Trip to Missouri: Part One

The week before last I made my maiden voyage to visit Ryan's Dad's side of the family in Missouri.  It was Ryan's week off, so he and his Dad road tripped it up there on Tuesday.  Sadly, Melanie, Tiff & Kylie weren't able to make it, but they were definitely there in spirit.  I've been a busy bee at work lately between budget season, closing and everything else in between so I wasn't able to join them until Thursday.  I flew into Branson and was greeted by Lori, Sandy, Mike & Ryan who'd all driven about an hour to pick me up.  Am I spoiled or what?

As expected with any Martin side of the family gathering, the excitement, action and laughter started immediately upon arrival.  After nearly purchasing dog treats while paying for parking (you read that correctly- no need to adjust your monitor) and a few illegal rights, my gracious hosts landed us safely at Lamberts in Branson for lunch.  As we pulled into the parking lot and were greeted with no less than 3 tour buses chalk full of people older than 65, it struck me I might be in for a treat.  The place definitely did not disappoint.  If you ever find yourself in the vicinity, do yourself a favor and check it out.  It's kind of like a Cracker Barrel to the 100th power.  They throw piping hot rolls at you.  They have "pass arounds" of the day that they plop onto a paper towel on your table if you request them.  My kind of service!  All in all, it was fantastic

Mike (Ryan's Dad), Sandy (Ryan's Aunt/Mike's sister), Ryno & I.  You can't tell in this picture but our combined age was probably closeish to the age of the rest of the patrons during our time there.

 After expanding my stomach to 3x it's original size with some amazing chicken & dumplings, we all piled back into the car to head over to Sandy's.  I was treated to a drive through Bolivar's historic square downtown on my way.  I have no doubt that this route is coming to a tour bus near you any day now.  After saying hi to Jace,(Ryan's cousin/Sandy's youngest son), & Kevin (Ryan's uncle/Sandy's husband), we all piled back into the car to go to Taylor's, (Ryan's cousin/Lori's daughter), softball game.  We met up with Stan (Ryan's uncle/Lori's husband), Connor (Ryan's cousin/Lori's son), Bryce (Ryan's cousin/Snady's older son) and Meemaw (self explanatory).  The Lady Liberators triumphed over the Lady Lakers and Ryan decided against yelling "go Tayter tot" at the top of his lungs so I would say it was a win for everyone.

In case you can't tell by this excellent form, this hit hit the fence and nearly went out of the park.  Tay-ter tot is a stud.  :c)

 Running home and looking good doing it.

Following the Lady Liberator victory, Kevin, Stan, Mike, Ryan & I headed over to Stan & Lori's new house so that the boys could move a new grill downstairs to be installed.  I was, of course, in a supervisory role.  Stan & Lori are in the process of building a beautiful new house out on a big plot of land.  So convincing me to keep a watchful eye over this endeavor didn't take too much arm twisting.  Sadly, I took no pictures.  Probably because I was busy scheming which room could be Ryan & I's. 

To reward their successful efforts against the beastly grill and Taylor's win over the Lakers, we all met up at a Mexican Restaurant near the square.  The boys challenged one another to eat hot sauce - some with more success than others - and Sandy got tricked into eating it thinking it was salsa.  Much Dr. Pepper consumption ensued.  I apologize- again, too  much laughing, not enough picture-taking.  Whoopsies.

The party moved back to Sandy & Kevin's house after dinner.  What do 7 adults & 3 kiddos do to pass the time?  Leg wrestle.  Duh.  

Here is Taylor schooling Stan...

  ... and then Ryan....

 ... and Sandy...

 ... and last but not least, Kevin.  Ryan continues to maintain that Taylor must be on steroids.  I stand by the fact that women > men.  :c)

Earlier at the airport Sandy & Lori informed me that they would tell me the gender of the baby that evening. They guaranteed that their methodology was so accurate that we could go ahead and cancel our elective gender ultrasound the next week  With all the excitement of the leg wrestling tournament of the century, I nearly forgot about this huge milestone.  Luckily, they did not.  Dr. Sandy & Dr. Lori administered their highly scientific pencil test.  Result yielded?  Team pink.

When you think science, do you not picture someone standing on a chair in their basement?

Lori confirming the results.

 Triple checking the accuracy of the pencil by making sure it correctly clarified that Sandy had boys.

Learning the gender of one's baby in addition to flying, getting pelted by rolls and cheering on a softball team will really wear you out.  After an awesome day, we turned in for the evening.  Stay tuned for part two - when Ryan is entrusted with the lives of several highschool girls & Ryan and I get a big surprise.