Tahoe Vacation!

Part 1: 10th Anniversary celebration sans kiddos.

Kayak South Lake Tahoe.

We've wanted to Kayak together for the longest time and were so excited, so the overcast 68/70 weather with predicted afternoon thundershowers instead of the 85/90 that we were expecting did not change our plans! The Lake Tahoe water is usually so blue and you can't see that here, I think because it was overcast. We worked well as a team and we'll definitly do it again sometime!
If you've never been to Lake Tahoe, you may not realize how GINORMOUS this lake is.















The lady we rented our Kayak from suggested finding the south fork of the Truckee River to explore. We were so glad we found it! Since the lake itself was rather choppy that day, it was great to head up the lazy river.


Aww! On the sand bar between the lake and river, Scott surprised me with a kiss!

A gorgeous sunset from Zepher Cove!

The next day we hiked to the top of a little mountain in Zepher Cove that had awesome views ~ you can see how the water is more blue this day.

We had so much fun hanging out ~ just the two of us! Huge thanks to Scott's parents and sisters who watched our kids! The timing turned out to be a little crazy since two of Scott's sister's and their 5 kids were in town...that was one crazy-fun household of cousins! When Ryan saw us return, he moaned and asked to stay! I guess almost two days isn't enough to make a 6 year old miss his mom and dad when he's staying at grandma and grandpa and cousins are in town! They had lots of fun and got to go on fieldtrips too!

Part 2: The kids join in the fun!

We brought our kids bikes and rented ones for ourselves. There were great bike trails along South Shore. The kids kept saying, "Mom, I wish you could keep that bike for forever!"

Pope Beach where we had lunch...our new favorite lunch (Bagel sandwich with Chive-onion cream cheese, turkey, tomato, cucumber, salt and pepper ~~~ yummy!)

On the road again.....

Break at Baldwin beach.

The lake view from Baldwin Beach.

On the way back we stopped at this old ice cream parlour. They gave us crazy big scoops of ice cream. The kids had already eaten lots before this picture...and Sean asked me to take some off so he could finish the "crust." Scott and I got coconut, mmm!

Overlooking Emerald Bay before hiking down to the beach and Vikingsholm (the historic house at the bottom) and then up a little to the base of Eagle Falls that feeds into Emerald Bay.


We called this house a castle at the bottom for the kids. They were very excited to "storm the castle" with grenades (chunks of bark or branches) and guns (sticks). Then, the moment Ryan came upon the "castle" and saw this view, he exclaimed, "They planted grass on the roof just like Abraham Lincoln!" Though I'm pretty sure he was remembering learning about George Washington, I love it when he talks about stuff he's learned at school! (He frequently switches GW and AL and their stories ~ those two holidays are too close together for a Kindergartner:)

The brothers ~ the older were obsessed with their guns and grenades, can you tell? I constantly chuckled at their play as Scott made excellent explosion noises when the grenades were dropped.

The base of Eagle Falls.

The top of Eagle Falls overlooking Emerald Bay.

Attack Uno ~ fun for all ages!

Fallen Leaf Lake at the base of Mt. Tallac.

I just love this view! As we were hiking in the woods surrounding this lake, I began singing, "For the beauty of the Earth." It was just gorgeous!



We had so much fun together. At the end of each day, we'd also go swim in the hotel's heated pool. We had a blast. Kyle was hilarous as he did a typical 1 year old jump into my arms (more like falling) and Sean loved his first swim of the year in heated water and learning to swim to daddy, Ryan dove for my sunglasses and swam like a fish.

As I think about all the fun we had, but realize they probably will forget as I did most of my childhood, I was sad, wishing they will remember our family time together. But then Scott and I thought that though they may forget the moments and being in those exact spots together, these experiences in the outdoors, together as a family will build upon each other and hopefully create a love for family and the earth's beauty. Hopefully one day when they step out of the car in the mountains the smell of the trees will remind them of family hikes and learning to go further and getting stronger and achievements! I know my childhood was filled with visits to Laguna Beach and while I don't remember all the moments I remember climbing through tide pools and running to beat the tide come in by our castle and wading in the waves, searching for sand crabs, and more just not entire days. Scott loves the mountains and the smells surely because of his childhood experiences too. I wonder what moments and sights our kids will remember.