Annual Tahoe Day Trip

On Thursday, July 29th, we headed up to King's Beach in North Tahoe to spend the day with friends. This has become an annual tradition and I believe we've gone at least once, sometimes twice, a summer for the past 4 or 5 years. We LOVE this beach! The water is shallow for quite a distance, which is great for the kids. It was challenging to get this picture of all of the kids. I used the appropriate phrase that it was like "herding cats" trying to get this picture! [B and J are in the back row, 2nd and 3rd from the right; T is in the front row, 1st on the left]

Most of us! We're missing one of our friends in this picture. I think she was still trying to find a few kids! We had a great time just visiting with one another!! The time just flew by.

B on the hunt for crawfish

J just chilaxin!

T having a great time in the sand and water

Me and T

We got to the beach at 11am. This was the first time that I had to park across the street! However, the beach wasn't crowded!?!?? We set up our umbrellas, chairs, and just had a great time. We didn't leave until 5pm! We missed having N with us. He was on a Varsity Scout outing to Santa Cruz. I'm so glad that we could make it up to Tahoe this summer. We've been busy, but we just HAD to squeeze this in. I had a wonderful time visiting with the mom's. I'm so lucky to call these ladies my friends!!

PS: Thank you for the pictures, Raimi! I can't believe that I forgot my camera! That almost never happens to me!

Lake Tahoe

We spent all day at King's Beach in Lake Tahoe on Friday. We met some friends up there, and really enjoyed our time together. The kids played in the sand, dug for crawdads, and had the opportunity to ride in our friend's ski boat.

T had issues with his swim trunks! They would not stay up anymore. He did get a little sunburned on his exposed spot! I knew I should have sprayed sunblock there.

T with me on the boat. He was getting really tired. I think he actually got a little sun stroke because he was not feeling well later when we got home.

T enjoyed helping with the flag on the boat. You can see a little 'crack-a-lackage' in the back!

J riding in the front and concentrating VERY hard!

N is riding on the way back with B right in front of him. The boys had a blast! T even had a turn riding the boat when G went out with the boys.

My friend, Keri, and I rode the banana boat, too. Since it was just the two of us, our friend's husband did NOT go easy on us! We were laughing and screaming so hard.

Right before Keri and I wiped out ... BAD! I'm a little sore today, but it was so much fun. Thank you to my dear friend, Raimi, for taking most of these photos! I didn't take my camera on the boat, and I didn't take that many pictures because I was having so much fun ... I didn't think about it. Thanks to Jen for sharing her boat with us! We really, really enjoyed our day. We took power-showers when we got home, had some yummy chicken pasta for dinner, then watched "Ironman". It was such a great day with our family and dear friends.

Tahoe Trip - Part 2

I took this picture of T before our hike. He looks like an evil storm trooper from the DeathStar! I couldn't stop laughing!

T taking a turn with J's walking stick

On Wednesday morning, we hiked up to a vista point to get a great view of Lake Tahoe. Our original plan was to ride up the lift and hike around Northstar, but the lift was closed. So, we drove a few miles to the hiking trail. The boys did well. T hitched a ride here and there. The hike was 1 1/2 miles to the vista point.

J's almost there. There were lots of beautiful yellow wildflowers. J found an awesome walking stick.

Victory!!J taking a rest. His was dealing with a couple of blisters, and it was really painful for him.

It's hard to see in the picture, but we used gum wrappers and lichen to wrap around his blisters on his pinky toes. They worked for a while, then would fall off, and we'd wrap them again.

You can see J & B on top of the rocks. They enjoyed climbing all around.

G enjoying the beautiful view of Lake Tahoe

Here we all are on the top of the vista. Felt weird not having N with us -- he was away at Scout camp. We rested at the vista for a while and enjoyed some bagels, M&M's and water. It took us less than half of the time to get down the mountain as it did going up. G ended up carrying either T or J down the mountain. J's toes were hurting SO bad. G's legs were burning by the time we got all the way down. We headed back to the condo, enjoyed a yummy lunch, then spent the afternoon by the pool. Very refreshing. Sadly, we had to head back home late afternoon. Back to the real world ... It was so nice to get away for a day, and spend time together in such a beautiful place. (Thanks, K!)

