Tan Tar A---Osage Beach

We returned from vacation a little over a week ago. It was a great time with John's family! The kids love spending time with their cousins from Colorado and Lincoln. The weather was not as warm as it usually is, and it rained a couple of days, but we still did A LOT of swimming and spent lots of time outside. The kids got to go on a boat cruise on Lake of the Ozarks, they also got to fish, play tennis, ride around the resort on golf carts (always fun, even for the adults), go on LONG walks, see horses, bowl (they have a small retro bowling alley on the resort), and of course, SWIM! Olivia, Ben, and Sam were good travelers, and they're already talking about next year!!

Olivia and Sam went on a walk with me one morning--early! Olivia took lots of pictures and posed for some, too. There are huge hills everywhere, and she never complained once about being tired. Sam slept the entire walk this particular morning---he usually got two walks in the morning--one with John at 6 A.M. and one with me @9 A.M. Olivia took the picture below (she wanted me to mention that).
Aunt Nancy has made the kids several tie dye clothes----she brought them with her this year. The bags were each decorated with their name and an animal. The girls got dresses and the boys got shorts and t-shirts. The kids and their ages (L-R) Benjamin-4; Nicholas-4; Evan-6; Jack-4; Julia-6; Andrea-turned 8 on our trip; Olivia-6; Sam-10 months
Ben was not happy about trying on his new clothes, but he managed to pose for one picture.
Sam did a lot of snoozing in the pool.

The "Green Slide" is the favorite part of the trip for the kids----even Sam liked it! We go down that slide a lot in one week's time.

The kids had fun playing with Sam in the pool. This picture shows how much he looks like Olivia.
Once Ben put on his goggles, he rarely took them off. This baby pool is where the kids like to have water fights with buckets.
Ben goes down the slide by himself, but I didn't get any pictures of that--he is not happy with me!

The kids enjoyed fishing again this year. They had to be patient because we only had three fishing poles and seven fishermen! They each caught at least ONE fish---thank goodness! Ben and Olivia like fishing, but neither is real fond of seeing the fish up close once it's caught. We threw all the fish back in the water:-) Sam enjoyed the shade on the dock and the nice breeze--he took a snooze.

Ben was cheering when he caught his fish.
Uncle Brad helped Olivia with her fish.
Ben really enjoyed the boat cruise we took. Last year we were on a boat called the Ozark Princess, but we learned this year that she had sunk over the winter---Ben is still talking about "that Princess that sunk."

As is the case with every vacation, it was hard to get the kids to sleep each night--even though they were exhausted. Once they were asleep, they slept very well ALL night!

Garage Sale!!

This week we got ready for our first garage sale.  It was the annual neighborhood sale, so I thought I would give it a try for one day!  My friend Angie and her two girls came over to help and so did my mom---thank goodness!!  We had a fun day, and  a pretty successful sale.  We took all the left-over items to the Goodwill---our first garage sale is in the record books!  Ben also got his hair cut this week----it will be much cooler for him since his head is a mini oven!  We didn't buzz it because we love his curls:-)  Olivia thought she would be funny and give him bunny ears:-)

Sammy has found the dishwasher---I think I have pictures of Ben and Olivia at this same age doing the exact same thing.  It kept him busy for at least 30 minutes while I made dinner!
Olivia and Kamryn set up a lemonade stand during the garage sale----they were quite succesful.  People were giving them tips and telling them to "keep the change."
The entrepreneurs also enjoyed counting their earnings at the end of the day!

Sam is now pulling himself up and trying to take steps!!!  Watch out:-)

We went to John's cousin's son's graduation last weekend, and his cousin gave us these two scooters (his three sons are college/high school age)---Olivia and Ben love them!  They rode them every day this week!
Millie came to visit this week---the kids had fun "looking" at her----they want to play with her, but she's only four weeks old.  She is sooooooooo cute!!
Sam is a big boy, but he looks even bigger beside his baby cousin.  He tried to roll over on her; he was trying to figure out what she was. . . . . . .:-)
The kids helped Daddy mulch around one of our trees--Olivia was a big help---Ben stomped on the mulch a lot!

Olivia and Ben have had fun playing with their bounce-back (not sure of the real name) that they got for Christmas.  With baseball season coming, they need lots of practice.

They talked us into letting them "camp out" in Ben's room a couple of weekends ago--they slept great!
Sammy has been venturing to lots of different rooms of the house now.  He has finally decided he likes the kitchen even though it's a bit hard.
Ben's hair was so long and curly, so Olivia and I styled it. . . . .and he let us.  He wasn't too happy when he looked in the mirror!!
The kids loaded in the car on the last day of school---Hooray!!

`