Tahoe Vacation_Day 5

I love watching the boys play, snuggle, relax and sleep. Every morning of our vacation started out with a leisurely breakfast, relaxing veg time and a nice walk.

The smoke is still crazy here, but we were determined to enjoy the day and headed out with bikes to ride along the Truckee River.  John, Mary, Johnny, Hudson, Baby J and I were off. A nice 5 mile round trip ride to River Ranch and back got my legs aching and my blood pumping. The only way to finish that off is with a juicy hamburger and some stanky garlic fries from Bridgetender! So good!!

We all cleaned up that night and took a trip out to Truckee for Truckee Thursdays. They have a street fair in the summer every Thursday with great local food and vendors. Great local stuff that you can't find anywhere else! Seriously..

I was stalking the trash bin from my window every night hoping for one more chance to see the bears. No go.

Tahoe Vacation_Day 4

Day 4 was off to a slow start. The smoke coming into Tahoe from the fires in the area was really slowing everyone up to start the day.  Johnny, Hudson, Baby J and I finally gathered together some snacks, beach toys and sunscreen to head out to the park and Commons Beach. Mother Nature had other plans. We left and it was sunny and warm.  We drove 10 minutes and were at the park for less than 5 and it started dumping rain!! Hudson and I made a beeline for the car but Johnny was determined to play.  The rain helped clear out any other kids. Ha!

The boys made a delicious dinner that night of steak, chicken, salad and garlic bread while us girls went for a drink at Garwoods. Wet Woodys $5.50, every Wednesday, all day, all summer!! We had to take advantage and let me tell you...they were A-Mazing!! 

The night wrapped up with a flick and a push up competition. Perfect.

                                                

Tahoe Vacation_Day 3

Today was rafting day!! Hudson had quality time with the grandparents while Johnny, Marcus, Shayna, Baby J and I floated down the Truckee River. This was the first year that we felt comfortable bringing Baby J on the raft. We had a blast!! We were gone for 5 hours and Baby Johnny NEVER complained, loved swimming in the river and even took an hour nap on some life vests in the raft! We finished up the evening with a trip to the ice cream shop. Vacation in full effect here!!

Tahoe Vacation_Day 2

So...this wouldn't be a vacation without some quality lake time, games, eating and bikes! Only Marcus, Shayna and Baby Johnny were brave enough to tackle the lake after dinner last night. We brought our bikes and went for a family ride. Hudson is happy as long as he's outside and Johnny loves showing his skills on his bike.  Games were followed up by a delicious dinner. Night 2 was Girls Night to cook. We had chicken enchiladas, rice and bean casserole, margaritas and guacamole. Delish!! Boys night is on Thursday so I'm sure red meat will be the main course. ;0)

It's so fun to just enjoy being together without worrying what time it is or who is calling. Memories in the making people.

 

Tahoe Vacation_Day 1

So...I'm trying to follow my pal's lead, Deverewhitefamily.wordpress.com, and be better about blogging in general, but she also just blogged each day on her Truckee vacation and I LOVED IT!!! Do it while it's fresh (and the memories aren't clouded by wine).

We are in Tahoe for a week at a beautiful condo that the Shebls set up. Our second year at this location and we LOVE it!! We got up here around dinnertime last night. Here's our view from the living room bay window.  You can't really see the lake in this pic, but it's the sunny spot just past the trees. When I'm not so lethargic from cinnamon rolls and fresh mountain air, I'll stumble down and take a 'real' picture.

Johnny is having a blast and is entertaining everyone, of course!! Hudson clearly has adapted well to the vacation life. Our first day was filled with games, wine, laughter, oh...and don't forget the BEARS!! That's right. In the middle of the night J heard something and thought it was someone trying to steal our bikes. HA!! Nope. He woke up Baby J and I to see a mama and baby bear riffling through the dumpsters nearby. We watched them from the window for a minute and then left them to their work. What excitement could be in store for Day 2?! 

 On a side note, here's the sweet and the sour that preceded the trip. The morning that I was making these delicious cinnamon rolls for the trip, Hudson took a header into the corner of a wall at home and split his eye open. Thumbs down. Just wanted to warn you now, so when his eye changes colors in the Vaca blog update, you're not alarmed. Back to....oh, wait. I don't have anything specific to do. Back to snacking I guess!! xoxo

Our Kid-Less Vacation!

Our weekend visit to Tahoe prepped us for our week long vacation on the West Shore with Johnny's family. His parents rent a place in the summer to spend a relaxing, fun filled week with their kids and daughter in-laws. We were the only "kids" that were able to take an entire week off work and couldn't pass up the opportunity for our last kid-less vacation.

There was hiking, biking, relaxing, eating, shopping, kyaking, sun bathing, eating, S'more making, eating, swimming and laughing. (Although, let's be honest...I didn't participate in any of the "non-approved during pregnancy" activities. Eating and sun bathing were totally on my list of tasks!). Here's a pic that Johnny took during a hike with his dad to Eagle Lake. So beautiful!!

 It was a great time and it was nice for Johnny's mom to be able to see how much we've grown and feel Baby Johnny kick. I also think Baby and I grew while we were gone.

One night the Caposseles came up too and we had a fire with JC's delicious S'mores. Joey loved it! It was fun to have them there. 

 I will always be grateful to the Shebl parents for the time that we had with them, pre-Baby. I couldn't have asked for a better gift with only a few months left!

Baby Johnny's First Tahoe Weekend!

I can't believe that this is our last summer, kid free! I try to remind myself to enjoy the freedoms of sleeping in, sipping my 1/2 caff coffee in silence,watching the Today show while I eat my breakfast, making my bed every morning, enjoying my morning shower and taking time to do my makeup.

Being invited to Tahoe to spend a weekend with the Shebls from So CA, I really tried to soak up this freedom. We enjoyed lounging around and visiting, taking a l-o-n-g walk, eating delicious food and talking with Jake (Baby Johnny's cousin), cracking up at his remarks and energy. He is so much fun!

I really tried to soak up the beautiful weather and enjoy my remaining days of being pregnant. This amazing lake front house that they rent and getting to spend time with the Shebls and Willets makes it hard not to enjoy your weekend.

Here's the boys catching crawdads near the dock. They were having some luck, until Uncle Jim came out with hotdogs and ham. Then it was a free for all! The crawdads were caught dragging their treasures back to hiding. Disclaimer- No crawdads were hurt during the taking of this picture. I love this pic! I like seeing Johnny with Jake and can't wait to see him wading in the water with Baby J.