An 8 hour drive in....

Twelve... that's right it took us 12 hours to do an 8 hour drive...

Last Sunday morning we ate breakfast at our house with Grandma Patty, Papa, Aunt Donna, Uncle Bruce, Uncle Brendan and Grandma Betty... After they headed to the airport, Grandma Patty and Papa entertained Ramey while we finished getting ready to leave for the lake. We didn't get on the road as promptly as I hoped but none the less, we were on way!!!

Ramey was asleep before we even got close to the expressway!!! Luckily she slept most of the way to Bloomington... where we made our first pit stop... lunch and some wiggle time for Ramey. My hope was to wear her out a bit so she would sleep most of the way to our next pit stop... St. Louis.

Well, we made it to St. Louis with a few tears shed but overall in good shape!! We had dinner at Grandma Betty's; grabbed her things, repacked the car and headed out!!! Once again on the road a little later than anticipated but on the road for our final leg. It was a late night but Ramey slept the entire way from St. Louis to the lake... 12 hours later we were safely at our destination!!! Lake of the Ozarks!

Although late at night (or because of) we saw a number of creatures of the night... a possum, a fox plus a few deer!!!

Overall the trip was great... cool weather but in the end very relaxing.

Proof of the six point deer we saw next to the Hermes'

Lefty waiting to pounce

Lefty loved the freedom of the lake... we *lost* her a few times as she was in heaven chasing after any sound or anything that moved (including leaves). Yesterday she was close to getting a squirel (Ron says it's the other way around)

Ramey in her tutu and Crocs

Check out Lefty's tongue and ears... LOL

3 deer in the lot across the cove

may have to click photo to see all three

My futures so bright...

I gotta wear shades (if the sun ever came out)

We decided to head for home on Friday so we could break the drive up a little. Ramey slept most of the way back to Grandma Betty's... we had a quick lunch then met a few of Grandma's friends. We then drove on to Bloomington where we met up with Brian and the boys for dinner. After dinner, Carli came over and played with Ramey (and put her to bed!!) so Ron and I could take in a movie... a mini date night... what a nice way to end a nice vacation.

Looking forward to going again next summer... hopefully the weather will cooperate a little better and we can get some boat time in