It was awesome to find out that we still really enjoy each other's company, still make each other laugh and are still deeply in love. It was a great opportunity to reconnect and strengthen our marriage. Oh yes, and to have conversations without being interrupted by kids.
Aboard the MS Dixie II for a sunset dinner cruise on beautiful Lake Tahoe.
We enjoyed some nice views of the lake while we were waiting to board the paddle wheeler.
The next day we did lots of hiking and enjoyed lots of beautiful scenery.
Putting my new camera tri-pod to good use!
The Emerald Bay area was gorgeous!! We were told it was a must by many people and they were right.
Overlooking Emerald Bay. The pictures of course just don't do it justice.
After driving over to Fallen Leaf lake to hike, we discovered a little marina and decided to rent a small aluminum boat for a picnic lunch on the lake instead. This place was breath-taking. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.
A view of Fallen Leaf lake and the mountain next to it.
One of many scenic overlooks around Lake Tahoe.
Putting my new camera tri-pod to good use!
The Emerald Bay area was gorgeous!! We were told it was a must by many people and they were right.
Overlooking Emerald Bay. The pictures of course just don't do it justice.We discovered while we were there that the Kokanee salmon were running the streams and spawning. You could stand right next to the creek and watch. They are so close that you could reach down and grab one if you wanted and they were everywhere. It was like a discovery channel special about salmon spawning right in front of you. Very cool.
A male and female pair doing their thing. This is the grand finale ending to their life. The bright coloring is actually a result of old age and decay. This creek is probably full of dead salmon right about now which actually provides nutrients for the eggs and babies that will hatch in the coming months.After driving over to Fallen Leaf lake to hike, we discovered a little marina and decided to rent a small aluminum boat for a picnic lunch on the lake instead. This place was breath-taking. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. A view of Fallen Leaf lake and the mountain next to it. One of many scenic overlooks around Lake Tahoe.After staying in a very nice cabin at Lake Tahoe for a couple of nights, we spent a day driving down to Yosemite National Park. There were some very hairy windy curvy mountain passes on that drive.
The classic tourist pic. You gotta do that.
The views of Yosemite. These mountains are massive.
El Capitan
We took a horseback ride through the Yosemite valley on our first day there. Another fun and memorable adventure.
Okay, so I took a muleback ride on Flipper who was just a little bit ornery. I had to brush up on my riding skills. It's been a while.
We stayed in the historic Wawona Hotel which was built in the late 1800's. They have kept everything as original as possible. It was very neat- like stepping back in time. Some former guests of the hotel include Teddy Roosevelt and William H Taft. Maybe we stayed in their room!
The giant sequoias were pretty amazing.
It's really hard to wrap your mind around just how big these things are and how long they have been around.
This was on our actual anniversary. A very strong cold front blew in and put a halt on our plans to check out some more hiking trails. Fittingly, this pic was taken on Glacier Point overlooking the valley. That's Half Dome behind us and there were itty bitty tiny little people on top of it that you could see through a telescope. I bet they weren't expecting this cold front when they hiked up there the day before. They had a day long hike ahead of them in this icy weather to get down. The view from Glacier Point was awesome but we were FREEZING! The guy who took our picture however was in short sleeves and shorts and didn't seem to be bothered by the cold- not sure where he was from.
So we were scheduled to drive out of the park through another mountain pass the next day but the roads were closed due to icy/snowy conditions, so we had to change our plans. Thinking that we don't get the oppurtunity to travel without kids very often, we thought we might ought to make the most of it. So we decided to drive all the way accross California to the west coast to see the Golden Gate bridge before turning around driving back accross California to Reno.
The famous drive on Hwy 1 along the Pacific coast line. Would love to have had some more time to spend here.
And the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty cool to get to see in person.
The classic tourist pic. You gotta do that. The views of Yosemite. These mountains are massive.El Capitan
We took a horseback ride through the Yosemite valley on our first day there. Another fun and memorable adventure.
