Lake Tahoe

The second week of July has got to be one of our most favorite weeks of the whole year.  That's the week we spend in Lake Tahoe with the Daines extended family.  It means hours and hours of cousins, aunts and uncles.  Hours and hours at Meeks Bay.  Tahoe means hours in the water (either the pool or the lake), hours spent on the dock crawdad fishing.  Tahoe means making sure I bring a good book but then sitting with that book on my lap not opening up a single page to read because I'm having to much fun visiting with my sisters.  Tahoe means Bret taking each of the kids to do their own Tahoe adventure with him. Tahoe means chick lunch and favorite things.  Tahoe is nightly family gatherings for dinner, family home evening, polar bear plunge and adult family night.

Simply put, Lake Tahoe is my happy place.

This year I didn't wimp out and joined my family in the polar plunge.  It was Gavin's first year too.  And while it was scary for him to do it and lots of tears were involved, man that boy was pleased as punch with his accomplishment when it was all over!

Chick Lunch at Sunnyside

Meeks Bay is one of those places where we pack up and go in the late morning and stay all day until around 5:00 or later.  With my brother unable to come this year (and therefore his boat) we spent four days at Meeks.  But the place never gets old.  I could spend all day every day there for weeks on end.

Feet in the icy water for the first time...not the biggest fan.

Building a gigantic sand castle with Paul and Marcus

I love these boys...and so grateful Zachary has such wonderful cousins his age.

Zachary, Josh, Brendan, Scott and Will.

Zachary loved this raft and was in it any chance he got paddling himself around Meeks Bay.

Gavin loved being buried with sand, but not the cleaning off part in the cold water.

Grandpa got his yearly float in.

And then started a little water fight when he came back in...

Unsuspecting that Bret would come along and douse him with a bucket full of water.

Good thing he was such a good sport about it.

If Zachary was not out in the paddle boat he was usually at the rock.

Zachary and Brendan