Missouri, Day 3: Columbia and Family Dinner Out

Saturday, our 3rd full day in Missouri, was RAINY. Which pretty much stunk all the way around, since the guys had an early morning tee time at Lake of the Ozarks, and the girls were planning to hang out in the morning with the kiddos and then meet up with the guys for some fun and shopping at the Lake...

Because Plan A was a washout, we had to resort to Plan B. Which was Nina's idea, and Papa jumped on board quickly. They (Nina and Papa) took all 7 grandkids to Leapfrog Fun Center, while we siblings and our spouses took an adults-only trip to Columbia for a few hours.

[Side Note/Funny Story: Yes, my Mom and Dad are awesome, though some might call them gluttons for punishment. My dad's response when my mom mentioned to him that there were a few of us siblings that didn't think they could handle all of the kids on their own? He said, without batting an eye, "Well, not a single one of them has more than 3 kids." He had us there. We stopped questioning them. And they, of course, did GREAT, even managing to get the youngest four down for naps upon their return home.]

Us siblings, sans kids, went to Shakespeare's Pizza for lunch, and then spent some time at Columbia Mall, where Dale and I found great deals at Gymboree and were able to snag both of Macie's dresses for Matt and Carla's wedding (wedding and rehearsal), as well as Ivie's rehearsal dress (she's a flower girl with Olivia, so the wedding dress is already purchased!).

When we got back to Jefferson City, we loaded everyone up into 3 cars and headed to Linn to a place called Stoney Mountain Restaurant (they don't have a website, or I'd link to it for you!). It was certainly "out there", even requiring a short drive on a gravel road and eliciting a joke from Dale about "valet parking", but it was the perfect place for our family of 19 (all 17 of us plus Granny and Papa, who drove over from Mount Sterling) to converge for a family dinner.

Here are a few pictures from the actual dinner:


After dinner, we ventured out back to the restaurant's great (and huge!) deck. Our goal was to get some family pictures. We were fairly successful in all but one area - Ivie didn't cooperate and refused to join the other kids for a "grandkids only" shot. Neither Dale nor I could coax her into it, so we just gave up on that idea and decided to try to get it later.

But we did get a few good ones...

Kids Being Silly

The WHOLE CLAN


The Siblings
(yes, I know I should have taken my cell phone off my hip)


Siblings and Spouses (or very soon-to-be)


Great-Granny, Great-Papa, Nina, Papa, and Grandkids

Then, inspired by you, Sarah, I attempted to get a "jumping" shot of the siblings/spouses. It, well, didn't work out great. But, considering it was an idea I shared with them just moments before my dad took the camera to give it a try, it could have been worse. Before you even see it, yes, it appears as though I was trying to take up the whole picture. I tried to get someone to come to the front row with me, but everyone refused. But, on another note, how funny is it that Sarah and Tony have the exact same twist to their bodies, arm spread, leg raise/angle, and facial expressions?!? They've clearly been married for almost 15 years!!!

So we'll keep working on this, since I LOVE the idea! It's certainly good for a handful of laughs...

What a great way to finish our Missouri trip. While coordinating schedules for 5 families and 17 total people (including 4 under the age of 4) is not an easy task, it's always worth it to be able to spend time together. If only we could make it happen more often!!!