The second half of spring break was booked with a baseball tournament for Brady. I thought the 13 inches of snow would cancel it immediately, but the tournament directors did everything they could to clear the fields and as of the night before our first game, it was still on. I was really hoping it would be canceled because, as much as I love a good baseball game, snow was still everywhere and what wasn't covered with snow was covered with mud. Finally, around noon on Thursday we got word that the fields were unplayable (duh) and everything was canceled. We were busy cleaning the basement when the email update came through and within two hours we were on the road to the Lake of the Ozarks to crash Fran and Mikes quiet, relaxing weekend! No way Scott was going to spend a baseball-free long weekend at home :)
Brady had a friends birthday slumber party on Friday night and refused to go with us so he stayed with my parents Thursday and they took him to the party. Carter's dad was having back surgery the week after Easter, so he decided to stay home with him. Which means....we only had two kids with us. Woot!
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| Cate thought it would be funny to send Carter a picture showing him how sad we were without him! He did think it was funny (and a little annoying, but whatever) :) |
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| Scott loves it here He is so looking forward to spending lots of hours this summer fishing with his boys :) |
Ok, so wanna know what the best part of our trip was?? Friday morning, everyone went swimming at the lodge...except for me! I got to take a peaceful shower! And blow dry my hair without answering a million questions! And drink a cold Pepsi while sitting on the deck reading a current issue of People magazine!! And after lunch, the boys went to the driving range, Fran took Cate to the park, and I got to sit outside by myself again! I so needed those few silent hours to recharge.
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| My church. |
Uncle Mike's brother Dan and his wife Barb, and grandson Aaron, were spending the week at their lake house and they joined in the morning swim fun. Aaron and Cate are the same age and they really hit it off...So much that they made plans to meet at Miner Mikes later in the afternoon. Arcade games, jungle gyms, and roller coasters OH MY!
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| Worst arcade game ever. Milk the cow. |
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| I think Cate and Aaron made each other brave because they both jumped in line for the roller coaster and rode without an adult. Scott was sitting at a table and didn't realize she was riding by herself...he gave me "the look" (you know, the "what in the hell are you thinking?" look) but after they rode it about ten times he relaxed :) |
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| She even threw her hands up a few times..weeeeeeeee!!! |
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| Again Scott was not with us when she got in line for bumper cars. She was so excited that she could drive one by herself! |
After dinner, Scott, Mike, and the kids went to Dan's while Fran and I hit the outlet mall with Ben. He was in heaven with all of the attention on him! We found some good deals including Mr. Cool's $2 sunglasses.
We left for home pretty early Saturday so we could grab Brady and have a few hours to get things done around the house before we hosted Easter. It was another great couple of days at the lake!!!
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| Obligatory egg dying picture |
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| So, here's the deal.... if you make fun of or laugh at Brady, he will beat you down. There is no doubt about it. Seriously, when will Bennett learn this?? Right after this picture was taken, a fist fight ensued, followed by at least one cup of dye/vinegar being dropped onto the floor. Our house smelled awesome. Not. (And to be honest, Bennett is getting REALLY good with the one liners. His combination of high intelligence, sarcastic attitude, and dry sense of humor has me laughing out loud a lot lately. His 4th and 5th grade teachers have mentioned that Ben is one of the few students who really got their sarcasm and jokes....and even though it is really funny, he often deserves the butt kicking! This picture cracks me up every time I look at it because even though I think he's hilarious, no one finds Bennett funnier than Bennett himself. After every witty insult, joke, and comeback, I can see him mentally giving himself a high-five! Unfortunately for Bennett, Brady is way too physical to appreciate a good insult, and he's way too scrappy to ever lose a fight.) |
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| Ooooh. Ahhhh. |
We had lunch and our annual Easter egg hunt at BauBau's house
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| Scott was teaching Grandpa Bill how to play games on his phone |
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| And then Ben did. |
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| Anyone notice that Cate has a small egg hunting bag and Fran's is huge?? |
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| Carter found the golden egg |
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| Maddox and Cate used Bennett as a bench |
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| All of the Smallie grandkids! |
After BauBau's, we hosted my family at our house for dinner. Honeybaked ham cooked for us :) and it was delish!! As usual, it was a loud and crazy affair with hours of story telling. My favorite part was when Kenny put the beat down on Carter!
We had another great Easter and I was especially thankful that we had Easter Monday off. Gave me an entire day to unwind and mentally prepare myself for our busiest six weeks of the year.
Ready or not, here we go!
