Day 10

Today was a glorious day full of new sites, new sounds, and new adventures!

I think all four of us learned something today that we never knew before. I think we may have learned dozen things we didn’t know!

It is day 10 and I am learning that having my girls with me 24 hours a day, with no other obligations, and being completely free with our time and choices of what to do, gives me a clear glimpse of what they find fascinating and what they don’t. I see what lights them up and what they pretend to appreciate just because they know mommy does. It is sweet when they do that.

We started our day at the “Best breakfast café in Branson.“

Let me just say that it is very well named!

The pancakes are ridiculously sized.

And Mimi finally found a place that makes a large enough serving of hashbrowns.

Nina ordered pigs in a blanket. The blankets were large.

See how big her kids meal is but she still insisted on eating my bacon.

They have an antique train that circles the restaurant that the kids really liked.

After breakfast we headed to the National Tiger Sanctuary.

This most definitely was a highlight for us. If you are an animal lover or a cat lover this place does not disappoint.

We saw some incredibly powerful animals with some heart touching stories of how they came to the sanctuary.

The White Bengal Tiger

Did you know that tigers prefer to be left alone but lions have to have community?

And I found it fascinating to learn that their eyes are most brilliant blue when they’re young and lighten up to a clear white as they age.

This is the Siberian tiger, the largest breed.

He weighs about 650 pounds and eats 13 pounds of meat in one meal.

He takes getting that chicken leg every 2-3 hours, even on his fasting days, seriously!

A Lioness. The girls loved how she crosses her arms when she lays down.

They thrive in Community

The Alpha Male

The Black Leopard

Not the cute little sandpaper tongue on your house kitten here.

You haven’t heard the power of a voice until you hear a lions growl. It’s incredible. Glad we got to hear about 90 seconds of a lions carol between all of them in the sanctuary today. It was mesmerizing. Here is a short clip of it.

We really enjoyed our time at the tiger sanctuary.

Off to lunch.

We wanted to try Lambert’s because they are famous for their Throwed Rolls.

We didn’t really know what that was until we saw them start throwing rolls to the guests.

Here is a clip of me catching a roll one handed while holding a camera!

Their cup sizes are crazy.

Their meal sizes are ridiculous too

Best barbecue sauce ever!

We’ll be back.

The girls wanted to go Antiquing again. They are becoming regular Pickers!

We browsed a quilt shop and a few “Antique style” boutiques. boy do they know the difference!

Nina liked watching the quilt machine in action.

We had a ball and hit six of the eleven antique stores in this vicinity. We found treasures and great people in each shop.

I found a pocket knife just like the one my dad used to carry.

I found the EXACT washtub I had described to the girls on our trip to Missouri that we used to heat our bath water in growing up .

They were much more fascinated with their finds of antique lockets and tiny perfume bottles.

And this old school desk

I was fascinated with all the kitchen stuff, including this noodle cutter. We made homemade pasta few weeks ago and it took absolutely forever to cut the noodles with a knife. The girls say they are NOT eating noodles made with this old thing! Tee hee, they won’t know.

I put this little video collage together of the old coffee making essentials.

We arrived home to a beautiful sunset.

We ate Tiger paws (bear claws) for dinner.

The girls watched a quiet movie and I took a quiet bubble bath. Looking forward to one final day in Branson tomorrow.