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!

Family Reunion

Today our minivan headed to Fayette for a Kaser family reunion at my cousin Jenny's house. They have a huge house and a nice pool that keeps the kids happy, so it has been the ideal spot for the reunion the last two years. Gracie felt the pressure to learn to swim without her life jacket since she saw her cousin Abbie (4) swimming unassisted without hers. As soon as she saw that, her life jacket came off!

Gracie's form may not be the best, but her head was above water, so I'd say she was swimming.

Brent helped Gracie swim for a long time and gave her some pointers, so she was a very happy little girl.

Success! Gracie really came a long way in one day. She probably swam for 4 hours straight, and even resisted getting out at that point.

My older cousin Jill planned a series of pirate themed games for the kids after supper, so they all got dressed up in pirate gear for the occasion. Here is our big pirate giving me an "Arrrrr."

Our little pirate didn't participate in the games, but did wear a hat for a short time.

Gracie and Abbie were the cutest little pirate girls I have ever encountered.

The kids were given about 45 minutes to perfect their outfits. This was Gracie's final result. She's a pretty stylish pirate in her green striped sundress!

More laughter from the goofy little pirates!

Jesse, Gracie, Callie, Abbie and Chase.

The pirate gang anxiously waited on the deck for all the adults to get ready so they could play their games.

Gracie's team for the games consisted of Chase, Callie and Gracie.

Ella tried to join their team, but was definitely too young for these games!

One of my cousins Jamey, with his little boy Seth.

The first game: The kids had to throw a ball into a hula hoop that was floating on the surface of the water. If it landed in the hula hoop, their team got a point. Gracie got 2 points for her team.

Ella finally just kicked back and watched the games from a lawn chair.

I guess she did sneak a closer seat at one point. Ella watches Gracie doing things and really wants to be doing the same thing, but sometimes realizes her limitations.

It was too hard to get pictures of each game since I was usually packing Ella around too, but the kids had a good time at each event. There was a game where they had to run down a slip 'n slide, walk the plank, then turn around and do the same thing back to their team. Also a water balloon fight, scavenger hunt, and a puzzle activity. The above picture shows them wet from their water balloon fight.

Win or lose, each participant received a 2009 Kaser Family Reunion medal to take home.

The final activity was digging for gold in the sand boxes. We had all chipped in our change and it was buried in the sand boxes. Gracie came home with a good baggie of change for her bank, so she was happy!

Time to go home Gracie...we have to pack for vacation tomorrow!

More Painting

We are still trying to wrap up our kitchen project. It's a good thing Gracie likes to paint, because sometimes she gets the green light to help. Today was one of those days. I was crawling back into a deep cabinet trying to paint the back, when she offered to help. I quickly accepted because I knew she would fit better.

After she proved that she was capable, I let her continue to paint the bottom of the cabinets for a while. Gracie likes to help, but quickly tires of menial tasks.

Happy Fourth of July

Today we headed to Moberly to celebrate the Fourth with my parents. The girls went the night before and spent the night so that we could get some projects done around the house. My parents took Gracie and Ella to a parade that morning before we got there, and Mom got some cute pictures.

After we got to Moberly, we headed out to a fireworks stand to buy a few sparklers and cute little items that Gracie would enjoy. It took a little nudging to get her to hold a sparkler, but after Gracie realized they were safe, she wanted to keep doing them.

Meanwhile, Ella cowered in fear. She didn't enjoy any of the fireworks we had, and literally shook from fear during some of them. Ella didn't have to endure much, because Nana and Brent took shifts with her inside.

Yet another moment of fear!

This is as close as Ella got to a sparkler, and she cried and had her fingers in her mouth the whole time.

Gracie was even scared of a few of the fireworks, so she had to get on Grandpa's lap. She enjoyed them from a safe distance!

The real entertainment for the evening came from Gracie. She put the straps from the parachute we had been playing with on her arms and ran around the yard pretending she was a bride. Her bridal gown was very colorful. Grandpa was her prince for the evening. Nana had to officiate the ceremony, and this picture shows the happy couple prancing off into the sunset.

I redesigned her gown at one point, so that it was more of a mermaid style. Very flattering!

Somehow I had the great idea to wear the parachute and try to run around the yard fast enough to make the parachute fly up into the air, kind of like a kite. I don't really think it worked, but gave us some laughs as I tried.

What style!

Gracie doesn't prance around the house in princess dresses much these days. It's hard for me to remember when the switch flipped, but it has probably been a couple months since she has been a princess. However, she does still like to accessorize and likes to pretend to be Barbie. She puts her purse across her shoulder because she says I do that sometimes.

Such Independence

Today marks Ella's 17th month of life. Ella continues to be a really good eater, but still gives me angst everyday as she insists on feeding herself. Today, Gracie was having cereal, so Ella wanted some also. She did a pretty good job managing to get her Cheerios, complete with milk, up to her mouth. I was standing there watching this with great anticipation.

Once the spoon touched her lips, Ella would kind of push it into her mouth with her other hand. A two-handed technique worked well for her.

This was such a big bite Ella had to scrunch up her face from all the effort.

This kind of wraps up Ella's independent nature. The look of "see Mom...I told you I could do this!"