Summer vacation at the Chateau

The last month and a half of our summer has been blazingly hot! Over 100 degrees here EVERY SINGLE day for about 6 weeks. Some days even got up to 116! This is highly not normal for our area and we were all tired of it. On top of that, my husband had been working EXTREMELY hard on several new projects at the office and had his mind just frazzled with facts/figures/plans/accountants/lawyers/etc.  So... about 2 weeks before school was to start he told me "book us a vacation! get us out of this heat! I need a break!"  (We stayed home all summer due to his increased work load, so he was really ready (and needing) some R&R by now). I am never one to turn down an opportunity for a vacation :) so I hopped right on line (after we determined that:  a) Alaska was indeed cooler, but too far away   b) traveling to MI to see our families and enjoy Torch Lake(indeed refreshing) was too far to drive for a 'short' vacation and they were in a heat wave too and c) heading to Tahoe (or someplace similar who was indeed experiencing nice 70 degree weather) was also too far to drive or more costly than we wanted since we'd have 4 airline tickets/car rental/etc. So... we decided on Branson MO, which is only about 3 hours from here, so quite an easy drive. (Plus it allowed us to stop in Arkansas and take care of some business we had there, on the way "two birds with one stone" )
I started researching VRBO rentals and focused on 2 bedroom cabins or condos. I found a list of about 10 and narrowed it down to 4 'best choices'. I sent my email requests and then the frustration began. Even though on their posted 'calendars' they were all available, each and every one of them wrote back saying they were booked, except for my top choice. My top choice played 'no answer' and phone tag with me for 4 days. During which this time I was confident that since their calendar showed open it is indeed 'accurate' and I will get the reservation. Well, that was foolish of me to assume people would be responsible and keep their systems updated. Turns out they were booked too. Now I've just wasted 4 days on this deal that fell through, and our proposed vacation is only a week away and we have nowhere to stay. Dan is frustrated because he just wants to get out of here and relax so he says I need to book something now! and he doesn't even care if its the $400/night Big Cedar 3000 square foot house! (we stayed at this beautiful house overlooking the lake a couple years ago on a time-share sales special, so we didn't pay that price, but we did learn they are now renting them out for $400 night to non-Bluegreen owners.) I even call this place, but at this short notice they don't have it available for the whole time we want. Blahhhhhh! So frustrating.
Well, several years ago while in Branson, I saw this huge beautiful resort on top of the mountain overlooking the lake, so I had Dan swing in there one day so I could grab a brochure to check it out. It was beautiful, but when I saw the prices I knew we'd never stay there.  Well, now that I was desperate and Dan had already given me the 'go-ahead' to spend more than I normally would... I went online and found an available room. Not only that, it was an a suite with a separate bedroom (which is what we prefer when on vacation since we want privacy from the kids for 'sleeping' ;)   I was very pleased and got it all booked).  I also took it upon myself to book our boat rentals and three shows for three nights while we were there. I thought that was what Dan wanted because we had mentioned catching a show while there (we've never done the 'show thing' in Branson before, and there are a few family friendly ones I wanted to try). Well, it turns out Dan likes to just RELAX on vacation (because he works so hard when not on vacation), but I like to fill every minute of vacation with stuff to do because then I feel like I'm squeezing every last minute of 'fun' out of it.  Big conflict  lol.
So as it turns out we had some discussions, and did wind up cancelling one of the shows (the Branson Belle Boat and Dinner show...we'll catch it another time, and I only lost $19 on a cancellation fee so that didn't hurt too bad), and I have to admit, the night we cancelled that show, it was really nice to be able to relax after spending the day on the boat, and just chill out and do stuff at the hotel and not rush off to another 'event'. Dan was right. I was wrong. Even though I'm planning 'fun' stuff, its not so fun for my family when we are on a 'schedule' on vacation, and the kids are tired and then get worn out. I learned a lesson and he was right. (Now if I can just remember this NEXT time I book our vacation ).   :)

