Tan-Tar-A

We left for Tan-Tar-A Resort at Lake of the Ozarks on July 16th and were there for 4 days. (Finally I finished this post, with a few minor complications that will show up towards the end.) We went with Grandma and Grandpa Seep and it was Kinley's VERY FIRST VACATION! Kevin and I were a little worried about how Kinley might react being away from home especially for eating and sleeping, but Kinley surprised us both and did really well. It was such a fun trip! If only we could go every week.

From our house it took us just under 4 hours to get to the resort (I think the GPS took us the long way). Kinley slept for most of the trip and just woke up and got a little fussy towards the end, but that is to be expected. We made it without having to stop more than once, so that was great.

Once we got to our room we settled in and tried to make it as much like home as possible. At home Kinley still eats meals while watching her favorite cartoon, Phineas and Ferb, since we still are trying to make mealtimes fun and enjoyable for her. We set up a portable DVD player and played Phineas and Ferb for most of her meals on vacation. This is what the set-up looked like...



Lucky for us Kinley still fits in her Bumbo, because it worked out well. Kinley ate really good for most meals. Yea!! (That makes vacation a lot less stressful for Mommy and Daddy.) As far as sleeping arrangements go, Kinley sleeps in her own room at home, so we tried to set up a little corner of the room for Kinley to sleep in where she would not be able to see Kevin or I. We thought that if she could see us she would never go to sleep and would just cry until one of us went to rescue her. Here is Kinley's sleeping corner...

We brought our pack-n-play from home as well as my "screen" (as it came to be called in it's previous function, which I am sure my co-workers might recognize). Anyway, it is a little hard to tell in this picture, but the screen is actually blocking Kinley's view of the rest of the room, so it was like she had her own little room within our room. That also worked out really well. Kinley slept great while on vacation. I don't know if it was all the fresh air, excitement, or both, but we actually had to wake Kinley up at 10:00 AM on the second day. Normally Kinley is awake between 7:30 AM and 8:00 AM.

There was so much to do at the resort. There was an indoor water park that we didn't make it to, but there was also 1 other indoor pool and 2 outdoor pools, and each of them had a baby pool nearby. One of the outdoor pools even had a water slide. There was a golf course, bowling ally, shops, playground, putt-putt course, picnic areas, marina, restaurants and more. We didn't have nearly enough time to do everything, oh well, I guess we will just have to go back soon. Here are some of the fun things we did get to do...

Kinley loved to splash and play with her new water toys in the baby pool. The water was only about 6 inches deep and there were little fountains all around the pool that Kinley would crawl into. (That is what's obstructing the view of Kinley in the 3rd pic.) She had a lot of fun in this pool, it was just her size.

Here Kinley is in one of the adult pools with her little water boat.

Grandpa pushing Kinley in her boat.



Just chillin with Daddy at the kiddie pool.

The first day Kinley wore her very own life jacket on the pontoon boat that we rented. Kinley was a little uncomfortable in the life jacket, but eventually was crawling all around the boat having a great time. She even ate dinner on the boat with all the adults.

The second day we rented a speed boat and borrowed a life jacket that Kinley was much more comfortable in since she could move around a little easier with it on. Kinley must have been really relaxed on the boat this time because she actually took a nap in Daddy's arms towards the end. Here are some pics of Kinley at the beginning of the boat ride before she fell asleep.

You will have to bear with me for the next 2 pics. I have them rotated before I upload them to the blog, but for some reason they go back to horizontal in the uploading process. So annoying. But, these pics show Kinley having a blast crawling up and down the hallway outside our room. She saw that long hallway and was off in a flash. She thought it was so funny when Mommy and Daddy as well as Grandma and Grandpa would chase her.

We were able to get a family pic in just before we headed home.

We also needed a pic of Kinley with Grandma and Grandpa, but just before this pic someone let it slip that we were heading home. Obviously Kinley was not too happy about leaving.

We had such a great time on vacation! The fact that Kinley did so well away from home and had so much fun made it that much better. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great trip!!!