Lake Tahoe Last September

Last Fall we went to Lake Tahoe!  It was so fun but there were so many pictures the idea of doing the blog post was a little daunting.  But here it is with all of the fun pictures.  We started our vacation without Daddy!  yup I drove the four kiddos up to Tahoe but I did caravan with my parents so they were close by and sometimes took 1-2 of the kiddos with them for an hour or so!

There was a lot of road between here and there but we did it in 10 hours with 4 kids so we felt pretty awesome!

We stopped for long play times and food.  This is the key to success!

 Finally we arrived Sunday Evening after a long but relatively good day of travel.
The next morning at the time share we were up bright and early and headed down to the park!

 How do you like Isaac's sticker sleeves?

Then on day three of our vacation the older two boys went sailing with Grandma and Grandpa!
Here they are waiting for the boat to board.

Meanwhile, Isaac and Owen and I ate pudding and took naps and hung out at the condo!

 Yes, we brought this travel swing and it was AWESOME!...

 Later we went down into South Lake Tahoe and got some candied apples and pretended to be the local wildlife.

 Oh my goodness does it get much cuter than this bunch?

Day 4 we went to Virginia City and saw a wild west gun show. (the boys loved that)

 
While we were there we went to "The Way It Was Museum"  and got to see how Virginia City had been long ago! (pretty much looks the same)

We rode some horses...

We got locked up!

 We even got a little crazy!

 Day 5 we went on a hike.  I took the 3 older boys on a hike behind our condo and got to see a little view of the lake from way on top of the ridge!  These boys are awesome hikers.

 There it is, our view!

 Later that night I got to drive over to Reno and pick up Bryan, YAY!

So, on Day 6 We went on a hike down to Vikingsholm Castle.  It is a two mile hike...One mile down and one mile up...This was a tough hike for some of our crew surprisingly not the ones you would think...

We played on the beach while we were down there.

How to hike with a bag and baby!

the view from the top of the trail!

Day 7 we went down to the shore of Lake Tahoe and played on the beach all day!

There was also some snoozing involved!

 That night Grandpa read books!  Look how strangely coordinating they are!

 Finally on our last day we played a little bit of horseshoes...(that's a nice shot)

Then we headed to the North Shore to do some more beach time and check out the sites on the other side of the lake.

Little Owen hanging with Grandma and Grandpa!

Kevin is our allstar traveler.  He takes care of the baby like a pro.  He keeps him fed and keeps his binky in and keeps him entertained...He is just so awesome!

Special treats at the next stop if your name remains up!  Yes this is how we bribe our kids on long car trips.   If they behave in the car their name stays up and they can get a treat at our next big stop...(this is usually ice cream)

Luckily we got to have the company of Daddy on our way home so I got to relax in the passenger seat.  We have some great road warriors!  We are going to be able to go far.....in our car!!

Christmas Day 2012!

This year Christmas was so much fun. Can I just say this Mama loves entertaining and this year we got to host Christmas for almost 20 people!!  We had the privilege of having our Anaheim 1st Ward Missionaries over for the afternoon.  Also of course my family that was local came and Bryan's Mom and her friend Ginger came along with our good friend, Ziggy!  Aside from all of that this was Owen's first Christmas and he was super into eating the wrapping paper!

 

 

We did stockings first and this year, Santa brought the boys a bottle of soda, they were over the moon!

 

In the stockings the boys found hexbugs!  they were fun to play with on the plates at breakfast because they just went in circles.

I made Isaac a Pillow for his bed to replace the Christmas pillows he had taken and used all year this year.

It wouldn't be a "boy Christmas" without some superheros!

This year Kevin and Adam used their own money to buy gifts for each of their brothers they were so excited to give their gifts.  I loved it!

 
Kevin received Bakugan Balls from Grandma and Grandpa, he had been asking for these for months! (no he doesn't play the game, just wanted the balls)

Check out this get up!

Owen opening a gift with mommy!

so many things to play with!

Then  there was dinner!  We have a big table but not enough for 18 so we opted for a kid table this year and it worked out perfectly.

Our Missionaries..from left to right:  Elder Cruz (Rhode Island) , Sister Thompson (New York), Sister Punaa (Tahiti), Elder Park (South Korea)

My lovely sister and the me...Note to self,  do something with your hair...hhhmmmm

cuties for sure!

more cuties

 

 Finally it was time for dessert, my favorite! I do love that part of all holidays!

 

Uncle Geoff brought a crazy dancing hat, it was a big hit!

Owen had a fun filled day and was still happy at the end, amazing!

Ready for bed but playing games with Uncle Geoff!

Merry Christmas!  I can't wait to do it again next year...there is nothing better than Christmas with good friends and family!