At the Lake of the Ozarks

Last Wednesday morning, Alden and I drove to BWI.

Said goodbye to Robbi.

And embarked on our latest adventure.

Our destination: Kansas City, to visit with my dad and Judy.

Last Thursday and Friday, Dad and Alden had all sorts of adventures, such as learning about bees.

Acquiring blue food items not permitted at home.

Shopping while lounging.

Sewing with determination.

And going on enormous water slides. I did not take photos because I was not invited to attend.

On Friday afternoon, we hopped in the car and drove to the Lake of the Ozarks. If you are not aware of the Lake of the Ozarks, it is a man-made phenomenon, created by the damming of the Osage River back in the 1930s. The lake is 100 miles long, and its shores are lined with cabins.

Including this boat house where Alden and I were lucky enough to have been offered beds for the weekend.

The interior is even more stunning.

We had been invited by friends of Dad and Judy’s to spend a few days playing on the water. Alden was particularly excited because these friends just happen to have two little girls, Avery and Bret Mae.

The three wasted no time in establishing rapport.

The place was a kid wonderland, offering such treasures as a raised play house.

An enormous trampoline (with lake view).

And a lakeside pool.

With water slide.

And here is the main house, hand-built by our hosts, who are the handy/artistic/visionary/capable sort of people I admire most.

After some preliminary splashing and sliding, Alden and Avery declared that it was time to swim in the lake.

The first few jumps were joint affairs.

But then Alden decided to go solo for a while.

Eventually, I joined the fun and took the opportunity to practice my kid-tossing technique.

After swimming, it was time for boating. So our host fired up the pontoon boat.

Once we were out on the water, the big girls climbed onto the inner tube.

And had the ride of their lives.

Please excuse the blur. The boat was not cooperating in my attempts to get a clear shot.

After the boating, the girls slipped into something more comfortable and entered the next phase of the day’s activities,

A progression of events that culminated in a rousing performance.

After dinner, we headed back down to the lake for a different kind of ride.

Our hosts own a 1965 Correct Craft, a descendant of the PT boat and precursor to some of the high-end ski boats used for competition today. The boat has a V-8 engine, and from what I understand, is basically the boat equivalent of a muscle car.

We took a cruise, creating no small amount of wake.

The sun was setting as we returned to the dock.

In spite of the luxuriousness of the boat house’s offerings, Alden opted to spend the night with her new friends instead.

And so I turned in, slept like the dead, and did not wake until the morning.

We had spent so much time on the water the day before, that, after breakfast, we took the boat in to the lakeside gas station.

At first, it looked very much like any other gas station. Pumps. Flags. Exhortations not to smoke.

But when the gas attendant showed up and started filling the tank, I realized that marketing strategies on the Lake of the Ozarks take an entirely different form.

For example, Alden was provided with a free Capris Sun to sip while we waited for the tank to fill.

Back home again, we did more swimming, more tubing, and more splashing. I don’t know if there is an official quota on fun, but if there is, I am certain that Alden surpassed it.