Lake Vacation 2015

We enjoyed a vacation with friends and family to Lake of the Ozarks in July 2015. Highlights of the trip included time on the lake, visiting Ha Ha Tonka State Park, and touring some local caverns. Julia had a blast getting to stay in a cabin with her cousins, and all the adults had fun being able to stay up late playing games or talking with the kids in bed under one roof.

The view from one of the decks

Many board games were played this week :-)

After church in matching dresses I bought the girls. Even baby Elizabeth had one... but she soiled hers before we got a photo of them all together in their dresses! ;-)

The girls mostly got along well this trip. This was during the stage of their relationship that Julia was a huge drama queen/crybaby/tattletale, but MC was sometimes...well... a terrible two. When we first arrived, Erik said, "Let's have the girls just work out their differences on their own without parental intervention," but then MC bit Julia, so that didn't work out too well! Ha! MC was put in her pack-n-play in the bathroom for timeout for a punishment. Luckily, the rest of the weekend went more smoothly between the little cousins! It was uphill from there ;-)  

Typical sister-type love-hate between them at times... but mostly love <3

It was great fun being right on the water!

Julia was brave!

MC overcame a lot of fear, too! She did great!

The girls in the other matching outfits I bought them :-) I thought these were perfect for the lake!

Our little adventure at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. 

We enjoyed seeing the ruins of Ha Ha Tonka, which was an early 20th-century stone mansion that was modeled after 16th century European castles.

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We stopped for a picnic lunch. It was SO hot that day... you can tell by how flushed the little girls look!

A few of us decided to go on a longer hike... which included an off road to enjoy the beautiful natural springs. The water was cool, refreshing and crystal clear.

Matching jammies from great aunt Suzette :-)

The caverns we toured were pretty amazing! What a natural wonder!

Aaron brought the DDR pads... but unfortunately they didn't work well there (there was a lag using their TV for some reason). It was fun watching the guys attempt this, though!

On the way home, we stopped at Fazoli's... Aaron was pretty happy :-)