Family Vacation - Day One

Today was a short day at the Lake of the Ozarks, since much of the day was spent attending church and then traveling to the lake. We all met around 3:30 p.m. at the condo my parents rented. Shortly after that, we headed to the pool to keep Gracie happy!

The kiddie area was turned off, but there was a little water still standing, so Ella scooped water with Grandpa for a while. She wouldn't have been happy if it had been turned on, because there is a bucket that dumps water periodically and jets spraying water here and there.

Uncle Dana, a.k.a. Uncle Levi, and Gracie enjoyed the Lazy River. The blue shark was a big hit with Gracie, although it was very hard to stay on.

Back to the kiddie pool, Ella and Grandpa are still busy scooping and pouring water.

Ella has a pretty good tan this summer, which is obvious when you see her upper legs in this photo. She will probably be just like Brent and look pretty dark year round.

This was definitely the highlight of day one. We went down to the walkway around our condo before bathtime to look at the ducks and to see the fish eating bread that Gracie and Uncle Dana were throwing. Ella was very excited and wanted a closer look.

Uncle Dana and Gracie threw bread to the anxious ducks and fish below.

What happened next was very unfortunate. As I mentioned, Ella was quite excited to see the fish and ducks and she accidentally spit her pacifier out into the lake. Did I mention it was the only pacifier we had with us. (I'm needing to wean her, so I'm not buying any more! However, I didn't think vacation was the best time to wean her, especially when she is cutting her molars.)

The next 30-45 minutes were spent trying to retrieve the pacifier. My mom went to one of the pools at the condo and borrowed their life saving hook to try and scoot the pacifier over to the dock where we could reach it. However, it didn't work that easily.

Meanwhile, while my brother, dad and mom were all trying to rescue the pacifier, I was preparing Ella for the worst. I coaxed her to say "bye bye" to the pacifier as though she wasn't going to get it back...just in case. She gave it several sad good-byes, but still continued to watch it in the lake with a disturbed look on her face.

Finally, we asked Brent, who was standing on the condo balcony laughing at us, to throw down a garbage bag. Uncle Dana and Mom attached it to the hook, and after numerous attempts, scooped up the pacifier. Brent finally came down to get in on the action and help with the removal of the pacifier. Several people were watching from their balconies, so I think everyone was relieved when we got the pacifier out of the lake, but no one was more relieved than me. After boiling it for 30-45 minutes, Ella was able to reunite with her pacifier!