So here is how our vacation unfolded...
after taking care of some business in Arkansas, we headed to Branson, we checked in at the Chateau ( http://www.chateauonthelakebranson.com/ )
It was absolutely beautiful! I checked in and Dan had the bellman load up all our luggage. We walked through a gorgeous waterfall-filled atrium to the elevators. Shortly after we got to our room the bellman arrived with our stuff, he was very friendly and helpful. Every time we saw him after that the girls called him by name :) they were so cute. Our first night there we had no plans so we ate in the atrium seating area of one of the restaurants. It was pretty. The resort shows free kid-friendly movies in a mini-theater twice a day. On the weekends, they show a 'dive in' movie at the outdoor pool! That was so neat, the girls really loved all of it. Upon checkin, the front desk lady asked if I wanted cookies and milk delivered to the girls at bedtime (they do this for free on the weekends). I said of course, and make it four servings, because I'm a kid at heart too, and so is their dad :)   She said no problem, so Fri and Sat night, Lucky the Bear delivered cold milk and fresh cookies to our room :) so cool. The first night it was a surprise for the girls(and we actually missed the delivery, but they left it in the fridge for us) when we got back and they saw it they thought it was pretty cool though. The second night we were there for the delivery and as soon as the door opened W ran out and gave the Bear a giant hug! aawwwww! I really liked this special treat they provided. What a cool thing for our kids.
Saturday we rented a ski boat at the marina and went tubing and boating for 4 hours. Then they all rested for an hour or so while I went and picked up all our show tickets. Then we went to the Dixie Stampede Dinner Show. The kids really liked it. Although, its ridiculous how infatuated they are with the size of Dolly Parton's boobs! They kept talking about that for about a week! Anyway, it was a good show and they loved it and they even loved most of the food (amazing). Saturday I didn't have anything planned till 2:30 when we were going to go see NOAH:the musical. Which was absolutely amazing! When the show starts in the second act, the whole set has changed and you feel like you are INSIDE this huge ark! Its incredible! Its also a great message and a great teaching/learning tool. Really liked it. I enjoy supporting worthy causes, and this production is definately worthy. I was also impressed with their pricing. They offer a family 4pack which essentially gets the kids in for free, and their concessions and gift store prices are reasonable (unlike most anything else, whether its a show or a movie theater in your own town.) So I was happy to see that they took 'family' to heart, and even though its obviously a 'for-profit' entity, they are more concerned with spreading the message of the Bible, than making an enormous profit margin on sales. Way to go! By the way, this production is ending in October, and (I'm assuming a new (bible story) show will replace it) so if you want to see it, go now :) Its worth it!
Sunday we had another boat reserved, so we ate at the resort breakfast buffet overlooking the lake (it was gorgeous and the food and service was great!) We had a ball on the lake. W even got spunky and started kneeling and standing on the tube! I skied once, and even though I love it, I know I'm not as agile as I used to be, so I dropped after a few loops. It was fun though and I sure love it. Honestly, my favorite part of being out on the boat is riding in front, or just floating in an alcove and swimming/relaxing on the boat. Love it. Makes me look forward to when we buy our boat soon. :) 
Sunday night we were supposed to go on the Showboat Branson Belle Dinner Show, but I called and was able to cancel it with only a small fee. So we decided not to 'run' to another 'fun' event, and instead just relax and chill at the resort. We can always go on it next time we are there :) It was nice, like I said earlier to have a bit more peace and non-scheduled free time. So while Dan relaxed in the room and tried to nap, the girls and I took photos, saw a movie, went swimming, and of course visited the Sweet Shoppe (which turned out to be one of our favorite things to do every night). We would get ice cream (one night I got a delicious berry cake) and eat it outside on the veranda overlooking the pool and the lake. We'd often see the Showboat in the distance and the sunset. It was so nice. I would have stayed out there all night if I could have. They also had a small outdoor play area the kids had fun at with a really crazy slide that was sort of like a roller conveyor belt. They girls loved it. It was pretty neat. They also had telescopes to view the boats or the moon. T liked looking at the craters on the moon.
Monday was the day we checked out and came home. We had to stop in Arkansas for some more business, but that only added about an hour to our drive so it wasn't too bad.
We had a ball on this 'last minute, get me outta here' vacation :)   Dan, who is not easily impressed, even said he really like the place and would definately want to come back. (He didn't even say that about a 5-star hotel we stayed at in Hawaii!  Although I have to admit, even though Hawaii had better pools and of course they had the ocean, the rooms at the Chateau are a hundred times nicer! AND the Chateau was $50 cheaper a night! ) This is a really nice place for us to vacation at and not have the added expense or travel time of flying to someplace like Hawaii. Its a quick drive for us, and once we get our boat we can even launch it at their marina so we won't have the added cost of renting boats next time.  We all really like this place, and I look forward to going back :)  Here are lots of pictures from the "end of summer, last minute, get me outta here vacation" that we took :)

The living room, T seeing if the couch is comfy.