Tahoe Trip -- Part 1

We had the opportunity to stay at a beautiful condo in Northstar Tahoe on Tuesday night. Here, the boys enjoyed a quick ride on the luggage cart.

We settled into the condo, went on a short walk through the village, and then headed over to the pools. B didn't disappoint in posing for a photo. Such a character!

The pools were closed, but the "hot water" wasn't. We relaxed in one of the big spas for a while. We had it all to ourselves. Sure enjoyable. We went back to the condo, put on our PJ's, ate watermelon, and enjoyed a movie. The boys all slept in the same room, even though, at first, they all thought it would be cool to have their own room. But when it came down to it, they wanted to be together.

The next morning, we went down to see if the gondolas and/or lift was running. Nothing opened until 10am, so the G and the boys enjoyed a game of chess. J & G played checkers with the pieces for their game.

CHECKMATE! B squished G in a game of chess. He completely blindsided him not too far into the game. G was stunned! Way to go B! J also won checkers ... fair and square. It was a fun way to pass a bit of time. The weather was perfect. We missed having N with us. He is still away at Boy Scout Camp.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Here's J on a granite sculpture of Lake Tahoe. It shows it's shape, size, and various depths.

The boys and I drove up to our favorite spot in Tahoe. We just love this beach! The water is shallow for such a distance ... so it's just perfect for our kids. It was a little more crowded than usual due to a few events happening in Tahoe. We met some friends up there and we had such a nice time. At one point, many of the boys built a HUGE sand castle. A man had brought a real big shovel and dug a very large mote (@ 5 feet in diameter), and most of the boys helped shape the castle in the middle. They were in heaven. They searched for crawdads, too. The day went by SO fast ... so fast that we barely got N home in time to meet up with his troop for another 25-mile bike ride. He has just the 50-mile bike ride left. This has been a very challenging merit badge! He was so exhausted when he got home from the bike ride last night. Then, he left for a 3-day, 2-night camp out this morning called "The Sons of Liberty". I can't wait to hear about is when he gets back. There will be about 26 stakes attending, and L. Tom Perry will be there. It will be such a great experience for him.

A Beatiful Day in Tahoe

We escaped the heat and smoke yesterday and headed up to Tahoe. As we were driving through Auburn and Foresthill, the smoke was really bad. We thought we might have to turn around and head back home. But as we descended towards the lake, the air cleared. It was beautiful! It was around 85 degrees and the water felt great. We love this particular beach because the water is shallow for quite a distance out. The kids can really play, and I'm more comfortable knowing that they don't have to tread water. There were 6 families that went. I think my friend counted 22 kids! I put SPF50 on me and my boys, and we just played all day! We had lunch and snacks, and then we'd get back into the water. The boys dug in the sand, made sandcastles, searched for crayfish, collected really cool rocks, and just played with their friends. Oh, and I got to visit with my dear friends, too. Isn't summer great?!!

B has the right idea!
T
I was in the water a lot! It felt really nice.
I bought this raft down the street from this beach. I thought I forgot my memory chip for my camera and stopped at a Rite Aid. Oh, I found the memory chip when I took the camera out of it's case when I got home! Uggh! Hey, at least I found this awesome raft that was pretty cheap. It was a hit! If they weren't being pulled in the raft, they'd use our big sand shovels for oars. Good thing I packed the air pump!
B was digging for Crayfish
N taking a dip
J getting a ride in the raft
J with one of his dearest friends! They had a blast together
I think this is all of the kids! J is standing a little behind N in the front.

We got to the beach around 11am and stayed until around 3:45. By the time we left the smoke was descending on the lake, and we were pretty worn out. Hek, I'm still worn out today! It's a good 'worn-out' though. We just lounged around the house today. The boys have been enjoying the new Indiana Jones Lego Wii game today. The air isn't any better today, so I really didn't put a time limit on the game today, which they loved, I'm sure. N's swim team was cancelled again due to the poor air quality. His Scout bike ride was cancelled last night for the same reason. It's just yucky with the heat AND the awful smoke from all of the fires in CA. It's bad.