Lake of the Ozarks 2012

We took our annual trip to the Lake again this year.  This year we all rented 1 large house to share.  It was AWESOME!  The kids had plenty of room to run around and we had 2 private docks to swim off of.



We mostly ate at the house, but a few times we ventured out with the munchkins to a restaurant.  We let them have their kiddy table away from the boring adults nearby.



Kate loved helping Brett drive the boat to and from the restaurant.

For a change of pace, we went up to the clubhouse pool.  Brett discovered how to turn on these roaring fountains for the kids.  They loved them!  We just had to keep reinforcing "DO NOT SIT ON THE FOUNTAINS!"  as they don't understand what an enema is or what it does to ones body!  Gotta love those crazy kids!



Kate has made leaps & bounds with her swimming skills this summer.  We have gone a little overboard a bit with 6 weeks of swimming lessons, but I have a bit of a fear of the water. I can keep myself a float, but don't ask me to save anyone if I don't have a life jacket on!   I want to make sure she can REALLY swim when it's all said and done.



The clubhouse has a nice playground with it.  As you can see, Will is still too much of a light weight to actually sit on the swing for fear that he may fly off!  Thus, he lays on it and plays batman most of the time.



He also loves to practice his balance skills "walking the plank."



Kate & Teagan spent most of their days in the lake.  They tried the sunbathing thing a little bit, but quickly realized the 100 degree weather didn't make that fun at all.



Swimming & eating was the name of the game for most of the trip.  Here I convinced Will to try some hummus. You can read his response to the taste pretty easily!

Aunt Jillian and her friend Steph flew in from New York for the trip.  We also were lucky enough to celebrate her bday while we were all together.  When she was young she loved these Barbie doll cakes.  So Carla & Lindsay surprised her with one.  Kate absolutely fell in love with it. I am betting we'll see one of these on her bday as well.

It took a lot of "No's" to keep Will's hands off that cake.

Another night we went with Brad, Darcy and their kiddos mini golfing.

Brett worked really hard teaching the kids how to grip the club and aim for the hole.  They did much better than the last time we went.

Pirate Will loved the game.  However, I must note that I, Yes I Jane,  was the overall winner of the putt-putt challenge.  3 Holes in 1 helped me wipe out Brad and Brett.  I wore the Pirate crown the rest of the evening just to rub it in as I am sure a win like that is once in a life time for me!



On our final full day we went to Frankie & Louie's for some beach fun.

Will loved swimming in the shallow water without his lifejacket.  However, it made me quite nervous as he would walk all the way in until his little chin went under before he'd realize it was getting too deep.  Yea, I was the crazy mother hawk with the constant eye on him the whole time.  Brett thought I was nuts I'm sure!

All in all it was a great family getaway! 



4th of July Fun

Kate, Will & I made the trip back to W'burg for the 4th of July Celebration this year.  Unfortunately, Brett had another architecture exam to take that week, so he opted to stay home and study in a quiet house, which never happens.  It was 100 degrees outside that day.  I think Papa & Nana thought we may not come, but we toughed it out for the fun day!  Kate & Will couldn't wait to ride on Papa's cool dump truck in the parade.

We arrived late morning, so I brought the swimsuits so the kids could play in the sprinkler outside.  Kate loved throwing this little egg ball of Nana's.   Nana has had it forever, and it's one of those toys the kids always look for when they get to her house.  Unfortunately,  Kate chucked it so hard it broke open and the egg and yolk spilled out.  Thus the end of the egg ball at Nana's house. 

Will just continuously ran circles around the sprinkler, never fully throwing himself into the water unless we begged him to to keep him cool.

We dug through Nana's closets to find hats to wear in the parade.  Kate absolutely fell in love with the umbrella hat.



The rest of us ladies decided to be the cowgirls riding in the dump truck rather than on horses.

We boarded the truck just a few minutes before we had to take off in the parade so we wouldn't have to sit in the heat.

Cindy and her friend Gary were our rockstars.  We remembered to haul down the 800 strings of beads that we were going to throw to the crowd.  But we totally forgot the 3 huge buckets of candy!  With little time before it started, Gary & Cindy ran (Yes RAN in 100 degree heat) up the hill from the highschool to Mom's house to get the candy! 

Meanwhile,  we sat in the shade under our umbrellas and took more pictures!  The parade was a BLAST!  I never thought we would get rid of all 800 strings of beads, but we did.  Kate and Will loved throwing them to all the kids.  Little Will could barely see over the side rail of the truck, and many people couldn't see him.   Therefore,  many times he would just chuck a string as hard as he could and nail someone right in the face, never knowing what he was doing!  I had to chuckle a bit.

Afterward, we headed back to Nana & Papa's for an awesome BBQ.  The kids took a bath and had a little picnic in Nana's den before we loaded up and drove back to DSM.   We had an absolute BLAST this year.  I think another
Von Ahsen/Van Zee tradition has begun!