Bunker Hill and Arkansas Trip

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write a post about this trip, but today's the day! As we've done for the last several years (and as Mark's family has done for decades!), we were on the road in June, making the rounds to see Mark's family and extended family. We left BG on the Friday before Father's Day and drove to the other side of St. Louis. From there, on Saturday, we drove to Springfield, MO, to meet up with Mark's parents and Katie. We spent Saturday afternoon exploring the town, and even spotted these wild turkeys!

On Sunday (Father's Day), we spent most of the day at Silver Dollar City, an amusement park near Branson, MO. Everyone but me had been before, though Mark's last visit was quite a few years ago. The park has a frontier America theme with several shows, rides, and roller coasters. My favorite ride was the Outlaw Run roller coaster, the smoothest, most exciting wooden coaster I've ever been on (including corkscrew turns!). We also saw a show featuring Olympic athletes (a gymnast and skiers) and a magic show. And, of course, we sampled some food. Although it rained through most of the morning, we had a good time!

Waiting to ride the Outlaw Run

Giant barn swing

first roller coaster I've ridden during fog!

My pretzel hot dog & Mark's chili cheese dog

the end of the magic show

cookies and creme funnel cake
(don't worry, we didn't even attempt to eat it all!)

the Flooded Mine ride

Heidi got married in this church!

On Monday, Dad took us for a walking tour of Evangel, the college Katie attends. It's a small, but beautiful, campus.

Then, we were off to Bunker Hill to meet up with all the aunts and uncles on Mom's side. This year, Mark, Heidi, Zach, and I got to stay in a newly renovated cabin! (They've been remodeling one or two at a time for the last several years, so others in our group had stayed in these, but not us, till this year!) We liked it, but we also missed having Hannah there (she was at church camp this year instead).

view out from the screened porch

Other than the cabin, I don't have any pictures from this part of the trip (I'll need to get Mom & Dad's, but I don't have them yet). We did a lot of the usual things--games, bingo, ping pong, swimming, canoeing, walking, and so on. The guys went golfing, taking Zach along for the first time. The ladies did some exploring in downtown Mountain View, which I really enjoyed. (Prior to this, I'd only ever been to the one shopping center with Walmart and Sonic; this year, we found cute boutiques and gift shops, an antique store, and more!). Mark was like an energizer bunny this year--it was so fun to watch him out and about with Zach, especially. As always, we really enjoyed spending time with everyone.

On Thursday morning, it was off to Arkansas to visit Grandma and Grandpa Cook. By this leg of the trip, we were back down to a smaller group--Mom, Dad, Katie, Mark, and me.  It happened that some other extended family on Grandma's side was in town, so I met a few relatives I'd never met before. Aunt Terri also stopped by for a visit. Here, the guys spent a lot of time helping Grandpa with his computer and other electronic updates. The ladies spent some time at the mall.

Mark and I made the drive back to BG all in one stretch on Saturday, and though we'd had a great time, it sure was nice to be home!