In addition to our water-related activities at the Lake of the Ozarks, here are some of the other things that occupied our time at the reunion:
Bridal Cave
One morning, the entire clan took an underground tour of this nearby cave. The cave formations we saw were so beautiful. I just love how God places His beauty in the most unlikely places!
During the first half of the tour, Jaden and Cody were quite nervous. They were convinced that they'd see a bear at some point in the cave or have bats come flying out at them! Guess that's what you learn from reading books about caves! :) On the second half of the tour, the boys' second cousin Chloe started walking with them. She made the tour much more light-hearted. Cody and Jaden ended the tour with a lot more smiles and giggles, thanks to Chloe! Also, I didn't get a good picture of her, but even Adley toured the cave from inside Mommy's baby carrier!
In the cave gift shop, we purchased bags of dirt. Yeah, yeah, I know.... those Schleichers must be suckers! :) Actually, though, the dirt bags contained hidden gems. Cody and Jaden each experienced sluicing for the first time and found a variety of gems.
The boys could use the rock/gem picture card to identify all of their finds. They weren't too interested in this step, however. The process of sluicing (and just having a chance to play in the water!) was much more exciting!
Ha Ha Tonka
After our time at the Bridal Cave, we stopped by this state park and took a brief hike across the grounds.
We saw remains of a historic castle...
...as well as some beautiful views of the Lake of the Ozarks.
 |
| This poor girl had to learn to catch a nap whenever and wherever she could! |
Family Dinners
Our lodging for the week was at a Baptist conference center. One big benefit of this site was that we had our own kitchen. Each large family group took one night to cook a meal for the rest of the group. The Walquist dinner night was spaghetti and meatballs.
This night also happened to be Dad's birthday, so we celebrated with some strawberry shortcake...
...and of course some singing for Dad.
Mini Golf
This attraction (on the conference center grounds) wasn't too impressive. It didn't help that most of the holes were water logged with squishy, swampy grass in-between. It allowed for a few minutes of variety, though, and I guess you can't complain too much when it's free!
Campfire S'mores
An outdoor week together can't be complete without some s'mores, right? We had this campfire on our last evening together. The s'mores were delicious!
Proof that kids can be entertained by just about anything!
What an awesome week with this crazy bunch! God has blessed us with a fun-loving family that gets along well. We are thankful for this! We look forward to another Sylvester reunion hopefully again in a few years.
No comments:
Post a Comment