Cruzer Crazy: Lake of the Ozarks

Not last week but the week before, we were able to go to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a vacation with the family. It was such a great time. The thing I enjoyed most was not having to go to work for that whole week, it was great. We had pretty good weather. 80's the first couple of days, then a day of rain and cooler, and then sunny days in the high 60's we really enjoyed it. Grandma Marge and Papi met us there and we stayed in a great treehouse type condo. I had to work a bunch of call shifts close together while My parents were here and other times to be able to get the whole week off. We watched some movies. Fished like crazy. Swam in the pool, watched the presidential debate and listened to Papi's political views. We watched the BYU game, (they didn't play to well) did some boating, wakeboarding, Quincy caught his first fish, and we also caught some large mouth bass. All in all it was a super sweet time. Now to the photos.

Little Marjorie totally destroying and tangling LH's knitting yarn and loving it. She is crazy, so fast now that she is into it before you know she is even there. But so cute that you just have to laugh.

Papi and Grandma Marj out for a boat ride on a very warm Saturday.

Kids taking the complimentary paddle boat out for a ride. Gail was steering in the center, she
was so proud of herself.

Chasing down "Bob" There was a Mallard duck that liked to hang out on the docks. The kids had to run him off. It was pretty funny, because the duck, whom Granite named "Bob" was really not all that frightened.

More of the kids being cute on the paddle boat.

I think this is my favorite picture. Franklin and Granite were constantly fishing. This is what I envision when I think Lake of the Ozarks, run down dock, hazy green water, fishing for the big catfish. They actually caught allot of Perch, and a couple of Crappies. Notice how they dont even have time to take off their life jackets after getting back from boating.

I like this picture too, Granite was getting adventerous and took the paddle boat out for a ride all by himself. Look at how proud he is of himself.

I love this picture too, Granite's very first fish that he caught all by himself. I was so glad that I was there to share the moment with him. It was a pretty nice Perch.

Franklin jumping in for a kneeboard ride on Monday.

COLD!!!!

Who is that, that guy looks pretty cool, he is getting his CG (cool guy) going.

Franklin cruising on the sweet wakeboard. Look at how beautiful the lake is.

Neat cliffs along the lake edge. Very pretty.

Geourgous Gail, what more can be said, (I do love the freckles)

What the

Shot of Franklin jumping, action shot provided by Granite.

Look out, air JQ. Notice the sweet moon. That was a very pretty night.

Granite getting pumped to ride the new Jimmi Jam

All smiles, this was a huge moment for Granite who has not been behind the boat except for the tube since we first had it. What a kid.

Whoa! who's hairy back is that? That is some serious baldness.

There is that cool good looking guy again.

Granite loving life as the sun sets behind him on the Jimmi Jam.

Gail fell asleep.

This was a big day for Granite, caught his first fish, got behind the boat and loved it (no crashes) and went to Walmart and bought his digital watch he had been saving for. Pretty sweet.

Granite putting on his wetsuit after the rainstorm.

Granite living large.

Papi, I thought this was a pretty neat picture of a great man.

Grandma Marj, with little Marjorie. I love how she is peering over the top of her life jacket making sure that we havent forgotten about her.

Granite showing off.

Franklin showing off on the kneeboard. I like this for the colors in the leaves and the splash of water.

Franklin demonstrating appropriate technique.

One more jump for the camera. Looking good.

On the rainy day we went into a cave, called "Bridal Cave" I thought this was a cute picture of the kids. The cave had large formations like this.

Little Marjorie, LH, Grandma Marj, and Gail in front of the formation.

Cool cave formations, just me trying to be artsy.

Yikes! there are skeletons in the cave. What I love best is that you can see their huge sheepish grins underneath their hoods. Great Boys.

Me with Little Marjorie in front of the stalagtite formation.

So sweet! Granite's first large mouth bass. What a fish! It was just under 15 inches. Not quite long enough to keep.

Franklin has hooked a fighter, notice the bend in the pole. The guy with the net is a fishing guide guy that we hired to take us out to catch some bass. He taught us the correct way to say Missouri, "Mizzurra". "It may be spelled like MISURY but you say it MIZZURRA". He was really great with the boys, and just an all around fun guy.

Jared's first large mouth bass. This one was just over 15 inches so we got to turn it into a delicious bass for dinner. I think eating the fish that he had landed and cleaned just a couple of hours ago was a bit much for Franklin, though he said he liked it, he just didn't eat much of it.