Short Trip

Jamie had a work event at Lake of the Ozarks this weekend, so the kids and I tagged along. It was a super short trip, as we didn't get there until 2pm on Saturday, but we had a ton of fun while we were there.

Cassie fell asleep as we pulled into the hotel and our room wasn't ready anyway, so Chase and I headed to the outlet mall and Jamie stayed in the air conditioned car with Cassie. Despite the fact that he scored two pair of shorts and a new pair of Crocs, Chase was a rather whiney shopping companion. I deposited him back at the car with his father and tried to shop in peace, but didn't find anything I liked. So we headed back to the hotel, checked in, and headed back out for dinner with the over 80 crowd.

We ate at Baxter's, which overlooks the lake. I highly recommend the encrusted grouper & swordfish sandwich. Following dinner, we made like true tourists and boarded a cruise on the Tom Sawyer. I believe I rode this paddlewheel boat when I was about Cassie's age. It was HOT, but the kids loved it!

A storm blew in while we were on the lake, fortunately we made it to the car before the skies opened up on us. The storm blew away our plans for go-carts and ice cream after the boat ride. We settled for a documentary about the current military situation in Afghanistan on the History channel back in our hotel room, which Chase loved!  

Sunday morning, Cassie woke us up EARLY--right as a nearby transformer blew, darkening the entire block on which our hotel sat. No power, no running water, and a smoke detector bleeting every 60 seconds. I got ready in record time and we headed out for an early breakfast. Jamie stayed at the Lake for work and the kids and I headed home.  We took a detour through the Governor's Mansion and State Capitol on our way home. The kids LOVED it and it was a nice way to recover some fun after the disasterous morning. Chase was completely AWED by the Capitol. He told me, "Mom, you need to run for President so you can work here." That earned him a quick lesson about the difference between our state capitol and our nation's capitol and the difference between the President and a Governor.  It's nice to know he's enthusiastic about my future in politics though...