The Track & Celebration City

Eric was very excited on Friday because he wanted to go to The Track in Branson. The Track is very cool – they have go carts, miniature golf, and lots of rides for kids. We went to the Kids’ Track first because there were a lot of little rides for the kids, and I felt bad that Georgia couldn’t ride very much at Silver Dollar City.

She could ride a few more rides at The Track, but the only thing she really wanted to ride was the train. She LOVES trains. Every time she sees or hears one, she shouts “CHOO CHOO TRAIN!” Well, at The Track, you had to be 36 inches to ride on the children’s train! I was pissed. She could ride on the kids’ ferris wheel, but not on the kids’ train. Grrrrrr!!! Once again, I tried to sneak her on, but those people are sticklers. Georgia was pissed the entire time we were at The Track. She kept screaming, and heading back to the train. I felt horrible!

She did ride some of the other things. They had children’s swings, which she liked, little elephants (which looked a lot more dangerous than the train, but whatever), and a children’s ferris wheel – little cages that spun around. She rode that with Eli, but she didn’t like it, and screamed every time she saw mama. After that, we waited while Eli drove the go carts (he LOVED that), and then we went to play miniature golf.

They weren’t that busy, so miniature golf went pretty well. The kids hit the balls around like it’s hockey, while you would think mommy and daddy were at the US Open trying to beat each other. Just for the record, mommy won by one point. Woo hoo!!

We decided to leave The Track early with a promise to Eric to go back. He desperately wanted to do the go carts for the big kids, but Georgia was way too restless. We went back to the hotel to rest for awhile. Then I really wanted to go to the winery. They have Stone Hill Winery in Branson, which offers tours. Eric and I toured the winery many years ago BK (before kids), and I wanted to go again. Eli took one look at the building, and said he wasn’t going in. So Eric and the kids waited in the car while I went in and stocked up on wine.

Then, Eli wanted spaghetti so we went to the Pasta House, which was really yummy. After that, we were off to Celebration City.

Celebration City is a theme park that has the feel of a carnival. I wasn’t crazy about going there since Georgia can’t ride anything she wants to, but we actually had a great time . . . with a few little hiccups. Celebration City has a 1950’s theme, so there are a lot of malt shops and 50’s music. It’s pretty cool.

They even have a big arcade, which I find very dangerous. Eric and Eli spent a ton of quarters on ski ball, while I was obsessed with trying to win a Care Bear at the crane game. Does anyone ever win at the crane game?

After that, we went to see the Sea Lion show. We only had to wait 10 minutes for it to start, but it seemed like forever with Georgia (aka Little Miss Impatient). She does not like to wait, so Eric took her behind the bleachers so people at least couldn’t see where the screaming was coming from. She was a little better when the Sea Lion show started, but I don’t think it was her favorite attraction.

Next, we hit the rides. We rode the carosuel, and hit all the kids rides that were open. Of course, the train was closed – there must have been forces working against us. Then Eli wanted to ride the big rides. We all rode the ferris wheel together, which is my favorite. Then, Eli and daddy rode the Tilt-a-whirl and Scrambler, and Eli was able to talk daddy into going on a big roller coaster – the Jack Rabbit. (That just seemed wrong to me, but I digress.) Eric’s not a big roller coaster fan, but Eli loved it. It took Eric a few minutes afterward to rid him of his lovely shade of green.

After that, I declared no more rides because I was unable to contain Georgia. She was so pissed that she couldn’t go on the roller coaster that she threw herself on the ground screaming. When she got up, she forgot she was on her leash, and tried to run from me, screaming while waving her arms in the air. I would have found it comical had I not been so frustrated with her.

Instead, we decided to do miniature golf. Eric wanted a rematch. Well, it was about the worst round of miniature golf ever, mainly because there were waaay too many people. The kids are usually on the hole behind us or in front of us. When it’s crowded, they actually have to stay with us, and this didn’t go over very well. Georgia seriously spent the entire 18 holes crying and trying to get away from us. At one point, she took off running over some rocks, and I tried to catch her. I tripped and fell and gashed my leg open, and lost my ball. My patience was very thin after that.

Plus, toward the end of our game it started raining. At that point, the people behind us just got tired of waiting and quit their game around the 15th or 16th hole. But despite all of that, I still won! HA!

Luckily, it stopped raining in time for fireworks on the great lawn. I really thought the kids would enjoy the fireworks, but Eli sat there with his hands over his ears, and Georgia held on to me for dear life. At one point, I tried to adjust my glasses, but when I moved my arm from around her, she grabbed me and screamed “NO NO NO!” The fireworks seemed to completely terrify her.

After scaring the kids to death, we called it a day and went back to the hotel. We had to gear up for Saturday, and the trip home.