Birthday Bash 2012

Our family's completed another successful Birthday Bash, celebrating all our summer birthdays.  This one, though, had a twist.  Instead of having it at our house, the different parts of the family came together for two nights at a condo at the Lake of the Ozarks.  It was the best weekend I've had in a long time.

The Lake is about two hours from the St. Louis area, and 30 minutes from Columbia where Son Brian and DIL Nicole live.  Condo check in was 4:00 and our car (containing me, Hubby Tony, and Sons Tony and Donald) was there shortly after that.  By 4:30 everyone was together.  Over the course of the weekend we did lots of eating and talking, and a little shopping and Olympics viewing,   We also spent Saturday morning on the lake, playing on the pontoon boat Son Tony had rented.

We were at the boat rental facility at 10:00.  After signing waivers, the attendant walked us down the dock to our boat.  Tony took charge driving, and soon had the boat out in the main channel of the lake.  We sat on the comfy boat seats while he meandered in and out of arms of the lake.  Then it was time for activity, because Tony had also rented a tube.  We attached it to the pole on the back of the boat, and everyone got a couple of turns being pulled:

I'm ready for my ride!

At noon we stopped and ate the lunch we'd brought, then jumped for a swim. I found out that foam pool noodles work great in lakes, too:

All too soon our rental period was up and it was time to return the boat.  It sounds like everyone had a great time, and we may have started a new family tradition!