LOTO 2011

July 9th-July 16th, 2011-Our annual Lake of the Ozarks family vacation.  We had such a good time!  I was really nervous to take both kids out on the lake, but it turned out to be just fine.  Alyvia was a fish!  She has no fear and did great.  Colson was a good sport too, he loved when the boat went fast!  Here's a little recap of our fun family week!

Saturday 7/9/11
We left the house at 5:30 a.m. Livi was super excited and I think Colson was just confused why we were waking him up!

We met up at Nana and Papa's and headed out.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a yummy breakfast!

And on we went!  We stopped for lunch at Pizza Hut and made it to the lake around 2-2:30 in the afternoon.  Alan got the jet ski in no problem.  The boat went in....but the propeller wasn't working, so the boat came out.  BUT, after a quick fix, the boat was back (and no more problems the rest of vacation!). 

We hung around the house on Saturday evening to get ready to go out on the boat on Sunday.  Anne and I got up Sunday morning and went for a run-yay us!  It was hot and muggy already and there were a LOT of hills!  Alyvia went swimming off the dock at the house and Colson got to take a good nap.  Then we headed out on the boat for lunch as soon as Colson woke up!

Baby boy ready for his 1st boat ride!

Sissy all ready to go!

We went to Topsiders!

Cole was thirsty-the heat index was over 100!  AND we had to go through the "no wake" zone-yuck!



Fish bowls-mmmmmm good!



The Bells and us headed over to our "Nebraska" cove after lunch.  On the way there, the Bells boat hit a huge wave and Jill fractured one of her vertebrae.  Fortunately, she will be o.k....unfortunately, Jill's boating days for the week were over and they actually went home early :(  We did put Colson in the water in his new spring float.  I was really happy how secure he seemed in the float, but he wasn't so sure about it.  He lasted about 5-10 minutes and then was ready to be back in the boat.  He played really nice in the boat though and we did our best to keep him under the bimini. 

Afternoon snack



Anne, Shane and Lindsey



Monday was a lot like Sunday!  We hung around the house in the morning so that Colson could get his nap.  As soon as he got up, we headed to lunch-this time to Shorty Pants (I think my favorite food!).

Lindsey and Anne relaxing in the cove

Daddy and Livi splashing each other

Colson playing with (read: breaking) Lindsey's hat-oops!



When we got back, Liv and Daddy went for a ride on the jet ski-she loved it
and it turned into her favorite thing to do when we'd get back to the house!



Tuesday was the last day that the Bells were at the lake.  The boys went golfing in the morning and Anne and I went for a run again!  When the boys got back, we headed to Backwater Jacks for lunch.  After fighting with the hostess for an indoor seat (heat index over 100!), we had a yummy lunch!  They have the best fried potato salad-soooo gooood!  Then we found a cove and swam in the afternoon again.

Livi practicing her back floating off our dock

Alyvia driving the boat out of Backwater Jack's cove

cutie baby!

 For dinner that night we went to J.J. Twigs.  It was kids night and they had a face painter there, which Alyvia loved.  Colson was tired and did his best...spilling an entire soda all over the table and floor!

Aunt Anne and Un Cha with Colson and Livi

Jessica, Lindsey and me

Wednesday it was a little nicer outside after the rain Tuesday night. It was still 90, but the heat index and humidity weren't as bad!  In the morning the girls went to the outlet mall shopping.   After lunch, we all went to a new cove that Anne and I had seen.  We named it "rustic house cove" after the GIANT house that is back there (which we all love!).  It is a great cove and we had a good afternoon hanging out there.  We finally tried Cole in the swim sweater instead of his raft and he liked it so much better because I was holding him!  The McKowns met us there for awhile too!

There's more of this house...I couldn't fit it all in the picture!!!

Wednesday night we went to dinner at El Jimador!  



Mmmmm, mi zapato!-no worries they've never hit the ground!

Thursday morning the boys went golfing again and I went for a run-yay me!  We tried a new place for lunch, Paradise.  It was a fun place with all these fun signs around and a beautiful view of the lake.

We drove down towards Tan-Tar-A and swam in a cove around there. 



Gobbles and sunglasses?



Colson and Papa in their seat

Thursday night my dad made marinated steak, corn on the cob and baked potatoes for dinner-so good!  While everyone else headed back to the outlet mall, my little family stayed at the house.   We put Colson to bed and took Livi down to the dock to fish.  We never caught anything, the little fish wouldn't bite the hook, they just ate the bait around it!  Alan and Alyvia went fishing on Monday night too and a big fish almost pulled Liv off the dock!!  It ended up breaking her line on her princess fishing pole!!

Daddy casts...

and Livi reels 'em in!

Friday, our last day on the lake :(  We swam off our dock in the morning and then "the kids" went to lunch at Shorty Pants.  Nana and Papa stayed at the house with a sleeping Colson.

Swimming in our cove

 Even though I was super nervous that the lake was going to be too rough, we all headed back out after lunch to "rustic house cove".  Colson did great despite it being a little bumpy.  Lots of pictures on our last day!

Friday night we decided to take the boat to dinner at Paradise.  We've never all taken a night time boat ride and it was so nice!  The water was calmer, the temperature a bit cooler-good time fun!

"Mama, can I hold the baby?"

He was mad because she dunked him earlier that day!

Awww, they match!

He was bouncing to the music the band was playing

Colson wasn't being very nice to Lindsey that day!

My favorite 3 people

They have hula hoops!!

Aunt Anne is always so fun!

Tired guys

Saturday morning we got up, packed up and headed out.  Poor Livi was worn out!

That pretty much sums up how we all felt!  It was a great week though and I love that it's something we all do every year.  I hope that everybody can always go, it makes our summer!