This past weekend was the first weekend in August, which means time for the Deterdings to head to Mile Marker 44 on the Lake of the Ozarks. Since 1981, this has been tradition for our family (although they had been going to the Lake for many years prior to 1981, but to various places). We stayed at Mimosa Beach from 1981 to 2002, when the owners of Mimosa decided to move out the cabins and build high-rise condos. That moved us just barely down the Lake to Runaway II, which is wonderful because it has a cabin that holds ALL OF US. Back in '81, I was the youngest Deterding and there were only 20 of us. Now there are 50! (soon to be 51 when Kyle & Sara's baby joins us.) Yes, we're like the flies that always bother us while we're there; we just keep multiplying! And you read correctly, all of us stay in ONE BIG cabin. I love this time together with the big family, and what an amazing family it is. It isn't often that a family as big as ours gets along so well. We genuinely enjoy spending time together, and really the only times we get together with all of us is at Christmas and the lake. Christmas is great, but very busy and sometimes rushed; I always look forward to the laid-back atmosphere we get to have at the lake, just hanging out and visiting. I thank God for my wonderful family!
Calvin and Tyler ready to take a dip in the lake.
Ready to jump, boys?
Ready to jump, boys?
Swimming with Grandma, Papa, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Cheryl Ruth.
Uncle Rick, Emily, and Daniel join in the fun.
Tyler and Calvin were quite the little fish, swimming all over the place.
Sydney teaching Calvin the art of rock-throwing in the water.
Jack joins in on the fun.
Calvin & Tyler this year at the lake, compared to . . .
. . . last year at the lake and . . .
. . . the year before. I don't think they've probably gained much weight in 2 years, just grown taller--what chunks they were!
Back to present day--The boys showing some attitude on the tube.
Waving to all of their fans on the dock.
Oliver in his beach gear ready to head out to the water.
All that fun in the sun really wears a kid out, and Sarah makes a really great pillow!
Uncle John getting his exercise while the boys get a horsey ride.
One of my favorite parts of the lake is when Nathan starts the fish fry--yummy!
We're all pretty impatient and usually just sit around the fryer waiting for the next batch to get done!
Calvin LOVED the fish. The only problem was it was a little too hot and he had to continually blow on it to cool it off.
But good things come to those who wait! This is good stuff!
After dinner, the cards come out, and the games begin. Our cabin has these huge tables that are great for card-playing.
Dad and Uncle Gene must have a good hand.
Looks like the little guys have a card game of their own going on. Ryan must be winning based on the smile on his face.
More card games--this one looks like Memory. Emily's keeping the little ones entertained.
Another evening activity was playing washers and "ball-on-a-string toss" (does anyone know the actual name of this game??)
Clay and Keith in a pretty heated game of washers--these guys are good.
Karla & Jerry always bring down a golf cart to help transport Grandma to the pool and lake from the cabin (it gets used by more than just Grandma, though, as you can see). The kids think it's pretty fun to drive.
Our resort has a pool that definitely gets good use, especially this year since the swim dock was in the process of being re-built. When we go to the pool, we pretty much take over the place (did I mention there were 50 of us??) In these pictures, everyone you see is one of us.
Kristen enjoying the water with her ultra-cool pink shades.
Oliver and Uncle Kyle cooling off a bit.
Nathan throwing Luke in. . . getting thrown in by the "big kids" is a favorite for the "little kids." 
What's the weight limit on this raft?
Jump in, guys!
All done swimming for now. The boys dry off in their special towels Grandma Ruth made them with their names embroidered on the hood.
Danielle and Calvin on the deck.
Attack of the 2-year-olds . . . they had so much fun playing together.
Danielle showing off her most lady-like expression while eating a powdered-sugar donut.
There's the adorable Danielle all cleaned up again!
This is what meal-time looks like around the cabin. It's so nice being able to all eat together.
Oliver hanging out on the deck after dinner with Uncle Scott and Keith.
And this is what the living room looks like at night with all of the kiddos and their air mattresses and sleeping bags. It's like one big slumber party!
Oliver chatting it up with Nathan and Uncle Gene waiting for breakfast to be done.
We took a boat ride to Mimosa where we used to stay. We used to play on this slide for hours on end when we were kids. It's fun to watch our kids now playing on it. First Jackson. . .
There goes Sydney. . .
And finally Calvin! It's a pretty steep slide; Calvin wasn't crying when he came up out of the water, but he wasn't exactly begging to go again, either.
After the slide, we took the kids in to get orange push-pops at the Marina--something else we used to do all of the time as kids.
What would a trip to the lake be without some fishing? The kids actually caught a few.
For the first time this year, Sydney & Jack got to go "jug fishing" with the real fishermen of the group. They caught quite a few fish, including this big one!
The proud fishermen with their catch!
An evening ride around on the paddle-boat. We need to teach Calvin and Tyler how to pedal so Russ and I could relax and enjoy the ride a bit!
Before we left, we got to celebrate Luke's 7th birthday--Happy Birthday, Luke!
Every year, we take a picture of Grandma with all of the great-grandkids (it's an ever-growing group, for sure). Anytime Grandma makes a comment about the noise level or just how many people we cram into one cabin, we are quick to remind her that she started it all! Without her, none of this would have happened! We had 14 of the 16 kiddos with us for the picture this year.
Almost as entertaining as watching the kids try to sit still for the picture is watching all of the moms/grandmas taking the pictures!
Here's last year's picture (Oliver was the only addition this year).
And here's the picture from a few year's back, 2004 I think. We've added quite a few since then.
We're so blessed to have such a wonderful family--can't wait until next year!
