Tahoe Vacation Day 5

Thursday was our last day. Rick and I spent the morning cleaning up and loading the truck. The kids clung to their last few hours of the Disney channel. On the way home we stopped in Pollock Pines at Los Hermanos, my favorite Mexican food restaurant in Northern California. It was a great ending to our vacation. Once home we unloaded in the heat of the day and started up the clothes washers.

Tahoe Vacation Day 4

Wednesday - Day 4 at Lake Tahoe found us sleeping in and enjoying a lazy morning around the cabin. Since we don't have cable with exciting channels at home the kids took advantage of the cable at the cabin. They loved vegging out and watching all the Disney channel shows they could stand.

After making hot dogs for lunch, we headed to Pope beach for some fun in the sand and waves. This is a State run beach ($5 parking). It has bathrooms, bbq's, picnic tables, and shallow water for splashing in. The waves from the far off speed boats were fun to play in. Rick lounged on the beach while I jumped in the cold Tahoe water with the kids. It really was fun. I decided to build a sandcastle fort then ended up creating a sand sculpture (of sorts) of a sea turtle (with help from Katie). Ken was off in his own world creating interesting sand art using pinecone pieces and rocks.


We packed up at Pope Beach and headed over to Richardson Beach (not far) to rent a paddle boat. It wasn't as exciting as we'd hoped and was, frankly, a lot of work to paddle us around the roped of area.

It was the kids' night to decide where to go out to dinner - they chose IHOP (ah to be a kid again) - so that's what we had for dinner - it's legal cause we're on vacation!
























Once back at the cabin Rick and I began to pack things up, while the kids enjoyed one last dip in the spa.

Tahoe Vacation Day 3

Tuesday was a fun-filled day starting with an hour-long horseback ride through the forest and meadows around Lake Tahoe. We went through the Camp Richardson Coral to get the horses. I thought we'd have other tourists on our ride, but it was only our family and the guide. Rick and I were at the end of the line and therefore covered in dust by the end of the trip. Katie and Kenny were nervous, but easily put the ride at the top of their list of favorite memories of our trip.

Katie's horse was named Pokey.

Can you say "Wide Load"?


Kenny's horse was named Marvyn.

After our ride we headed back to the cabin for lunch and to gather our beach gear. Before hitting the lake's shore we visited the Tallac Historic Park. The park is a standing as a testimonial to the wealthy of the 20th century. The estates on on the Tahoe shore and are elaborate (for their time) log homes that were summer get-aways for the upper crust. The grounds had some pretty flower gardens. Rick took some pictures then handed the SLR camera over to Katie (to begin her education in photography). Here are some pictures she took: Can you see the bear?


From the historic site we made a short jaunt to another parking lot and headed to Kiva Beach.
It was late in the afternoon, but the kids made the best of it digging in the rough sand and wading in the shallow *cold* lake water. I lounged on the beach and Rick took out his stunt kite and gave it a spin (it was certainly windy enough).

We headed home for a spaghetti dinner, back out for HUGE scoops of ice cream at Camp Richardson & back to the cabin again for soak in the spa & a good night's sleep. Ahhh the good life.

Tahoe Vacation Day 2

The owners of the cabin had left a great notebook describing fun things to do. Monday we attempted to go to the Angora Lakes for a hike and rewarding swim. The drive was really interesting as we got to see the devastation of the Angora fire and how the firefighters were able to stop the fire at the ridge, preserving the forest near Fallen Leaf Lake. Once we made it to the parking lot for the Angora hike we found it to be full. After idling in the truck for 10 minutes we decided to change our plans. Plan B found us driving back down the ridge, along the shoreline of Fallen Leaf Lake (just gorgeous) and to another (Glen Alpine) trail head near Lily Lake (which is really more like Lily pond). We found a shore side place to sit and eat our lunch (the kids were starving by then - it was a late lunch), then headed up the trail about 1/2 a mile. We could hear our goal - Modjeska Falls, but had to hunt around for the best way to get down to it. Kenny complained the whole way up the path but turned into Nature-Boy once his toes hit the chilly mountain water. We climbed and sampled the the pools below the waterfall, while Rick had fun playing with the timing and focus on our SLR camera taking many photos of the falls (and us).

Then, Rick talked to another hiker and learned you could climb up the side of the waterfall and swim in a huge swimming hole. Katie and I let Ken and Rick do the climb first (as a mom it was hard to let Ken attempt this 3o foot ascent with nothing to cushion a fall - but I knew it was something he'd be proud of accomplishing - as it was really cool). [check out the picture took looking downward from atop the falls] Katie and I finally got brave enough to make the climb (after seeing a 60 year old couple make it just fine) at around 5pm. Once up top we felt triumphant. The shadows of the falling sun made it hard to see the bottom of the pool, so only Rick was brave enough to get in and swim across (kneeing a few rocks along the way). We'd like to go back sometime in the heat of the day and really jump of the rocks into the deeper end of the hole. I was really surprised how easy getting down the waterfall wall was. There were so many nooks and crannies to choose from, any route down was the perfect one to take (while sitting on one's behind and sliding from elevation to elevation).

Once back to the cabin we BBQ'd up some chicken, potatoes and salad and ate on the back deck. We all enjoyed a dip in the spa, the Disney Channel (we don't get this at home) and slept well (all in one room).