Okay, so I took a muleback ride on Flipper who was just a little bit ornery. I had to brush up on my riding skills. It's been a while.
We stayed in the historic Wawona Hotel which was built in the late 1800's. They have kept everything as original as possible. It was very neat- like stepping back in time. Some former guests of the hotel include Teddy Roosevelt and William H Taft. Maybe we stayed in their room!
The giant sequoias were pretty amazing. It's really hard to wrap your mind around just how big these things are and how long they have been around. This was on our actual anniversary. A very strong cold front blew in and put a halt on our plans to check out some more hiking trails. Fittingly, this pic was taken on Glacier Point overlooking the valley. That's Half Dome behind us and there were itty bitty tiny little people on top of it that you could see through a telescope. I bet they weren't expecting this cold front when they hiked up there the day before. They had a day long hike ahead of them in this icy weather to get down. The view from Glacier Point was awesome but we were FREEZING! The guy who took our picture however was in short sleeves and shorts and didn't seem to be bothered by the cold- not sure where he was from.So we were scheduled to drive out of the park through another mountain pass the next day but the roads were closed due to icy/snowy conditions, so we had to change our plans. Thinking that we don't get the oppurtunity to travel without kids very often, we thought we might ought to make the most of it. So we decided to drive all the way accross California to the west coast to see the Golden Gate bridge before turning around driving back accross California to Reno.
The famous drive on Hwy 1 along the Pacific coast line. Would love to have had some more time to spend here. And the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty cool to get to see in person. Glad we made this unexpected little excursion to see the Golden Gate and the San Francisco Bay, but we made a mistake thinking that we could head down to the Wharf for a quick dinner before heading back out. The traffic, madness, and noise of the city was a bit of a rude ending to our beautiful, peaceful trip enjoying nature. Over an hour later, we were finally back on the Interstate headed out of SF- dinner did not happen. We just wanted to get out of there. It was ridiculous. The city is just not our thing!
We both agreed after our trip- we're good on San Francisco and we're good on pine trees!
After our yummy Thanksgiving meal with my whole family, the kids exchanged Christmas gifts early since we won't be seeing each other again at Christmas. Make silly faces for the camera! Maybe next year we'll try to get some better posed pics with the adults and kids.
The little pumpkin decorators at work.
Pumpkin guts- YUCK!
TJ happy and smiling for the camera with his hat sitting next to him.
Not so happy after dad insisted that the hat be worn. Alli mad at dad for making TJ upset. A good start to the night. Not to worry- it got much better.
My beautiful little ballerina. Much much better than the "scarecrow pumpkin" (think Spud from Bob the Builder if you have any idea who that is) that she originally wanted to be until mom convinced her otherwise. We already had the tutu after all.
Finally- a smile from Bob with the hat on!
Mommy loving on the little ballerina.
So we convinced TJ that people wouldn't give him candy unless he had the hat on and that seemed to work. It often came off between houses, but he would promptly put it on when it was time to knock and would sometimes hold it out to be filled with candy. It didn't fit perfectly so he felt like he had to hold it on with his hand the whole time.
I was so proud that I actually got Alli's hair into a bun. She has very difficult hair to work with. Very smooth with no texture for stayability and naturally falls to one side. It does not like to be pulled straight back. VERY much like her mommy's hair. I foresee many frustrated mornings in her future.
Waiting for Nana Pam- always our first stop of the trick-r-treating evening. And it usually comes with an extra surprise like a book! Thanks Nana Pam and Mr Harry Dean!
Both Alli and TJ just love when it's time for daddy to mow. They take turns riding with him or they follow him around on their Gator. Too bad we don't have to mow that much around here, but I guess it makes it that much more exciting when it does happen!
The funny thing is that the volume of his voice is actually much louder than most of the things that he complains about. Go figure! Dwaine says that he can remember not tolerating loudness as a child also (his older brother's rock music for example).