Our Ozark Vacation!

Time to recap our "summer vacation" trip down to see Dave's folks! After Dave's vacation was taken away this summer due to two anesthetists being gone, we were ready to have some time off and get out of town! We all were looking so forward to this trip, I was more than happy to start planning/packing a couple days ahead of our departure on a Thursday morning (weird, I'm still off on my days!) We took the suburban because we also had Abby along and to just mix it up and rest my van:) It was not too full, surprisingly, and we had a good trip down. It took us about 8/8.5 hours the last time, but we usually stop over in Iowa City for a night as it is right on the way, but this time we headed straight down. The kiddos did great, we only stopped once because Collin was crying - at a lovely church in rural Iowa. I'm realizing that the busy life of raising two kids makes things go by very fast and you can get caught up in the schedules, routine, worries....but sometimes, you have to just stop and look around. Yes, we fed him oatmeal cereal parked (essentially) at a cemetery, but it was absolutely gorgeous out and it was such a beautiful church, lawn, cemetery. Our path may wind around a bit, but that may just mean there are more roses to stop and smell! We made the trip in record time and were super happy to sit down to a supper that Bobbi had ready. 

Our set up at Gma & Gpa L's was that Kate was in the upstairs bedroom (Gma and Gpa upstairs as well) and Dave and I were in the downstairs bedroom, Collin was in a pack and play in the very large walk in closet off our connected bathroom. This turned out to be a great setup. Kate did fine in her room, we didn't have a monitor/camera on her, she did come out once each night, very soon after we left her. She would say she heard a strange noise and then go back in with one of us. She also always asks for water, so that happened too, but it went great. Collin, who has been giving me tons of issues with sleep...did great! We probably had a full night, straight-through every other night. Twice he was up and mad for about a half an hour. Otherwise, I would just nurse him and then put him back down. That little (not little to me!) fact, plus the fact that Bobbi is an angel and manages Kate when she wakes up in the morning, makes for some lovely sleep and catching up on rest, ahhhhhhhhh...:) Well, maybe half the mornings? We ended up with both kids in bed with us, this is becoming a little habit of ours, Kate likes to climb in bed, Collin is usually rising and eating/hanging out, and we all sort of wake up, cuddle and ease into the day. Life is good.

Since I'm not writing this when we were still down there and my mind is shot by this time of day, I'll just list out some highlights:)

Morning coffee up in the screened porch, Kate spotting the yellow parachute of the para-sailors every morning, I got to go for a couple runs by myself without feeling like I needed to hurry up, we had margaritas while shopping at HyVee!, Bobbi and I obsessed over a puzzle and completed it (1000 pieces) in about a day and a half with just sporadic time at home to work on it:) Collin was chewing on everything - a favorite of the week was a bottle coozie and Grandpa's knuckles, we boated to Jolly Roger's, Coconuts and The Boathouse for meals, saw a water airplane take off and land. Dave and I had a short "date" away from the kids and shopped - bought some Minnetonka Moccasins on sale:) We went to a local winery on Sunday and listened to some live music, did a tasting (wine and moonshine!) and had some flatbread. It was quite hot, Kate ran around like a crazy person and was a lot of fun!

It was pretty entertaining to watch this guy!

Just chillin' on the boat

Yay for wineries with space for little girls to run!

The boats on Saturday were crazy! The lake was SO busy, choppy and I have to say that I was a little uncomfortable! I'm not sure if it was because we had both kiddos on the boat or I'm just so used to our quiet lake up here, but I was nervous. Luckily, we were able to get out on the water on Sunday and Tuesday as well, it was so calm and perfect. All of us were ecstatic that we had the weather and opportunity to be out there during the week. 

This is more like it:)

Ron and Bobbi's neighbor and friend, Mike (Schaeff) just completed (well, almost complete) a dream home right next door. We have watched it go up since last fall and have been dying to see it up close. On Monday, he was hosting a house-warming and birthday party, so we had the opportunity to do just that! It is a very impressive house and it is built up. High. Ron and Bobbi are up high in the 'hood, but this is way above their house. The view is incredible. Very cool to see and of course Kate and Collin charmed everyone at the party:) 

Quite the view!

If she is within reach, he is grabbing for her hair!

The restaurants and bars are so fun down at that lake, our new favorite is The Boathouse. We happened to be there on a Tuesday night, so luckily for us, it was pretty empty. It has a pool, comfy chairs all around, a cute little bar/dining room and wonderful food and drinks. It was the perfect place to spend our last night in Missouri. 

SO relaxing and fun

There is probably more I should include, but my brain is too full to think back right now! We left Wednesday morning for Wisconsin and didn't do too bad on our departure time (left at 9:45 a.m.?), and luckily, Ron didn't have to go into work right away, so he was able to see us off as well. We did a lunch stop in Hannibal - perfect timing for Mr. Collin as well, and went to their little historic downtown and had lunch, then let Kate play at a playground for a little bit. It was a really nice stop and then we hit the road feeling good. However, after about Iowa City (3.5 hours to go) we struggled with Collin, he wasn't too happy and we stopped a number of times. Kate also must have been sneaking fluids as she had to go potty a million times. So, that was a very looooong 3.5 hours;) We got back at about 9:30 p.m. I think and thankfully, Collin slept through the night for me when we got back. 

It is certainly an adventure to get down there and back, something we can't do super frequently, but it was totally worth it! (more pics in our August 2013 album!)