Dad Life · Branson
Silver Dollar City: Little Rides, Big Smiles
Friday we loaded up and headed to Branson. Sara drove, and I took the middle seat with my laptop open, working on the Christmas lights guide somewhere between snack requests.
That was pretty much my job description for the whole trip: lights page on the laptop, snack distributor, DVD player repairman, and volume control. Too hot. Too cold. I’m thirsty. On rotation, the whole way there.
At the park nobody split off — we all stuck together the whole day. The little-kid crew was Sadie, Jonathan, and Sara’s other little one, so no big rides for us, which was fine by me. The best moment of the whole day was watching Sadie ride the rides with Jonathan. She had a smile that took up her whole face and she was so excited. That’s the stuff you can’t buy.
The train was the other winner. The whole crew piled on together — nice, slow, and entertaining, and it’s the one ride everybody from three years old on up can actually do together.
Here’s the honest part: if it had just been me with the little kids, that day would have been hard. But with Kelsey and Sara there too, and Sara’s kids for Sadie to play with, it was completely doable. That’s the real secret to a park day with little kids — don’t outnumber yourself if you can help it, and go with people you like.
I even went live from the train depot that night — first time I’d ever gone live — and 359 people showed up to watch. Not bad for a guy who spent the day fixing a DVD player.
— Chris Uting, That Arkansas Dad