I didn't take many pictures - I often found myself leaving the camera in our suite, I just wasn't thinking...I was too busy enjoying myself in the gorgeous outdoors of Big Cedar. So, there's little to show of our gorgeous stay, but man was it amazing!
We were spoiled during our visit and no doubt McKinley fell head over heels for the 'Cookie Lady' who cheerfully brought all four of us a lovely package of freshly baked cookies each and every night. We begged her to come home with us, but alas she insisted on staying in Missouri. McKinley got so used to her visits, in fact that when there was ANY knock at the door he immediately started screaming, 'COOKIES!!!' He was only acting out what we were all feeling!
We spent a day doing some shopping, Cary and I had a nice outing checking out the Branson area, then later in the week we had a full-on date night complete with a trip to the Lodge's famous Buzzard Bar and some yummy fried green tomatoes and an Ozark Sunset (super-yummy signature drink). Big Cedar has it's own entertainer who frequents the bar several times a week, during our visit we whipped out the laptop to take advantage of the wi-fi and check out our email. Wrong move there...the singer immediately started cracking jokes about the Buzzard Bar becoming a 'latte bar'. All in good fun, we had a great night together!
Mom enjoyed spending a lot of quality time with McKinley and making us 'wokee' (coffee, as pronounced by McKinley) every morning. Our view was incredible, so each morning we headed out to the balcony with a bagel and wokee in hand to breathe in the fresh air. It was amazing.
While we were there we also visited The Landing, a gorgeous river walk with shops and restaurants, a fire and water show and loads of cool things to do. McKinley LOVED our up close view of the fire and water show from inside Catina Laredo, where we all enjoyed this amazing guacamole made tableside.
One night I made Italian for dinner, another night we grilled out - it was so relaxing and delish. The Truman House was another great find on the Big Cedar property. The quaint lake-side cafe had a great view and serious gourmet sandwiches. The pools were unreal with waterfalls connecting the pools, a great kiddie pool with spraying water (which we ALL took a nice dip in), and so many more activities it was crazy! We all had a lot of fun on our paddle boats...except that I was the lucky one who ended up with a broken seat. I was dangerously close to taking a dip in the lake with the newly stocked bass, practically laying down while hanging on for dear life to my mom and the boat. I had a great view of the sky though! McKinley happily rode on Cary's lap - they had their own paddle boat, a real work out for Cary. There are NO pictures of that excursion. Needless to say, had I whipped out my camera I would have no doubt ended up wet...along with my prized camera.
Speaking of pictures, this vacation there are few...I just kind of lost track of it and enjoyed myself, but I did get some great pictures of the awesome memories we made. We will never forget the great river paci adventure that sent one of McKinley's beloved paci's at least 1000 feet down the river. Our compassionate boy attempted to share his 'pass' with the ducks who were anxiously awaiting a treat at the riverside restaurant where we ate. As I gasped, Mom said, 'OH MY GOD', and Cary stood in shock McKinley began to realize just what his kind gesture meant. For the next 20 minutes nearly all we heard was, 'Uh oh...PASS! Where'd go? I foo it...GONE!' At one point, I looked up as Cary made a desperate Go-Go-Gadget Arm reach into the cold river for the paci...there were FLOCKS of people gawking at us from the restaurant windows. For a long time we all just stood there and laughed and laughed. It was SO DARNED FUNNY! The ducks followed us, swooshing the paci to and fro and we waited for it to travel to a nearby pier. I don't know why we wanted to get it so badly, it just became a game...could we get it? Dare we try? Well, finally the paci reached the pier. Cary and I were armed with a broom found close by and a lot of ambition. Cary lay down on the pier, reached in and scooped that paci right out of the water! We all cheered, 'YAY!' - McKinley was the loudest. This may well be one of those things were you have to be there to appreciate it, but it made for some great comic relief.
I cannot say enough about our stay at Big Cedar Lodge. We had a wonderful time - despite the sad news of my Aunt's passing and being unable to be by my family's side. Cary and I are already planning a return trip and can't wait to see and do even more on the gorgeous Big Cedar grounds. It truly was a wonderful family vacation!
Lynn
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