Back to Reality

All good things come to an end.

Time to leave Lake Tahoe behind us.

Time to head back home and back to the reality of life.

I am grateful for the memories just made.

If only it was a little bit warmer...

Ok, ok. I know I shouldn't complain, but it was kinda chilly when we went hiking today. Beautiful, but chilly. We decided to have lunch at the head of the hiking trail that we found today. It was a little chilly, but I thought that we would for sure warm up once we started hiking.

I love how every hiking trail I have ever been on is so different and each has it's own special beauty. The beginning of this one went through a meadow. Half of it was covered in wildflowers and there were little streams scattered here and there for us to jump over (which the kids loved!).

It was a perfect trail for kids that was fairly level and not very strenuous.

The second half of it went through the woods. We didn't go too far in the woods because of the misquitos. Lake Tahoe seems to have a lot of them.

When the girls started to whine I told them that I was on the lookout for fairies or for places that I thought that fairies might like to live...they loved that and joined right in....and the whining stopped for a little while.

It was just beautiful and I loved how the wooden parts of the trail winded through the meadow.

I am thankful for tender moments.

Flowers, Water, and Cool Weather

I know I know. I have a really hard time choosing just 1 picture to describe my day. So you will have to suffer through 4 of them.

So here is some of our adventures at Lake Tahoe. We just loafed around the house for a bit and then we decided to find some hiking trails after lunch. We didn't find any hiking trails, but we came across another little town on the edge of the lake (I can't remember what it was). It was really cute, but seemed super busy. We followed a little path down to the lake and found tons of Geese and wildflowers everywhere on the shore. It was so cool to see a field of 'wild' lupine.

So after hanging out there for a while we ambled on over to a little museum that we passed earlier. It had a lot of neat native american baskets and such in it and some really cool 'old' or maybe 'vintage' is a better word, but they had some pretty cool things in there. What can I say, I am a sucker for things of the past. I just love stuff like that.

I saw this sign in the museum and I thought that all those who are/were teachers may think this humorous....I know I did.

Well on our walk through this little town there was a dam (of course I don't remember the name of it), but Weston said that he saw a sign there that said that this lake is one of the CLEAREST in the world. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but that water was SO clear! It was pretty cool looking.

I am kind of tired today so I am finding that the journaling on this just isn't really flowing very well. Sorry about that.

Anyway, we made it to a state park that said it had hiking trails and a lot of historical buildings, but we ended up just hanging out on a dock that was there and then played on the beach.

We didn't bring swim suits. And the girls promised not to get wet. =)

The girls were playing on some big rocks that were on the edge of the shore and when I got back from taking Acadia to the bathroom they were WAY out in the water.

But, this didn't come as a surprise to me. This is just what happens when you mix kids and water and a dad who was busy reading a book together.

This picture was taken after they had walked in a bit. They were so wet and ended up riding in the car in just their skimpies.

I am so grateful for all of God's creations.

What did you do with my HUSBAND?!

So Weston has been surprising me for the past few months doing extra little 'nice' things for me. And today beat them all!

A few days ago he told me that for his day off it was his turn to decide what we were going to do. So I said ok.

On Monday I hear someone saying 'Time to get up! Time to go!' at 6:00AM.....SIX AM!!! So I shower and dress then wake the kids up and we all pile in the car.

We are driving and driving and driving....after about 4 hours of driving I ask him 'So where are we going today?' He just smiles and says 'I'm not telling.' =/

We took a pit stop and ,as you can see by this sign, we are out in the middle of nowhere in what looks like a desert. I don't know the area enough to know what may be worth seeing out here.

A few more hours pass and we stop for lunch. So I ask him again 'Where are we headed?' and I basically get the same response. It was just making me smile and wrack my brain for what may be out here. We drive into Navada and Ashlyn is going crazy with wanting to know how much longer (which he wouldn't tell us) and where we are going.....she seems to have to know everything about everything or else it makes her crazy. =)

The day drags on and we arrive in...what!? What did that sign just say? California?! So we start questioning him again. But he was so good at keeping the secret. To make a long story short, around dinner time we end up at Lake Tahoe!

He had packed all of our bags for us (only forgeting a couple of minor things) without us knowing and had toys to keep the kids entertained for the drive and buckets and such to play on the beaches at the lake! It was quite a surprise and so unlike my husband. And he took a few days off of work and doesn't have to be back until Friday. Wow is all I have to say.

I am grateful that I didn't meet any of those scorpions or snakes at that rest stop.