My friend Blaire (of Texaflora) went up to Big Cedar Lodge in May and it looked amazing!  At the time, I was trying to plan our summer vacation.  We were looking all over- Europe too.  But with tests and the thought of a child possibly getting sick, we just couldn’t pull the trigger on anything and feel comfortable.  So when she posted about it and it looked riiiiight up my families alley, I asked her a million questions.  I asked JB if he had ever heard of Big Cedar – would he want to go?  And it was a big yes for him.  The golf their is fantastic!

So on the ride over to the Eau in Palm Beach, JB drove, and I booked everything from the passenger seat.

The boys love baseball games.  To me, there’s just something extra fun about it in the summer.  So we figured we’d fly into St Louis (Sarasota has a direct flight on Southwest) and fly out of Kansas City (another direct to SRQ).  Hitting up both a Cardinals game on our way in, and a Royals game on our way out.  In between we’d drive down to Big Cedar for the main portion of our trip.

This age is easy to travel with.  They of course love the screen time on the plane, and somehow didn’t ask for it at all during our car rides to Big Cedar and back up to Kansas City.  It was quite a bit of driving, so I wouldn’t recommend it with younger kids.  But we loved our time in STL and KC.  Plus there was literally no traffic at any point of our trip, so it made for an easy stress free drive.

We started our journey in St Louis.  After getting settled into our hotel, Four Seasons St Louis, we made our way down to the pool for an easy poolside dinner.  The boys swam with a breathtaking view of The Arch behind them.  Over a cocktail (the Paloma there is excellent!) JB and I decided to go ahead and grab tickets to the Cardinals game.  Somehow we all summoned enough energy to get ready real quick and head to Ballpark Village.  The energy in Busch Stadium is THE BEST.  I feel like a Friday summer night was the perfect time to go.  Everyone around us was so into the game, and my 8 year old immediately became a Cardinals fan, and made friends with everyone around us.  To be fair, he also immediately did the same at the Royals game.   (:  We made it until the sixth inning when I could tell Wes was super tired.  We all passed out, and woke up to a gorgeous view of The Arch from our beds.

We started out the day at the Zoo!  The Zoo is free and wonderful.  We especially loved the insect/butterfly section.  From there we popped over to Hi Pointe to grab some delicious burgers.  We drove a few minutes to the Nature Playscape which is an outdoor park.  They boys could have explored and stayed there all day!  St Louis held the Worlds Fair in 1904, and this entire area is unreal beautiful.  Like Central Park on steroids.  It was gorgeous!  Then we grabbed ice cream at Clementine’s with Helen, Ian, and baby Eleanor.  It was so fun to finally meet Helen and her family!  I treasured the time together. I owe a lot of the growth of my blog/instagram over the last few years to her.  So thankful she threw me into the metaphorical hat with Draper James.  That night we swam some more at FS St Louis, then used their Swing Suite before dinner.  The Swing Suite was SO fun!  You can grab snacks/dinner, while playing a variety of virtual games.  Like Top Golf, zombie dodgeball, baseball, etc.  We all loved it!  Afterward we had an early dinner at Cinder House.  It was delicious!  What I love so much that rings true across every four seasons we’ve stayed at, is how accommodating they are for people with children.  We turned in early, and got a great nights sleep.  There’s sooo much more we want to do and see and eat in St Louis, so I envision a trip back is in our future!!  JB goes there quite a bit for work (HQ for Edward Jones is there), so we may just be tagging along soon!

After some delicious breakfast in bed.  Get the Avocado Toast with Spiced Pecans!  We started our journey down to Big Cedar.  The trip was easy, as I noted earlier, we couldn’t believe we didn’t run into traffic once!  We made it just in time for JB’s tee time at Payne’s Valley.  That was the only tee time he could get!  It’s a Tiger Woods course, and from what I saw it looked stunning.

I drove us to get checked into our cabin at Camp Long Creek.  Camp Long Creek is about a 10 minute drive from the main lodge, but has a fun vibe to it.  I still think we would stay out here next time – we’d bring more groceries!

Our week was so fun, and jam packed!  So I’m going to share our itinerary, and the things we did everyday.  As I’ve mentioned on Instastories, it’s important if you go to book everything as soon as possible.  I’m actually not much of a planner on normal vacations.  Usually get there and figure it out.  But I think you need to go ahead and book here!  Especially as Americans travel more and more domestically – things fill up quickly.

Day one:  Arrive. JB golf’s Paynes Valley while we get checked in, settled.  I took the boys to go swimming and then up to Fun Mountain for a bit.  We grabbed take out when JB got back, and passed out in our cabin.

