Yak Attack

This past Easter weekend, we had the honor of hosting my parents for a few days. I feel like we've come full circle ... because if you look back at the blogs in April of '09, you'll see a posting of my parents visiting last Easter. That means we're on the home stretch ...

Kyle and I, being the best daughter and son-in-law EVER, celebrated my dad's birthday with a Branson tour. That's right. We stomached a day in Branson, Missouri to fulfill my father's dream. We even bought tickets for the four of us to see Yakov Smirnoff's Moscow Circus! (Mom and Dad - please log all the brownie points we scored ... we need credit for this one!)

We all prepped with some much needed Dramamine to handle the super curvy and super hilly 90 minute ride out there.

Ok - I'll admit, my Mom deserves brownie points for making the trip too! Let's be honest. I think my dad is the only Yakov fan on the planet and true to my Mom's generous soul, she'll do whatever it takes to keep my father happy. Bless her heart.

The crowd was so small there was literally one performer for every audience member ... but they still performed their hearts out. Here was one of our favorite acts - cute puppies doing circus tricks while dressed up as ferocious lions. Strange, yet adorable.

The performance was topped off with an authentic Russion meal ... well, as authentic as you can get out of a box.

The remainder of the weekend was fairly schedule-free ... very unlike my parents ... but I think it was good for them.

We went out to dinner only once (a record low for my parents,) my mom and I got manicures, we went for a walk around the lake and just spent a lot of down time at the house - playing games and hanging out together. My Dad even joined us for a game of Scrabble ... probably the first (and only) time ever. He really mastered the 3-letter words.

We enjoyed the nice weather with a cookout on the deck ... courtesy of Kyle.

We soaked up some sun on my parents first ride on the boat ... also courtesy of Kyle.

We even got my parents to play darts ... can you believe it?!?!? My Dad said he hadn't played in 40 years ... wow, he's old. :) But, I'll tell ya, it all came back to him as he hit the bullseye several times. Hence his new nickname, Bullseye Bill. And thanks to his mad skills, the boys won!

Thanks, Mom and Dad for coming to visit us in Arkansas again ... you're our first repeat visitors! We expect you to spend some time refining your dart throwing skills so we can step up the competition next time and be sure to let us know how we can cash in those Yakov brownie points we worked so hard to earn. Love you!