#choate family branson vacay 2023

[getoutofthisplace]

Dear Gus & Magnus,

We started the day at the hotel pool -- Magnus kept pointing to the chair lift on the edge of the pool and saying, "Papou!" And when we pick up the phone, "Papou!" We don't know how to explain Papou's sudden absence to an 18-month-old. It's sad, no matter how we respond.

But our Branson trip continues to be fun, despite getting duped into paying $60 to walk through a Maze of Mirrors that wasn't nearly as fun as the one we did at the Butterfly Palace -- we went back there today. We finished the day with Papa John's pizza in our hotel room, some air hockey in the activities center, and s'mores around the fire pit.

Dad.

Branson, Missouri. 1.5.2023 - 4.14pm.

[getoutofthisplace]

Dear Gus & Magnus,

After breakfast we hit the aquarium. Magnus kept pointing at every tank and saying "Wawa!" More than anything else, I think Gus liked the "kid crawls," which were tunnels designed for kids to go get a different perspective of certain tanks.

We went to a diner with singing servers -- they all sang about Jesus and then pushed their gospel CDs -- then we made a plan to take the rest of our meals in the room. After a nap, we visited the Butterfly Palace, which we all enjoyed.

Gus asked for nachos for dinner, so we got ingredients at the grocery store and went home. When Mom put some delicious-looking beefy nachos in front of Gus he said, "That's not nachos." Apparently he wanted chips with nacho cheese sauce (ugh) like he had gotten somewhere before.

After bedtime, I waited for Magnus to fall asleep, then I went to make sure Gus was in bed in his room, but instead I found him pacing his room in a panic. He had somehow managed to get a sequin (from his stuffed leopard) stuck in between two of his molars. Mom had to pull it out with tweezers. Magnus slept through the night and didn't wake up until 5:30. Praise be.

Dad.

Branson, Missouri. 1.4.2023 - 10.09am.

[getoutofthisplace]

Dear Gus & Magnus,

On our drive to Branson today, Gus got carsick, but I was impressed by his ability to keep it all in the plastic sack we gave him. He took a nap for about an hour after that. Magnus slept for an hour and a half. All in all, it was a pretty easy drive, and the hotel is practically vacant because it's the off-season here. We all like having the entire run of the place because we can be as loud as Magnus wants to be, and when we got to WonderWorks, we could take our time and do everything we wanted without waiting in line. Gus liked the XD Dino ride, and Magnus liked running around and climbing on things.

We went to a restaurant afterward, but after we sat down at the table, we realized how tough it would be, so we left and went to the grocery store and ate at home. It was a good first day -- vacation attitudes across the board.

Dad.

Branson, Missouri. 1.3.2023 - 3.16pm.