Happy Easter!

Easter was filled with highs (sweet times together!) and lows (a stomach bug!!), but overall it was a great time to celebrate with family.

Leo and I dressed up in Bible times clothing and participated in a Passover Seder meal with the whole kindergarten.  My sweet assistant loaned him a costume and he woke up at 6:15am because he was so excited for the day.

I surprised the kids with Parlor donuts on Good Friday!  We loved having the day off together.

Family time!

The big kids and I ran some errands.

We dyed eggs.  No one needed help this year.

The weather was all over the place.  Welcome to Spring in the Midwest!  We were thankful to have such a beautiful sunset on Easter Eve.

I made carrot cake.  Yum!

I put together Easter baskets for the kids.  I love collecting things they will love!  I always try to do a mix of practical (new pjs, new outdoor games, art sets, hair stuff, etc) and fun (Needohs, rubix cubes, cross necklaces, fun socks and their favorite candy).  The baskets were a hit.  I also try very hard to stick to the rule that their gifts must fit in their basket.  If it doesn't fit, I'll save a gift to give them later.

A jellycat bunny, Needoh, headbands, pickleball set and more for Olive.

Bath bombs with a surprise inside, burger rubix cube, Needoh, Marble drink and Peelerz for Fletcher.

New books, mini cars, finger puppets, favorite candy, bath bombs and fresh colored pencils for Leo.

I hope you had a really nice Easter weekend with the people you love!

Osage Beach Fun

We tried to do a mix of relaxing things and fun things while we were in Osage Beach, MO.  We found some really delicious restaurants and fun spots.

We weren't prepared for the windy, curvy roads getting into Osage Beach!!  We drove in late at night and then when we saw a map of the lakes it all made sense.

I'm not buying buckets of shots, but if I was that girl, these Pink Whitney buckets were adorable.

We enjoyed seeing the St. Louis arch coming and going to Missouri.

We drove in late at night and as we were winding through the country roads, we noticed an orange glow in the sky.  As we got closer we realized there was a massive fire in the forest and it was coming up to the road.  We were so thankful to get to get past it uneventfully.  Leo woke up with all the comotion, looked out his window and said - Are we in hell??  hahaha

We loved eating at First Watch in Nashville so this was a no brainer for us.  We ate there two mornings because it was so good.  Delicious drinks.  Cinnamon donuts.  Homemade strawberry jam and toast.  Everything was amazing.

Naps!  The primary bedroom and family room had big windows to the lake.  It was so fun to sit and watch the boats go by.

We found a new to us grocery store - Dierbergs!  They had good food and fun new things to try.  This pretzel platter was an easy lunch.

We tried Shorty Pants on the lake.  They were known for their cajun food and everyone that got cajun food didn't love it.  Bummer!  But their burgers, salads and sweet potato fries were amazing.  The staff was great and eating on the lake was so fun.  If you go there, get a burger!

There were tons of deer everywhere!  They weren't on the roads thank goodness.  Just eating grass along the windy, curvy roads.

There wasn't a ton of great shopping, but the Target, Old Navy were good.  They had lots of stores like that - Kohls, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Aldi, etc.

We asked the local boutique ladies where we should eat and they were so helpful.  We got Pizza and wings at Pappos.  It was so good!  Olive loved their toasted ravioli.  Fletcher loved his wings.  The rest of us loved the pizza and breadsticks.  I just wish we would have had room to try their famous chocolate chips.

The Bagnell Dam is cool to drive over.  It's massive.

We grabbed fun cheeses, salami, crackers and fruit to make charcuterie snack plates for an afternoon snack.

We ate at Redheads on the lake.  Kevin told the kids I used to wear bikinis like that one so they thought it was hilarious.  Their food was fine, but not amazing.  I think the favorite dinner item was a burger or a BLT and their fries.  They have big pools outside so you can swim and eat which would be fun in the Summer.

Our post it note countdown was still a road trip favorite.

We left bright and early and headed home.  We found a new gas station to try - Wally's.  They have a bear mascot and a gourmet popcorn bar.  It was so clean, so huge and had a fun gift shop.  The kids LOVED their caramel popcorn.  We hope Wally's expands to more locations!

That's a wrap on Spring break '26!  We enjoyed Osage Beach for a relaxing destination on the lake.

Spring Break in Osage Beach, Missouri

Kevin planned something different for us for Spring Break this year.  He rented us a condo on the lake in Osage Beach, Missouri.  It was about a 5 hour drive from home so we were excited for the shorter trip than usual to try out a new destination.

Things were just starting to open up for the season in Osage Beach.  The weekend we arrived was the warmest of the year and people were excited to get out on the lake.  Lake of the Ozarks is a huge, huge lake.  We had no idea.  There were tons of restaurants on and around the lake.  We found lots of yummy spots to eat, a little bit of shopping and I think we all agreed that the best part of staying in Osage Beach was relaxing on the lake.  We took naps, enjoyed the view and loved staying on the water.

We'd go back to Osage Beach, but maybe wait until Summer when everything is operating at full strength.

We loved seeing all of the cute houses on the lake, the boats and the deer that were everywhere.

We got in late at night so wake up to see the lake was so much fun!

We saw all kinds of boats on the lake.  These were racing boats that we later found out were million dollar boats.  We saw 15 different boats on the lake.  I can't imagine how busy and fun the lake is in the Summer!

We all enjoyed the lake views.

Leo would wave at them and yell DO A FLIP!

Drinks and snacks on the patio were a highlight.

The boys booked a fishing adventure.  We walked them down to the dock at our condo resort.

Justin was a great guide!  He was very helpful, had everything they needed to have a great day on his boat and they had the best day with him.  Let me know if you want Justin's contact info.

We waved the guys off from the dock!

They caught a ton!  The fish were smaller than the fish they've caught in Wisconsin.

It got windy when they were finishing up so they all came back soaked.

Best fishing buddies!

Olive, Leo and I went exploring while they were fishing.  We found some fun shops and some clothes for Summer.

We explored down by the Bagnell Dam and the shops around it.  I was hoping we could get out and walk around the dam, but it was more of a driving thing.  Not many shops were open so we just enjoyed the view.

Jets on the lake!

Everything in the area was STEEP!  One of the kids dropped something off our patio and Kevin was the only one brave enough to go and rescue it.  It was hard to find good spots to walk because everything was so steep.  I was hoping for some trails along the lake or fun walking areas, but we didn't find any.

We stopped in Lake of the Ozarks State Park and were underwhelmed.  The first way went went was all gravel roads and then the second entrace looked more official, but didn't have much to do.  We saw a dock with boats and a cool bridge.  The cool bridge was closed so we only stayed a few minutes and left.  Thankfully, we did not have to pay to get in.  I'm sure there's more to do there because it's a very large park, but we were not able to figure out where the cool stuff was.  

We headed to an early dinner!  Nothing was crowded this time of year which was nice.

Our resort had a giant hot tub that was fun to enjoy in the evenings.  I bet it would be extra fun in the Summer with all the pools, grills and activities open.

Great job, finding us a fun new vacation spot pretty close to home, Kev!  We had never heard of Osage Beach or Lake of the Ozarks, but after sharing about it, lots of people said they love going here!