I Don't Think He'll Have to Wait Until Christmas...

The question is--will he have David's straight teeth genes, or my keep-the-orthodontist-in-business genes?

Vacation at Lake of the Ozarks, MO

This Spring Break, David's parents generously gave us a week in their time-share. You can choose different locations to take your week, and we decided to head down to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri (which the kids have been calling 'misery'). So, after David got back from his second conference in as many weeks, we took off to this beautiful region of Missouri. I had given the kids sunglasses as a fun vacation treat, and they loved them. Ellie, especially, wore hers constantly. Here they are around the breakfast table the first morning:


The first day was a little rainy, so we actually did a boringly typical tourist activity: the outlet malls. The good news: we found some great deals on things we needed, including matching Easter dresses for the girls. And I splurged on an awesome spring rain coat from Eddie Bauer. Mmmmm, Eddie Bauer...

The second day was still rainy, so we headed down to the Bridal Cave, about 1/2 hour south of where we were staying, but still on the lake. We were the only people on the tour with 4 small children (in fact, the only other people with children had one 8 or 10 year old), so we got a few dubious looks as we joined the group, but the kids behaved marvelously. They didn't even freak out in the tunnels, which I was a little worried about. Carver thought all the formations were cool, and can now tell you the difference between a 'live' cave and a 'dead' cave.



We finished up the trip with lunch in a park, and made our plans for naps and wii and pool in the afternoon.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

Our final day there was a beautiful, sunny, 65-degree day. We decided to drive down to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. The park has many trails and caves, but we tried to pick a few trails that would be short enough for the kids. So first, we did a natural bridge hike (about 1/2 mile), an then took a break for lunch. After lunch, we stopped by the castle ruins, but more on that in a minute.

Castle

Our final stop at Ha Ha Tonka was the castle ruins. They were amazing. It's a European-style castle, built by a Kansas City businesman in the early 20th century. He died a year after construction began, but his son finished the building project. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground 20 years later. While tourists are not allowed inside the castle walls, walking around the perimeter it pretty fun in itself. Can you imagine living in a real castle? I think, after this, I can.

Mini Golf

On the final day, we also went mini golfing. The place is called Sugar Creek, and it is a beautiful mini golf course. It was pretty busy the day we were there, and I can't imagine what it must look like in the summer. It was set in the woods, with frontier-style buildings throughout the course. Very fun.

However, golfing with small children is a little more stressful that I had originally anticipated :). Imagine clubs swinging like baseball bats, Laura handing me her ball halfway through a hole and announcing she's done, David and me watching as they push the ball all over the green. The kids had a good time, though, and David and I survived with no injuries, so I'm sure the good memory for them was worth it. Next time we'll leave the kids with the grandparents and go by ourselves.





That's it for our trip pictures. We had a great time, and really enjoyed the restful break. Thanks for the opportunity, Grandma and Grandpa!

On our own...

David left this morning for a trip to Memphis, where he'll be presenting a paper at a conference. He'll be back late Sunday, so I'm in simple survival mode until then. School has been reduced to a bare minimum--like taking a walk this morning and looking at the trees along the way. They're learning, right?

When a sweet friend called a few minutes ago to ask if she could take Carver and Ellie for the day to have them play with her kids, I jumped at the chance. That will let me get my Wal Mart and Sam's errands done with only two children, which is a huge improvement on 4. So Laura and Rose and I are alone for the day, and I'm remembering back to the days when I just had two. Looking back, it seems like two would be so easy! But I remember feeling overwhelmed many days with just Carver and Ellie. I guess God gives you the grace to handle exactly what He's given you, and adds more grace the more He gives! And even two children He certainly used to sanctify me, and He's working on me more and more then more He gives me. Not that I'm a great learner. We had several bad yelling incidents this week. (Do you like the way I put that? Like they just happened, nobody was at fault. Somehow, the yelling just started.) Let me rephrase--I yelled sinfully at the kids several times this week, and hated the fact that I had to go ask for forgiveness. Maybe I need more children so I can be sanctified more :)

All that to say--thank you, Dawn, for letting me do grocery shopping with only 2!

Did I mention that we took a walk this morning? I think 40 is certainly warm enough. And with the birds chirping, it sounds like spring, anyway. I think it took me a solid 20 minutes just to get everybody in coats, hats, gloves, shoes, and jammed in the stroller (or on the appropriate bike). I'm wondering if I get to count all that running around as added calorie burn. Probably not any more than usual. Ellie rode her bike, and made it for our entire 3-mile loop around the neighborhood. I was very impressed, and Carver repeatedly told her that he was proud of her.

So, now, the part you've been waiting for: pictures! This first one is one that I just found on the flash card when I put it in the computer--I have no idea how long it's been there.


And here are the babies as we start out on our walk:

Yes, that's a rotten banana peel on the ground. I don't know how it go there either. I did go throw it away, though, to the great relief of our neighbors.



Hopefully, as the weather warms up, I'll be taking more pictures to post!