It’s been quite some time since I’ve had a post solely focused on photography. For those of you newer readers, you may not have known that one of the main reasons I started blogging was because I received a new DSLR and wanted to document my journey in how to use my camera. While it’s been a slow process, I still shy away from Manual mode and stick to AV mode. One day, I’ll get to Manual, maybe.
A few weekends ago, we took our first family road trip with Austin. Our destination was Branson, MO but I made it a point to stop by Springfield, MO as well on the way there. We left on Friday morning and our first stop was Aviary Cafe and Creperie, recommended by Elsie. But first, here is a little A sleeping peacefully in his car seat (he hated that thing by the end of the weekend).
I loved all of the eclectic and beautiful decor, especially the fun patterned umbrellas on the ceiling. We had savory crepes, sweet crepes and other little bites until our bellies were full. Then our next stop was hte Red Velvet shop in person!
The store was absolutely massive and beautiful! There was a beautiful wall of sweets, tons of clothing and accessories galore, that I just felt myself getting lost inside (and totally lost track of time too)! Then it was time to head to good old Branson…. which is best described by this postcard…
We woke up on Saturday morning and ate at Billy Gail’s, claimed to be one of the best breakfast joints in town. And with a chocolate chip pancake twice the size of my head, those acclamations had to be correct.
Then we headed down to Table Rock Dam to do a little sight seeing. It had seriously been forever since I’ve seen a body of water, no joke, I don’t get out much these days.
For those of you who haven’t heard of Branson, it’s kind of like a miniature country version of Vegas. But without all the casinos, clubs, glitz and glamour. However, there are tons of shows for you to see and the one we chose was the Dixie Stampede. It’s an animal trick and stunts show with dinner included, we liked it!
On Sunday morning, we hit up the College of the Ozarks for one of the most amazing brunches I’ve had in awhile. If you haven’t heard of College of the Ozarks before, it’s a college where the students don’t have to pay tuition because they all have jobs there. How cool is that? The college students as wait staff and servers were all so friendly and had such promise.
It was a fun trip as a family of 5, crossing 3 generations. I can’t wait to take Austin on more trips, next time it will most likely be by plane instead of car, yikes!
What’s the last trip you took?
P.S. The winner of the $35 credit giveaway to Etty and Amelia is Lisa Sanders of All Things *Jane! Congrats Lisa! Send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!
P.S.S. The TWO winners of the Shoetopia giveaway are Colleen of Collifornia and Megan of Meg’s Musings! Congrats ladies! Send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com with your shoe choice, size and mailing address!
Your trip looks fun (especially those cafes you visited)! 🙂 Great pictures too 🙂
xo,
janmloves.blogspot.com
I’m having a $50 Shabby Apple Gift Card Giveaway on my blog!
Looks like a fun trip!
My son hates the carseat… he has for a long time. Any time we go to get in the car he throws a fit. It is awful!
Looks and sounds like a great trip!
Sandy! I’ve always loved your photos, especially your food photos. You’re doing great!
I can’t wait for summer roadtrips this year. Always makes the bright days more memorable.
Phew! I feel so much better that I am not the only who shooting on AV mode…try explaining to an Azn mid age Mom…the mom who thinks that a point and shoot worked just fine 😉 It ain’t broken so why fix it? lol!
Your photos are gorgeous! Looks like a great trip!!
looks like y’all had a blast! ((and how fun are those umbrellas hanging from the ceiling?!))
jealous you got to go to RV. did you get anything fun?
So cool you got to see Red Velvet – how fun! I went to Branson as a kid and though I don’t remember much if it, I do remember they had some amazing shows.. My siblings and I still talk about one in particular.. It was a family of like 8 kids who all sang and played instruments. We still remember songs from it, haha!
Yay for Austin going on his first trip! The last trip we went on was San Francisco and we absolutely fell in love.
Fantastic photos!
love this pictures!!! so lovely!
beautiful beautiful, amazing pictures. Thank you for sharing!
What a fun trip and wonderful photos! Beautiful!
Looks like you guys had a great trip! Your photos are really great…the food ones are making me SO hungry and Austin is adorable as usual! I have a point and shoot camera so I’m jealous of everyone that has a DSLR!
-Sharon
You went to Red Velvet!? I am so jealous!
The pictures are BEAUTIFUL! He’s so adorable. :-).
awww how cute are all you guys!! 🙂 x
Looks like you guys had a blast! How do you get your photos to be so crisp and sharp? BTW _ LOVE LOVE LOVE that family photo especially since Austin is smiling so big, it’s perfect! The next trip we’ll be taking is to Tahoe for the weekend with the little bambino, days before we embark on a two week trip to Asia with baby. CRAZINESS!
How fun! I love road trips! And these photos are awesome. Can’t believe how big Austin is getting. He gets more and more adorable each day, if that is even possible! 🙂 xoxo
He is just too cute for words!
xo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
baby boy look pretty happy on a trip, gosh we pack our whole house when we go places! it’s so exhausting haha but also fun!
Ooooh looks like an awesome trip! Those crepes look amazing. I would love to be able to visit the Red Velvet shop some day, I’m pretty sure I would easily lose track of time in there too!!
I love your family pictures Sandy, so nice getting to know you better! That shop looks right up my alley and I love the picture of A with his tongue out! So cute.
Evani
You take wonderful pictures and I loved your makeup! Baby A is getting so big and cuter!
Oh I love roadtrips, this one looks great!
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It looks like you all had such a great trip! The photos are fabulous, and the family pictures are so sweet. Love this!
Glad the trip went well and I had no idea you first started blogging because of photography! Cool! You’re doing great. Ain’t nothing wrong with shooting in Av mode! Lots of pros do, ya know. Love the 3-gen picture. That’s a keeper/framer!
so jealous that you got to go to the Red Velvet store! love all of these pics and it looked like a great roadtrip! 🙂
That looks like so much fun! So neat that you stopped by Red Velvet too! I definitely need to plan a road trip soon!
looks like a great 1st time family road trip friend!