Sheep Guarding Llama

Monday. We are back in Dallas today after our three day weekend in Missouri for Chris’ birthday. Since we were gone for the last several days, today was a very busy day getting caught up on work and preparing for SpiceWorld Austin which is coming up really soon.

Sunday. Today we are doing some sight seeing in Missouri and meeting up with friend and client Shane.

We packed up and headed out for Lake of the Ozarks. Not a real far drive from Cuba. But only Paul has been here before. Dominica, the girls, and I have never actually visited the Lake of the Ozarks before.

We got out to the lake and went looking for some lunch. We tried several places along the way but never found something that worked. We ended up eating lunch at a Panera Bread. Both girls got mac and cheese and absolutely loved it. They asked if we could eat at Panera Bread more often, they said that other than John and Sarah’s back in Perry, New York, that this was their favourite mac and cheese.

We then played miniature golf at Pirate’s Cove. This is not just a cool place to play miniature golf, but this is the very same Pirate’s Cove that I have been telling the girls about for a long time. I played at one of these in the 1990s, I believe, with my parents in Bar Harbor, Maine. It has always been my favourite miniature golf place.

The girls had loads of fun. They loved the waterfalls, caves, and all of the theme that Pirate’s Cove had. It was a little warm, though.

We did not have a lot of time at the Lake of the Ozarks because we needed to get out to our meeting out west near the Kansas border.

We made our meeting with Shane and hung out for an hour or two. We got a tour of his offices and facilities. Then we went to a little dive and got some quick food to eat before leaving Missouri.

We did not stay long, we still had to drive back down to Dallas before the evening was over. So in the early evening we took off for Oklahoma and the road home.

Saturday. We started the day at the Baymont in Sullivan, Missouri.

Today is a really big day for MangoLassi. Today the site passes the one million all time unique users mark!

In the late morning, I took the girls swimming for a really long time. I did a lot of DuoLingo while sitting with them. I eventually got in and swam with them for a while.

This afternoon, after we were done swimming, we went across the parking lot and ate lunch at the nice diner or family restaurant that is right there. It was delicious.

After dinner, we got ready and went into Cuba to surprise Chris for his party. We had a fun evening with loads of friends at Frisco’s in downtown Cuba. We were there until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday. We loaded up in the minivan and left first thing in the morning to head to Missouri. We were up so early that we were on the road before five! We drove up through Oklahoma, getting into Oklahoma just after six! I don’t think that we have ever managed to leave so early.

Part of the reason that we are driving so early is so that we can get as much of the drive over with as early as possible so that I can do some work from the hotel once we arrive.

Paul attempted to surprise us with miniature gold as we drove through Missouri, but he was foiled as the place was closed. What a pain.

We arrived at our hotel is Sullivan, Missouri at two thirty. We are staying at the Baymont. It has a nice indoor swimming pool that the girls are very excited about.

We got settled in, then the girls went swimming for a big while I worked. That worked out really well, I had stuff to do and they were thrilled with getting swim time in.

For dinner we went out to Planet Sub that we always go to when we are here. We love their subs.

After dinner we went bowling. Liesl has been interested in bowling for a week or two. She saw it on Growling Pains and thought that she would like it.

Overall, the girls had a good time. Luciana got decently frustrated, as you might imagine. But she had fun. Liesl really enjoyed it. Paul had fun. Dominica pushed herself too far and hurt her back, of course. I, obviously, did not bowl at all as I have carpal tunnel and even thinking about holding a bowling ball makes my entire hand hurt. The sheer thought of it makes my broken thumb ache. Nothing could be worse for me as an activity physically.

Tomorrow is Chris’ surprise birthday party.

Thursday. Today was a heavy day for work because we are all traveling this weekend. We have to leave tomorrow to drive to Missouri as we are popping in for a surprise birthday party for Chris that Amanda has planned for him.

So today was packing and prep work. No time for writing.