Table Rock Lake

After spending a few days visiting family and friends in St. Louis, we headed to the lake in Missouri's Ozark Mountains. When we lived in St. Louis the 4.5 hour drive to the lake every weekend in the summer wasn't a big deal. But when you are used to the 1 hour 15 minute drive to the shore, it makes the drive to the lake feel like an eternity! Our family has been coming to the lake since I was 5 years old. It's one of my most favorite places on earth and I am so excited to bring Henry back year after year. I hope he will enjoy it as much as I did/do and make many, many memories with his family.

For the past 20+ years, our family has had a place on the same street. Grandma and Grandpa Holzapfel (Henry's great-grandparents) bought a trailer and dreamed of the lake house being a place where the whole family would gather... if only they could see it now. For years we would pack 15+ people in a 2 bedroom trailer. About 5 years ago the family upgraded to a bigger trailer. And then 3 years ago a house on the lake came available and the family snatched it up. It's a beautiful home with a stunning view of the lake, but there's a part of me that misses the cozy, crowded space of the first trailer... I was also 5 then.

While at the lake, you eat, swim, boat, play games and sleep (oh, and fish if you are Brian and Sean!) . It is heaven on earth. The first few days we were there my folks had their friends from high school and college visit. The last weekend Brian and the rest of the family came down (Holzapfel side). At the end of the visit we had 17 people in the house - crowded, loud and so much fun. It was just what I ordered and I can't wait to next year to do it again.

The whole damn family (minus Brent and Alex)

What we normally look like

Henry and his cousins

One of Brian's catches... in the first hour he was there. Thank you fish gods!!

Dad, mom and me

Henry with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Henry

On our sunset cruise

Henry naps with grandpa at the dock

Henry naps with daddy at the house

Henry naps on mommy at the dock

Henry fits in one last nap, on a table at the dock, before we head home.

And no trip to the lake is complete without a stop at Springfields Steak n' Shake and the Bass Pro Shops headquarters.