Day two:  We went down to Long Creek Marina… just a few steps from the cabin.  We reserved a boat, and went tubing along Table Rock Lake.  This was so fun!  Lake life is great.  When we got out of the lake, we weren’t sticky.  Which always catches us by surprise.  Since we are so used to the salt life.   The boat was in incredible condition too.  Perks of the owners owning Bass Pro no doubt.

That afternoon we had a tee time at Mountain Top Golf.  It’s a 12 whole par 3 course, and the boys had a blast playing it.  The views were amazing, and it worked out where we were the only ones on the course, so we took our time out there.  It’s such a beautiful course, with lots of rock formations.

That night the boys did the ropes course at Fun Mountain.  We watched them from below while we ate at Uncle Buck’s.  They would have stayed there until it closed, but they got hungry eventually and came down.

Day three:  JB golfed Ozarks National early that morning.  I took the boys to their Kids Adventure Camp.  It’s from 9-1.  Warning:  they won’t want to go home!  It is non stop fun!

We picked up the boys and took them to the Shooting Academy.  This may have been their favorite part of the trip!  They loved the bows and arrows!

That evening we did the Hoop De Doo!  Which is a fun boat ride around Table Rock Lake, a tractor ride to dinner on the lawn, with lots of games.  John won both age groups of Hula Hooping!  His and the older group.  Who knew he was such a good hula hooper?  we didn’t!  They then take you from dinner up the mountain for sweeping views of the property.  And a little drive around the rest of the property where they tell you more of the history.  It was super fun!  Our whole family loved it.

Day four:  We woke up and headed to Dogwood Canyon.  It’s about a 20 minute ride.  And it’s absolutely worth it!  You can do trout fishing there, biking, and hiking.  There’s also a tram ride tour.  They have an awesome tree house that the boys could have spent the whole day in.  The entire property is so stunning!  We rented bikes and rode about 8 miles together … all the way into Arkansas (: I never knew there was so many waterfalls in Missouri!

That afternoon we switched from a Cabin to a glamping tent for the next two nights.  They moved our luggage and it was pretty seamless transition.  And also just a couple steps from our cabin, so that made it easy.

That evening we went to Top of the Rock for dinner at Osage.  It’s their nicest restaurant, but definitely family friendly.  The views are incredible here!  And I absolutely recommend the Apple Gooey Butter cake with ice cream.  Make sure you have a bit of time to walk around there, peek into the chapel and the caves.

Right before sundown we were able to do the Lost Canyon and nature tour golf cart ride.  They give you a golf cart, and it guides you through the path.  You go into a cave.  and there is a bat bar.  Where adults can get a drink and kids can try a “bat bite” … which I think is similar to a shirley temple.  This is a must do if you visit.  It’s so fun, and you can go at your own pace.  You’ll also see several waterfalls, and ride in caves.  It’s awesome!

Day five:  After all that fun… I got to go to the spa!  JB was supposed to golf Buffalo Ridge but we had some rain.  We dropped the boys off for another morning at camp, and I got to get a massage.  It was so so good!  The spa is a destination, and honestly one of the best ones I’ve been to.  They have a beautiful grotto cave pool that’s co-ed so perfect for hanging with your spouse.  They have private women and mens jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, outdoor showers, and a ton of lounge areas.  It was an extremely relaxing morning.  JB picked me up and we went to grab lunch at Trumans.  It’s a quick service, but they had more healthy options.  They also had some healthy snacks.  I wish I had found this when we first arrived.

When we picked up the boys, they wanted to stay at Fun Mountain.  And I don’t blame them!  We went go carting (it’s suuuuper fun, and they go quite fast!), rock climbing, did laser tag, and finished with bowling.

For dinner we went on the Lady Liberty Cruise.  Which is a beautiful boat, and a fun ride around Table Rock Lake.  They serve you a full meal, and there’s live music.  This was another can’t miss for us!  It was a great way to close out our last night at Big Cedar.

Day Five: We headed back to Kansas City and made a stop in Springfield at Wonder’s of Wildlife.  I am SO glad we didn’t miss this.  It is honestly the very best aquarium we’ve experienced.  Johnny Morris really does it right!  We were there for a lot longer than anticipated, because it was all truly amazing.

We made our way to KC, checked into Inn at the Meadow.  Which is actually on the Kansas side.  Then we grabbed some amazing BBQ at Joe’s.  Then we made it to a Royals game.  Another awesome summer night at a baseball field!

The next morning we had a lazy morning, I had breakfast with My friend MK.  We went to Jack’s Stacks in Country Club Plaza, and walked around.  Kansas City looks so cute, with a lot of character.  Wish we had more time there.  That afternoon we flew back home (:

It was a jam packed week but so fun!  You can check out my highlight “Missouri” right here, and see more images/videos.  And I’m happy to answer as well any questions you may have.