  Our room had a king bedroom (with a real door...it IS vacation for mommy and daddy too you know! hee hee), and a separate living room with a sofabed for the girls. It was over 500sq feet and very nice. We had window views from two directions (the girls' window view was just a rooftop and hill, but our view and balcony was of the lake-beautiful!)


The girls 'displaying' the rest of the room for me.



The separate bedroom. very comfy.

 The gorgeous view from our bedroom balcony...TableRockLake. The Branson Showboat Belle is even out there on the lake :)  T sure thought it was pretty. So did I :)

 Right after we got there, W pulled out her second tooth!

 W admiring her new 'toothless' grin. ;)

 I promptly settled down to enjoy the view and balcony. I would sit out here every night and just enjoy the cooler evening air while everybody else chilled by the tv's.

 The resort had a mini theater that sat 40 people. They showed 2 movies a day in here. They weren't new movies, but they were all kid-friendly movies. It was free and supposedly they had free popcorn too, but we never saw it (we usually didn't watch the beginning of the movie, so maybe they passed it out in the beginning and we missed it). It was really neat, and of course the girls thought it was the 'coolest'!

 Me and my sweetie by one of the ponds in and around the resort. Most had koi fish in them.

 Beautiful water falls in the atrium of the resort.

 The beautiful natural light view we had while eating dinner at a table in the atrium area.

 They had telescopes on the veranda. The girls really liked seeing the 'craters' on the moon. They thought that was cool. Obviously, Dan did too :)

 Love this pretty smile before we take off in our rental boat from the marina. We have been looking at buying a boat pretty soon, and this trip really solidified that we are going to get one. The girls had an absolute ball tubing, and I really just loved chilling on the boat in an alcove on the lake. We packed our lunch and took it with us, so we'd pull over, eat lunch, swim, relax, and play. It was really nice. Dan learned though that I really don't know how to pull a skier or tuber very well, so until I get that down pat, he either won't be skiing much, or we'll have to take someone else with us who can drive better than me :(  oops.

 Our captain! We really had a great time!

 Her face filled with pure joy as we take off across the lake for the first time. She sure loved it! me too!

 Silly happy face from the pip squeak too!

 T is ready for a ride!

 T went tubing about 3 years ago on this lake when we came with friends. But W was just a baby, so this was her first time. She loved it, you will see later that she is our little stinker, as she proved to us that she was adventurous by STANDING on the tube while we pulled it!

 There she is!  Every time another boat went by she would stand up to show off and get their attention. They thought it was pretty cute too.

 Relaxing on the back of the boat with the Chateau in the background.

 I'm loving it!

 T and I had a little 'photo shoot' near the waterfalls and water features at the front of the hotel, here are our pictures.

 so pretty

 On Fri and Sat. nights we signed up to have Lucky, the Bear, deliver hot cookies and cold milk to our room before bedtime. The girls thought this surprise was awesome, and W ran out and gave him a huge hug! The cookies were super good when they were fresh and warm. The resort does this for free, isn't that awesome!?

 Here is another one, silly girl. our room was the second balcony from the top on the far right of the photo.

 Every day we visited the Sweet Shoppe at least once :) they had ice cream, cookies, cakes, chocolates, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, and candy in jars (old fashioned). It was definately a hot spot every evening when the air cooled off. We (and lots of others) would partake of their sweets and then enjoy them on the veranda overlooking the pool and the lake. Just awesome! We also watched the sun set from there.

 Action shot of T leaping from the boat to the tube :)

 Caught some air with a wave!

 That's me skiing. I sure do love skiing (both downhill and water), problem is, my body is just not the same as when I was 17, so I can only do it for about 3 minutes now instead of the 23 I used to do when I was younger. It sure is a good full body workout. Love it!

 Here's Dan jumping on the tube trying to knock off W,    only problem was... he got bounced off instead! :0

 Our little show-off, dancing on the tube!

 One of my favorite pictures, me and my honey!

 Really comfy places to sit in the 'Library Lounge'

 One night on the veranda. So nice and enjoyable out here! We really had a great time!

 Me trying to take a picture of me with the sunset in the background, guess I blocked it with my own head! lol

 The beautiful restuarant at the resort were we ate breakfast twice. It overlooks the lake. It reminded me so much of the Lakeview Dining Room at Shanty Creek where I worked as a kid. Although this was so much better, because now I was the guest, instead of the busgirl or hostess! :)

Beautiful sunset from the veranda overlooking the lake. Just gorgeous!