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!