Day Eight: saying our farewells...

Day eight...how did our vacation fly by so fast???!!! Today we had the most glorious weather possible at Silver Dollar City! We had bright, clear, sunny skies and the temperature was perfect. It was really a beautiful day. The only shadow cast over the day was that it was the band's last day to play at SDC this year. The last day is always kind of sad for us.

Darcy went on Wildfire again (the coaster that flips upside down FIVE times)...this time with Greg (our guitar player) and Brian (our mandolin player). And THIS time her mother had her CAMERA with her as she watched from the observation deck (unlike a few days ago!). So...here are the pictures!.... (Darcy is the very, very, short one!)






















Doug went on Thunderation again with Darcy, Rayna, and I. I don't think he really WANTED to go, but, he can't stand being left out, either! An older gentleman employee pulled Rayna off the ride to measure her before letting the ride begin. He was certain she was not big enough. I was too. I remembered a few days earlier when Rayna had first began riding what has become her all time favorite ride, she was about 1/8 an inch (technically) too short to go on it (when I measured her myself at the far entrance into the ride. There were no lines that day though (being a rainy weekday) and she had her heart so set on going that I had decided to just see if they would let her slide by. No problem. The young teen running the roller coaster that day didn't even give her a second look.). But, now, as the older fellow pulled her off the ride to measure her, I knew our little one would be leaving broken-hearted. I know RAYNA was thinking the same thing, too, because as she backed up to the measuring board, I saw her lift up onto her toes, bringing her heels up off the ground just a little bit! The old fellow saw her do that too. He suppressed his first smile as he told her she needed to have her feet flat on the ground. She and I both knew that she was only a moment away from being evicted from the ride... Wrong! That same rainy day when she had ridden Thunderation so many times, she had gotten her tennis shoes so soaked that they hadn't dried out by the next morning, so Grant had had to run to WalMart and buy her a new pair. The new pair were really nice ones with a very THICK, heavy rubber sole. They also made her 1/8 of an inch TALLER! (Still, I think if the fellow had flattened down her hair, her SKULL wouldn't have quite reached the required mark! Thankfully he didn't. I think he was just intially dubious about such a small one going on an adult roller coaster. He probably secretly worried that she would be traumatized. He didn't know our Rayna! She came back from the ride with the biggest grin possible on her face...and begged to go a second time! As he checked her safety bar to make sure it was secure for the second ride, the fellow grinned back at her...amused at her enthusiasm. The second time, to her delight, she rode in one of the cars that faces backwards and she sat with Jade's daddy (Garret) rather than with me. I was planning on sitting out the second go round since Doug had decided by the end of the first ride that he did not want to go on the coaster again. (He keeps deciding that, then changing his mind.) Anyway, as the others ran for the entrance for the second ride, Doug changed his mind and begged to go to. So, I rode with him on the second ride (he ridden with Darcy on the first ride in the seat behind Rayna and I). Again (as always) he decided JUST AS THE COASTER BEGAN PULLING AWAY FROM THE STATION that he DIDN'T want to go on the ride afterall and asked to get off. My answer was the same as always, "Too late, son!" During the first 2/3 of the ride his face was frozen in its usual terror expression...but, something amazing happened the last part of the ride...his face broke out into a big, happy smile. After he got off the ride, he told me he LIKED Thunderation. Poor kid...he isn't a natural coaster enthusiast like his younger sister...but, like his older sister before him, he is ACQUIRING a genuine joy for them.

Getting a nice photo of all three of my children together is always a bit of an excercize in futility. I can never seem to get ALL three of them to cooperate at the same moment! Rayna wanted her newly purchased eagle in the photo, meanwhile, Doug was too busy consuming his frozen lemonade to pose for the photo. Oh well!




Every year since Grant and I married fifteen years ago, we have gotten a family tintype made at Silver Dollar City. This tradition has become even more meaningful since we have become parents. It is so fun to see the succession of tintypes on our wall...chronicaling the growth of our family and of our children! So, it was that today we had our tintype made for this year (in black and white and with serious expressions, of course!). It didn't rephotagraph well for the blog, here...but, anyway, here it is...

Darcy played her mandolin with the band once today. She chose to play "Shady Grove" again (even though I tried to get her to debut "Red Haired Boy"). Rayna asked to sing with her, so, for the first time, Rayna joined her up on stage on that song. Of course, all the kids sang "In the Highways" together (my three children and Jade (granddaughter of the banjo player) and Alayna (daughter of the guitar player). (Trent, son of the guitar player was off exploring SDC...I think he has decided he is too old to sing with the younger children and has discreetly retired himself from the younger children's big number, "In the Highways"))!

There are some things that are hideously embarrassing to parents, but downright hilarious to non-relatives. Tonight I was the victim of such a circumstance. Rayna, our dramatic four year old got into a scuffle on stage with her older brother. The children were gathering around the group mic to sing "In the Highways" and Rayna evidently felt that her brother had squeezed her out of the choice spot, so she SHOVED him (quite hard)...knocking him out of the spot she felt was rightfully hers. He, of course, attempted to reclaim his spot. Meanwhile, the bass player (their DAD) had stepped up and was attempting to quickly establish the peace. Rayna, in her always very loud voice, cried, "But, Doug is SQUISHING me!" By this time the hundred or so people in the audience were all laughing...while Grant and I were wishing we could quietly disappear!

After we left SDC tonight, we went into Branson to eat. We have only eaten Thai food once in our life (four years ago when we were in GuangZhou, China). Tonight we went to "Gum Rai" a Thai restaurant. It was EXCELLENT. I think it is the best restaurant meal I have ever had. The food had such a delicate flavor. It was truly delightful. We had glass noodles with onions, black mushrooms, and chicken; fried rice with pork; pan fried noodles with broccoli and beef; and pot stickers with plum sauce. It doesn't sound that extraordinary...but it was all just so light and delicious. The only thing I didn't care for (and hadn't ordered, anyway) was the Thai tea that Grant had. He liked it, but I don't like sweet tea. It also had cream in it...which I wouldn't mind that, I just don't like my tea sweetened.

Tomorrow we check out of our hotel room and begin the journey home. We will be stopping along the way to play at a church that Greg (our guitar player...a pastor, himself) is associated with.