other actually on our horses (Scout and Snickers) just look silly. Funnily enough we just don't look normal sitting on horseback. I guess we are more city-slickers than we thought!

So here is a pic looking up the hill to our lodge. you can see the waterfall that runs through the property. At night everything is lit up with white christmas lights.


We had two nice dinners at Big Cedar. On Friday we ate ate the Worman House which was actually the home of Mr. and Mrs. Worman built in 1921. He was a railroad man I think. Anyway it really was a great dinner.

And last but not least when I got back in town I ran in the Route 66 Marathon Relay with Lisa, Courtney, Kizzy, and Rachel. We had fun AND we got third place in our division! We are gearing up to win next year!