Lake of the Ozarks

We just got back from our family reunion (from my mom's side) to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It was such a fun week but I was super happy to be in my own bed last night! We started our trip on Monday, July 27th around 8:00 a.m. We had a nonstop flight to Kansas City where we met my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend Ashley. From there it was about a three hour drive to the lake. When they picked us up we quickly realized the Tahoe they rented was going to be a little tight with all our bags and all of the people too haha. We made it work though. The drive went pretty quickly except for the last hour or so because the roads were so windy. It was a little scary and some of us got a little car sick. Finally we made it to the house around 6 and everyone else was already there. We got everything situated in our rooms and then had grilled some brats. The house we stayed at had six rooms, one with bunk beds, and a bonus room that had a futon and a pull out couch. The house also had a ping pong table (the was also a pool table), Pac Man, and another arcade game. It was the perfect size for our family!

The next morning the boat arrived and we made a quick run to the grocery store to stock up on some essentials for the next few days. We were rotating cooking duties for each night and I was planning on making the Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas that I have previously posted about. After we got back to the house we packed up the pontoon with drinks, noodles, and people and headed out onto the lake. We got our bearings on the lake and decided to anchor in a spot where everyone could float for awhile. It was super relaxing to just lay back and float on a noodle in the very warm water. It felt like bath water, which I loved because I'm a total wimp when it comes to cold water. It must be from growing up in Vegas where you have to try and cool the pool down sometimes haha. We decided to go check out one of the restaurants on the lake to have a couple appetizers. You actually dock the boat right in front which is awesome! We headed back to the house to drop people off and let the kids go out and tube for awhile. Grammie made her famous spaghetti with meat sauce and it was AMAZING!

The next day was Dylan's 18th birthday. I cannot believe my baby brother is 18 years old! It totally freaks me out and makes me feel super old haha. He opened up presents in the morning and then mostly everyone headed out to the boat. My mom and I walked that morning before everyone was up. We had planned to walk everyday but sadly only did it three times, bummer! I ended up driving Grammie into the town to get her hair done and we had to run a couple errands. I found the cutest shops while she was in the salon. I had to stop myself from buying everything in sight. Can you tell I have a serious LOVE for shopping?? I did get a cute top and a necklace to go with it. I couldn't help myself. She was done pretty quickly so we had to head over to the store and then make our way back to the house. I was hoping we would be able to go back to this area another day but we ended up not having time. Bummer! When we got back to the house we went out on the boat and floated again. That night my mom and Grammie made roasts with carrots and mashed potatoes. The kids went insane over the potatoes and got them everywhere in their haste to fill their plates. Holy moly, I've never seen people react that way to potatoes lol. We (just the adults lol) played Cards Against Humanity that night and it was hilarious. Kind of a creepy game to play with your Grandma lol and especially when she won haha!

They had a Prayer wall at the 4generations store! I LOVED this!

On Thursday, the jet skis arrived! WOOHOO! Mark, my dad, and my cousin Sawyer woke up early to golf while the rest of us went out on the lake. When we got back to the house we floated by the dock for awhile and just relaxed. I would say that was the theme of our trip... floating and relaxing, and drinking lots and lots of beer! I made my Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas that night and they were a big hit! We played the Name Game and Hearts that night. Such a fun day!

The next morning I got up early to go out on the Jet Ski before the kids were up. Since there were 16 people at the house and only two jet skis it was hard to find time to grab one. I knew my Uncle was already out on the lake so I road around looking for him. When I found him we decided to go pretty far across the lake and check it out. It was super busy on the lake already and the water was pretty choppy. It was still a ton of fun! We did the same thing on Friday that we did most other days... take the boat out, park for awhile and float, get back in the boat and go somewhere else, etc. Since it was our last day on the boat we wanted to head over to Shady Gators which is a restaurant a few miles away by boat. Mark volunteered/ was asked to be our Captain because we all trusted his driving skills more than everyone else. He did a great job getting us over to the restaurant especially with how choppy and busy the lake was at that time. We hung out at Shady Gators for awhile eating lunch, and having a few drinks. It was a neat bar since it was pretty much all open and we had a great view of the lake. I had a drink called Lake Water which was Coconut rum, pineapple juice, and Blue Curacao...sooooo yummy!! On our way back to the house we sang Taylor Swift songs... haha such a fun time!  For some reason I can't remember what we had for dinner that night... ugh oh well!

HAHAHA this sign is terrible but funny!

I didn't partake in the Shot Wheel but I thought it was funny!

Saturday was spent reading, floating on the lake, and playing card games. It looked like it was going to storm most of the day so we were kind of cooped up inside. It was still a nice and relaxing day though! My uncle Jeff made beer can chicken and we had baked potatoes and corn on the cob. SOOO YUMMY! The kids played Spoons that night which looked like a lot of fun but got a little intense so I stayed away. I get super competitive so it's better if I bow out :)

Sunday was my dad's birthday so we had sausage and biscuits for breakfast in honor of him! Grammie, Christy, and Cooper left early because the drive back to Michigan is 12 hours and they wanted to split up the time. We were all bummed to see them leave! Later that day we went to an area called the "strip." This was a comical name for people who are from Vegas because this looks NOTHING like the Las Vegas Strip. We went to Tucker's Shuckers and had lunch. It was nice to get out of the house and do something a little different. We spent the rest of the day/ night playing games and hanging out. We also did a major clean up of the house since we had to check out by 10 am the next morning. We had a great time playing shuffle board and hearts with the cousins.

The next morning we got up early, packed, cleaned, and got on the road. Thankfully we found a better route to the airport and made the 3 1/2 hour trip to Kansas City. We got to the airport early so we at California Pizza Kitchen and hung out until our flight. We made it back to San Diego last night around 7:00. It was such a fun week and I was so sad to have to say bye to everyone. Everyday was spent in a bathing suit with no makeup and hair in a pony. I only got ready twice while I was there and it was so freeing! Even though it was relaxing I was also SOOO exhausted this morning. My body is detoxing from the amount of bread, butter, and cheese we consumed as well. We will be eating lots of clean meals this week for sure!

While we were in Missouri I finished the Paris Wife and Wild. I'll post a book review about both of them this week!