Wednesday, August 27, 2014

We Just Had to Get Away

We got away to Tahoe for a night after a pretty long week and weekend for a lot of different reasons.  It was just what we needed to start our week off on the right foot and have our girls have both parents around for an entire 48 hours :).
 
We took some long walks, had some picnic lunches and dinners, played in the sand (and had sunscreen drip into both of our daughter's eyes making for unhappy little ones), and relaxed in the comfort of the family cabin. Lucy even slept well! Awesome.
 

 
Can you tell which daughter is the one who goes by the rules?
 
 
 








 
 
 
 




 
Just what we needed :).
 

Second Times a Charm ~ Twin Lakes '14

It's been over a month now since this trip, but here it is...our second camping trip as a family of four!!  And this go around was a LOT smoother than last year's and a lot of fun with family :).  This year we had the chance to go camping with my parents as well as Jon, Krystal and Norah!!  It was so fun to have the cousins together.
 
As we were going out the door, car packed to the brim with our "house," kids buckled in, the car just didn't start.  Dead battery :(.  So, one extra trip to buy a new battery and take it back to install it, but we were on our way in no time.  Crisis averted.
 
The drive was fairly smooth as Lucy actually slept in the car and Aubrey listened to books on CD and enjoyed her new Target $5 headphones.
 

We got to our campsite and got settled in and made our first trek out to the lake nearby.  Because of the drought this year the lake was really low compared to previous years.  Still beautiful nonetheless :).




Aubrey really liked swinging and relaxing in Jon's hammock throughout the week.



Norah did as well :).



If you know our family we eat very well when we're camping.  Of course we try to work some of it off with hikes, bike rides, and walks but we splurge on foods we rarely get at home.  We tried out something new one morning and made cinnamon rolls in hollowed out orange peels.  It took a little longer to bake up, but it was a winner!
 
 





 
We loved having Norah around to help keep our girls entertained as well keep us smiling with her personality :).
 

It was a lost cause on trying to keep Lucy clean....



...and keeping her from going in and out of our tent.


We did try and wash her down a little though :).
 
 
 


Lucy still didn't sleep very well at night, but you wouldn't know it by how much energy she had :).



The girls really liked going on bike rides cramped in the trailer together.  There was some minor squabbling about personal space :).

 
Being the wonderful, thoughtful grandpa that he is my dad bought some kites and took the girls out to fly them during the windy afternoons.
 


 
It took a little while to get the hang of it, but sure enough those kites were flying high and the girls had the biggest smiles on their faces.













Aubrey was fearless in the water this year compared to last year!




Most of our time was spent by the lake this year.  We helped the girls make castles and play in the sand, threw rocks, swam, and soaked up the sun.






These three little beach babes were too cute :).









 









Lucy, for some reason, has developed this weird habit of sticking objects and her fingers in her eyes!  Silly girl.
 



Since Norah's (her 2nd) and my mom's (her 60th!) birthdays were coming up in August, we surprised them both with a little birthday celebration at our campsite!!  Norah had a brownie cake.

My dad ordered a cake from a bakery in town for my mom.


Happy birthday Norah!!



It was definitely a surprise for my mom and it was so great to celebrate this special birthday.  Happy 60th mommy! (yup, we still call her mommy)





We really had a great time relaxing as much as we could on this trip and spending the time together.
 









Good bye Twin Lakes and good bye summer!  Until next year!