We left on Saturday, July 18th at 7:20 AM for our 6+ hour drive on our annual trip to the Lake of the Ozarks. We met up with Grandma and Grandpa at the first rest stop on 29. The girls then went to ride with Grandma and Grandpa. The ride seemed fast to Chris and I. Not sure if it was because we only had Asher in the car or what. We stopped at Platte City for gas and quick rest stop and then stopped at Warrensburg for a picnic and play time at the park. We climbed back into our cars for the quick 2 hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The girls slept a bit while Asher talked the whole way.
We arrived at the “cabin” at 2:40 and unpacked. Alivia and Addison ran right into the house picking out their room. Addison clearly did not remember the cabin. She asked why there was a table downstairs...did she not remember eating there last summer? Alivia, Asher and Daddy jumped in the lake. Asher did not seem to mind the life jacket once in the water. Then, it was bedtime. The girls were to sleep in the bunk beds. But, they were over tired and did not want to go to sleep. The first night was a long challenge to get the girls to sleep (this actually continued the whole trip).
Sunday: On this day, after our daily little walk where we saw a deer, Alivia, Asher and Addison all went on a jet ski ride! Addison really liked it, but we had to convince Alivia to ride it for a bit of honey treat. Alivia did more swimming, learning how to jump off the dock and swim with her life jacket on. They also swam a bit in the baby pool. Chris also brought down the canoe and we went on our first canoe ride of the trip. We finished the day with a treat: Smores!
Monday: We got up, went on another walk with Grandpa, then hit the Grand Glaze Beach. It was a long drive to the beach where Asher screamed almost the entire way there, but it was worth it! It was fabulous! The kids played in the sand, Addison buried Grandpa Bill in the sand, and then we did a little swimming. We had a picnic near the water in the shade before heading back to the cabin in the early afternoon. The kids had fun! Asher napped, while Alivia, Addison and I had some water time. Addison liked getting in the blow up boat and floating around with me while Alivia swam with her life jacket on again. She is really good at swimming now and is comfortable floating around. I tried to convince her to go down the slide by going down myself over and over, but she was just not ready. After a good shrimp dinner, Addison and Daddy took a canoe ride (her first of the season). She wanted to go more and more! The kids had a little less problems going to sleep, but it still was not like at home.
Tuesday: Rain, rain go away! Since it was raining, we decided it would be a good day to go shopping. Addison slept in until nearly 9am, then we got ready. The outlet mall is outside and it was pouring rain. It was crazy. After a few stores, we were soaked. But, we all got something. We stopped for lunch at the kids’ fav McD’s, picked up a few essentials at the store, before heading to Grandma’s Candy Store. Yummy! It was 2 o’clock before we got back to the house (and we saw 3 more deer on the way back!). As the day progressed, the weather did get better. The girls did a little fishing from the dock where the girls liked to play with the worms - yuck!, and then Alivia and Daddy did a little swimming. Addison and Daddy went on a little canoe ride. And of course, more cartoon network inside!
Wednesday: After a quick run, I wanted to go water skiing before it got busy. I skied on 2 (of course) even before breakfast. I jumped right up, remembering what to do after a few years hiatus. Once everyone was awake and had breakfast, we loaded the boat for a little ride on the lake. It was a nice morning for it! The kids actually liked the boat ride (or did they just like Grandma’s cookies and crackers in the boat?). We arrived home at 10:30, just in time to get back in the water for more swimming before lunch. After lunch, Asher went down for his nap while the girls watched cartoons, collected seeds and colored with Grandma Bet. Chris, Grandpa and I went out for more skiing! Chris, with a little encouragement from Grandpa, tried unsuccessfully to barefoot ski before skiing on one and two. He is crazy, jumping and doing his stunts in the water. I tried one before setting in on 2 again. Grandpa, who is not supposed to ski, talked Chris into pulling him on 2 for a bit. It was a fun afternoon! We came in and got the girls to swim some more. Addison got in the water for a millisecond, then got into the floating “boat” and took a nap! She floated around the dock for nearly 2 hours with Mommy or Daddy sleeping. We covered her face with a hat and body with a towel so she would not burn. Unfortunately, we could not say the say for Daddy, who got fried. We grilled out again, had more smores and then took Asher on a brief canoe ride. On our return, Daddy went back out to canoe around the cove, seeing baby raccoon, a big bird, and a little boy going potty right of the dock. Nice! Meanwhile, the kids and I played hide n seek with Grandma and Grandpa, hiding in every little spot we could find upstairs. After the kids went to bed, evening entertainment consisted of “Pass the Pigs” game. Don’t knock it until you have tried it – it was fun (okay, I won twice so it was more fun that way!).
Thursday: Today was supposed to be our last day, but we decided to stay through Friday. We got up and attempted to go on a walk. Addison, who decided she did not want to go on a walk, cried, scaring a little deer out of the woods. It was so cute. We did a little fishing (Asher's first time). Then, Alivia and Daddy tried to go swimming, but the weather was a little chilly. The temps were in the 80s all week, but the water was usually pretty warm. After more cartoon network and playing in the house, Grandma suggested we go to Miller’s Landing via boat for lunch. How fun! It was the first time we took all 3 kiddos to eat out via the boat. It was a beautiful day and ride. The kids watched the fish as we waited for the food. The food was delic! Both Addison and Asher fell asleep in the boat on the return trip. After Grandpa had a dead tree cut down (and we all watched) everyone, except Asher and Addison, took turns swimming and going on jet ski rides all afternoon. It was a great way to spend our extra day. After getting cleaned up, kiddos in bed, Chris and I took a quiet canoe ride while the sun went down. It was so peaceful! We wished that we could do that more often.
Friday: Another wonderful vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks has to come to an end. Alivia and Addison climbed into the car with Grandma and Grandpa, Asher in the car with Chris and I as we headed home leaving at 10am. We stopped at the same park in Warrensburg for a picnic lunch, then in Rock Port for an ice cream treat and getting Alivia back in our car. The ride from Rock Port to home was quite long with 2 out of 3 kiddos crying most of the time in rush hour. Fabulous! We arrived home just before 5:30.
This year “firsts” achieved at the Lake:
Alivia: Swam in the big, deep lake with her life jacket. She is getting braver!
Addison: Is now going #2 consistently in the potty! (I think it may have been a behavioral thing, but who knows). Addison also got in the water for about 15 seconds to swim!
Asher: Is now walking up the stairs with alternating gate. I guess he had a lot of practice with stairs at the Lake! He also took his first dip in Grandma and Boppa's Big Pool!
We had a wonderful time at the Lake. It always makes us sad to leave, another fun trip behind us. Asher is now adjusting to not having Grandma and Boppa around (he asked for them when he woke up this morning!). It is good for the kids to get to know them better on our trips, too. We know we will return next year, the kiddos another year older. It is amazing how quickly time passes – but we look forward to every exciting moment. Until next year…
1 comment:
Looks like you guys had a lot of fun!! We were close to the Ozarks on our vaca (the same time!), we had the same weather (rainy Tuesday). Have you or Chris ever tried wakeboarding? I used to ski on one and two but will never go back now that I've wakeboarded! If Chris can do tricks on ski's he's be awesome on a wakeboard! We used to have a boat exactly like that Maxim but we sold it and now have a Crownline. I loved that boat!!!
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