Benetti Family Vacation to Missouri

The kids and I left Verona on the morning of Father's Day and drove back home to Hope. We celebrated Father's Day with Andy, did some laundry, and went to sleep. The next morning, we were back on the road again. This time to Missouri for Benetti Family 2022 Vacation. We were the last to arrive - but not by too much. My parents ordered pizza for dinner for that first night. Some time that evening, there was also some whiskey tasting. Or maybe it was Bourbon. 

While some of the guys went mountain biking, this group of us went hiking. We only ended up doing it the one time. The weather that week was in the mid-90's each day. 

The girls danced to some Just Dance videos and Branko walked around like a little judge deciding who would move on to the next round. 

Jeff whipped up some refreshing concoctions!

We each took turns making meals. Mary and Scott put together this incredible nacho bar! 

Uranus, MO is a town most of is drive through on the way to Branson. As a gag birthday gift, Scott bought this t-shirt for Curtis. He also got him one last year that said, "Straight Outta Uranus!" 

One activity we make sure to do each year is boating on Table Rock Lake. Branko fell asleep on the ride over to the lake. 

There will always be tubing!

And swimming. Even Branko got in! 

Not pictured here, but I also got in. It was hot outside and that water felt so refreshing. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip this year. I never get in because big bodies of water often feel too cold to me. But not on this day. 

This kid and his crazy faces. Always my most difficult to photograph!

His face looks annoyed with me for taking the photo. I don't think he was. I'll at least tell myself that. :)

We all got pretty relaxed for a while there.

Andy had to leave the next day to fly back to do the funeral of a church member. We knew that might be a possibility as we headed out into the vacation since her health had been rapidly declining. Thankfully, Andy could be there for the boating day. That afternoon, we went to a place called Wonder Works. This place ended up being even cooler that I originally thought. 

This was one of those 3D rides when you're in front of a big screen and your chair moves along with the movement from the screen. It felt like you were on a roller coaster. I experienced two different movies: one through a dinosaur park and one through the Great Wall of China. There was a video of each group displayed on a monitor for those waiting outside. This was half our group. 

There was SO much to do! 

That evening, Jodi made kiddie cocktails complete with popsicles for the under-21 crowd.

The next morning, we went miniature golfing. Again Graydon with the faces! 

This was my group. Bella was our winner. 

Due to the hot weather, we didn't get a ton of use out of the hot tub, but we did get some.

There was a Root Beer chugging contest between the kids. A song was played and each kid took a turning drinking their soda during a certain portion of the song. When the lyric or song section changed, it was someone else's turn. Graydon ended up winning this contest and Uncle Pat gave him $20!

It all started when Nora fell asleep on the couch. Uncle Scott made some marks on her face with eye liner. And then all the kids got some.  

They sure are a lovely group.

We got a big summer thunderstorm. Several of us sat on the front porched and watched the rain beat down. Shortly after, the sun was shining brightly in the sky and this double rainbow formed right in front of us. 

This front porch hosted lots of great conversations. 

Lori had a birthday while we were there. She is now 32! Some of the kids decorated her birthday cake.

On our last full day, we drove out to a place called Talking Rocks Cavern. In the gift shop, there were some tunnels in the walls for the kids to climb through. 

Bella looks happy here, but she said the whole experience felt really claustrophobic for her. 

Each of the kids got a geode to split. 

My parents paid for all the kids to do gemstone mining. This was a neat experience.

Curtis found an Amethyst! 

There was some gemstone trading that occurred when we got back to the house.

Curtis would be celebrating his birthday a couple days after our trip ended, so he got his gift from the aunts and uncles early. . . Apple Airpods! 

This is such a useful gift for him. 

After doing some packing/cleaning/loading (we were leaving the next morning), we played a game of Telestrations. This game always gives some good laughs. 

And some of us got in the hot tub one more time. 

We had the house until 10am the next morning, but the last vehicle to leave (us and my parents & Mary) left by 7am. We stopped for some McDonalds before hitting the road. 

We lost some time due to an accident outside St. Louis. And, we also lost an hour due to the time zone change, but we made it home around 5:30pm that evening. And since I already did laundry in Missouri, I just left the van loaded because the next morning, we were leaving for another trip: LBI!