Tahoe Vacation Day 1

Our 5 day vacation at Lake Tahoe was fabulous.
Sunday we arrived at our cabin rental and found it to be comfortable and in a great location for all the activities we had in mind. The weather was a gorgeous 77 degrees, but the air was smokey - the Yosemite fire was sharing its smoke with us.

After we settled in we went for a 5 miles (round trip) bike ride to popular (& touristy) Camp Richardson to dip our toes in the lake. The bike trail led us through forests, meadows, campgrounds and gnats (mmmm - can you say dinner appetizer?). On the way back to the cabin we spotted a bear just moseying down the street. It was a big black bear who could've cared less that we were watching him/her. Then we headed to Chevy's (near the casinos) for dinner.

Kenny got kinda freaked-out about seeing the bear, which wasn't evident until bedtime. Ken made me take the photo of a bear off the wall of our bedroom. Additionally, Rick had to tell Kenny that bears couldn't climb stairs just to get him to calm down and fall asleep --- it worked (and the bike ride earlier helped too).

Holy Schmoly!!! I checked the Edjoin website today, Buckeye School District is now accepting applications to create a second eligibility pool for the 2008-2009 school year. The whole timing of it all has me in goosebumps. How interesting it is that the job posting waited to come out today so I could concentrate on my family and Nana prior to this.
I am certainly going to put my application in and am busy whipping all the pieces up and tweaking and updating it all. The deadline is Tuesday and since I'll be in Tahoe figure I have to get the thing into the District office today!!! So... that's what I'll be doing today.
Think good thoughts for me.
Trina

Polly Mae Mahan
October 1929 ~ July 2008

My sweet Nana passed away this morning. I am doing ok with it, but am so sad. Nana thought the world of me & I thought the world of her. We used to sing, "You are my Sunshine" to each other... I am humming it now with tears in my eyes.

Everyone should have someone in their lives that believes they are capable of only wonderful things. In Nana's eyes, I, her only granddaughter, could do no wrong. It was so comforting to know she always saw the best in me - and now - I am sad cause I'll never see those sparkling blue eyes again.

gaining independence

We are back in smokey Cameron Park after a long July 4th weekend at the Ghidossi cabin on the Russian River.

ODD FELLOWS RUSSIAN RIVER PARK, located two miles east of Guerneville on the south side of the Russian River in Sonoma County. There are 1,100 cabin sites including rental units and 35 family camping spaces. The 317 acres has road and street names with a connection to Odd Fellowship like Wildey, Colfax, Saratoga, etc. While many of the cabins and homes are located on the slopes and hills in the park, the flat land is utilized for the recreation area, camp grounds, rental units, store, teen club, clubhouse, outdoor theater, picnic area, playgrounds and barbecue area. The beach area, 350 feet frontage, is the finest to be found on the Russian River.

The whole family had a fabulous time hanging out with people we love, relaxing and putting daily stresses aside for a few days (the kids didn't even fight -except for on the trip home).
The highlight of the trip for me was watching Kenny set out up (and down) the river on a kayak - by himself [video at bottom of this post]. This just wasn't a one time occurrence; once Kenny felt the power (and solitude) of being in charge of his fate on the (slow moving) river, we couldn't keep him off the kayak. Hence, we nicknamed him Captain Kayak. In the mornings he would state, "I'm not going on the kayak today. (due to sore tummy muscles)" Only to later eat his words, and put in another long day pulling himself up and down the river (dodging swimmers, large canoes, large rocks hiding just under the surface of the water).
I suspect the fact that Kenny has been to this location on the river for seven years (July 2002 was our first visit) and has become a strong swimmer had a lot to do with his confidence level -- His independence was a true joy to see, as Kenny typically is a worry-wart and doesn't try new things hastily. It's just a little glimpse to the fact that one day he will be on his own (in his own metaphorical kayak) and controlling his own destiny (sigh - bittersweet).

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Other highlights: We left the typical OFRC roped beach area and headed up river a little bit to find a soft sandbar. We put in our beach chairs and sat in the water enjoying the "show" (canoers coming down the river and dumping over -- if we'd only had some Olympic-style number signs it'd have been perfect). Waching the Ghidossi family skim board along the shore, Katie making a cool sandfort (with help from her friends) on the hillside next to the river), nightly ice cream at the river store, getting to sleep in the private bedroom at the cabin instead of the loft), family dance, Piggy park, bike rides and long walks, and, of course, the annual OFRC Independence Parade.
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So now we are home and laying-low. The smoke from all the fires has polluted the air so badly we cannot go outside to play, swim nor garden. The a/c is on and the shades are down --- a fairly typical summer in Cameron Park.
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back to reality & feeling good about myself

I think I've finally recuperated from my mommies-only getaway this past weekend. Even though we were missing one of our "partners in crime" we really had a fabulous time. Skipping away with my dear girlfriends to a beautiful location (Capitola, Ca) without the responsibilities of parethood nor wifedom was the best prescription for a better me. We shopped, chatted, drank alcohol, took in the sites, ate yummy food, walked, talked, laughed, visited, stayed up late, snacked, joked, ate, ate, talked and laughed some more.

Even though I missed my kids and hubby bunches, it was lovely to truly get away from the daily grind of life and relax a little. It was hard to get back into the groove of being home (except my bed felt fabulous to sleep in); but now I am back to reality and feeling good about myself and where I am at in my life right now(and looking forward to the next time we can hang out together - if even for only a scrapbook night).