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.

"I'm catching up!"

After going to one of our YW softball games, then Ryan's T-ball game, the boys still didn't want to go inside...so after eating t-ball treats on the driveway, the bikes came out...and on a whim(we'd been talking about it for a while...but hadn't already planned on it that day), Sean's training wheels came off!

It's amazing what the example of an older sibling can do...Sean rode without assistance within seconds of starting and for lots of his first loop! Not once did he act scared or nervous. This video is only his second loop without training wheels! He says as he turns the corner..."I'm catching up!"

After his first loop, he asked for the harness to come off...but isn't that good quite yet. He needs help starting, but once he gets going, he's really good! And of course loves that he can go fast...and thinks it's really cool that you can lay the bike down because it looks like a motorcyle leaning on a kick stand.
* yes, my sister learned to ride about the same time as me...I had a huge bike...she had a tiny one. Ryan's example of riding and having fun showed Sean that it's fun and doable...though as Scott was taking off the training wheels, Ryan was counseling Sean saying, "It's pretty tricky Sean.

His prayer tonight included, "Thank you that I can ride my bike, and help me to get as fast on my bike as Ryan."

Today as "pitcher," he caught lots of grounders and sent them off to first base!

This baby is so tired, only half a nap ~ but he caught a second wind!

Happy Birthday to my youngest son...for now:)

This sweet little baby is Sean, not soon to be born Kyle:) Did I fool ya? Think we had a baby yet? hee hee.

Always trying to be bigger than he really is! Only around 9 months here and still in the crawling stage!

Just 2 days short of 3 years old! Yep, we had a Batman cake.

Happy birthday to my big little boy! He is at a stage where he really loves to be big, but still savors the advantages to being little too. He laughed today at some pacifiers, talking about how he doesn't use them anymore. Sometimes he likes being big because of the potty, but definitly uses the little excuse when he's not in the mood. He loves to use the real metal baseball bat and tried Ryan's bike with helmet and pads on Saturday too. He still loves for me to hold him and gives very tight squeezes! He still feels like my baby, so it's going to be a strange transition when baby brother arrives!
We love you!

Nice spiral Sean! More football practice.

My wish for delaying baby #3 until after this weekend so we could play with Grandpa came true! So one more wish to go...(passing Sean's big day on Tuesday). On our picture perfect Saturday we had lots of General Conference watching, T-ball, pitching baseball, soccer practicing, bike riding, football throwing, rocket launching, fort making, wrestle mania, park playing fun with Grandpa!

I know I've posted lots of bike riding videos, but this one is a classic! Ryan was in bike riding heaven on the basketball courts - complete freedom! He kept saying, "I'm in control!" or "I can go where ever I want!" The fear of cars I've planted in my children is pretty deeply rooted. So when he got here, unihibited and no worries, he enjoyed himself more than ever. It was sooo fun to watch! After I stopped tapping, Scott asked Ryan why he ran into the pole. Ryan responded, "I wanted to test out my helmet and pads!"

He's gettin it!

Way to go Ryan! See ... he really can do it! It's just the confidence and excitement he lacks. Scott and both grandpa's believe the seat should be moved up - however, Ryan likes his whole foot to touch the ground.



He's growing so old and I'm excited for him. He buckles his own regular seatbelt in the van now...something he could have done a while ago, but with him being the oldest and the extra safety from the harness, we put it off. He went to a friends house for hours on Friday after preschool (a family in the next ward over, he goes to preschool with the kid) and Scott and I felt like it was such a marker (he's never gone to someone's when I haven't scheduled a trade with a friend - I don't know this kid's mom really well)! He's definitly growing up! I know he'll grow to love riding his bike...not all growing up needs to happen overnight.

Bikes, boots, belly, and bridge

My husband is a genius! Scott's been teaching Ryan to ride his bike. After a few days of back breaking holding onto the way low seat, he came up with a plan! See, this "Lucky Bums" backback type thing has a harness around his front and a handle on the top of the backpack portion in the rear(the "Lucky Bums" harness was initially purchased for skiing...it has long ropes like a leash). So when it's time to practice riding, they strap Ryan into the harness and Scott can run with ease, standing straight up! As for his progress ... he's doing great. If he really wanted it, he'd have it by now. However, he's my sweet and cautious "first child" who likes to be safe. So he prefers Scott holding on the whole time and upon discovering dad let go, he stops.

Cutie boy Sean and

his "motorcycle."

He's got boots! Some may remember a previous mentioning that my husband has wanted cowboy boots for a long time now. Somewhat of a mysterious man I married. When we married, he didn't like country music though has always had his hunting side to him. He loves tennis, golf, football, cufflinks and cowboy boots. A jack of all trades if you will - likes variety. My lists could go on.

Thanks to grandpa Gene....he's got boots .... and loves them!

That's a mid 30 week belly. Bigger than previous 30 week bellies for me...so a little nervous to share:) Now we're at 32 weeks - only 7 1/2 more to go! Reality check please?

Here's a funny story for you...sorry if you have heard it already. When I was pregnant with Sean, probably around the same time - or maybe a few more weeks in...we were at the park with several moms and their kids from our ward. One of the girls, who I can write about now because she's since moved, commented about my belly. First she started talking about the improved maternity clothing in recent years (her oldest was 8 I think) and then she began comparing my belly with her previous prego bellies.

Here's the funny part - she says, "When I was pregnant, my belly was just like a basketball, but yours looks squishy."

Note to all you really cute women who's belly sticks out like basketballs...DON'T tell someone else they look squishy! It's not very kind. I laugh about it now and sorta then...but it scarred me a bit. The ridiculous thing is and this is far too much information for all you-all...I know for a fact that I was quite small back then and lighter than I am currently. And yes, my belly is firm - like a basketball if you will...but I have always carried that baby in a more spread out fashion. So there you have it...my famous squishy story.

Here is Seany and he claims he was "the coldest boy in the world."

Ryan was in heaven running on this old dock and paths chasing birds. He said he wished we brought his swimming suit so he could swim - hello! February! He was also the first to spot a Sea Lion swimming beneath the old dock/pier. A fun President's day in San Fran.