Lake Tahoe!

Matt's side of the family held their family reunion in Lake Tahoe this year. We were excited to spend time with family,  but seriously NOT excited for an 8 hour car ride.
Well, I wasn't anyway.
I'm not a good car traveller, and my kids have taken after me.

We did pretty well.

Mitch fell asleep for a little while.

Had some juice, watched movies, looked out the window and prayed that Lauren wouldn't throw up on the way there!
Her tummy was hurting pretty badly.

We made it, safe and sound and happy to be there.

The scenery was spectacular.

Lucky for us, we went straight to the pool.

Then we asked directions to the nearest Applebees restaurant.

We were sent the wrong direction, so after a mile one way, we had to

turn around and go back the other way.

The kids were NOT happy and we ended up with 3 kids in a double stroller.

Needless to say, the restaurant was less than a 1/2 mile away...just in the other direction.

So much for conceirges.

We were very happy to have full tummies

and laugh as we watched funniest home videos.
Mitchell LOVES balloons and like to hang on for dear
life.

Tyler, Jack and Maddie in front of the centerpiece.

On Friday, we decided to take a trip up the gondola to the pool at the top of Squaw Valley.

We had to stop for some scenic pictures on the way up.

Ryan wanted to be in on the fun and not just our photographer

On the gondola, up to the top of the mountain.

It was NOT for the "scaredy cats"

so breathtaking

I just couldn't leave any pictures out.

WOW!  It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

Doesn't that look incredible?

It was!

It was amazingly refreshing...even with snow at the top of the mountain

Mitch and I were partial to the hot tub, as usual

We didn't want to leave...

but all good things must come to an end...

heading back down the gondola

dad and the girls hit the carnival that night.

they paid $15 to ride the ferris wheel ONE time!

hey, that's what vacation is for, right?   *gulp*

                                                                  

this picture is so funny, because we walked to IHOP and after breakfast was over, Amy, Gregor and Tyler decided to take a cab back to the hotel. (mainly because bfast didn't sit so well with the crew.)

and there they are, driving away!

while Mitchell was sleeping, Matt, Amy and Gregor took the kids down to the lake

some hid under the blanket, like it was cold outside or something....

others swang on the swing, and only my crazy daughter would choose to swim in the the 60 degree water, fully clothed.

That afternoon, we headed out to our family reunion.  Matt's cousins rented a house on Lake Tahoe, where the reunion was held.

Mitchell loves puppies, so he spent the majority of his time, chasing this cute little pup.

There was a playset for the kids, and my girls spent the majority of their time on the monkey bars and flipping upside down.

Lauren learned to do the monkey bars all by herself this trip.

We are so proud of her!

Madeline and Kara were just happy to be together

The kids were given these really awesome lollipops that had a picture of Harveys (the hotel we stayed in) and Lake Tahoe printed on them.

Madeline sucked on hers so hard, she made her tounge bleed.

Who told Grandma Mitchells loves soda??? :-)

Don't ask me to name everyone, cause I can't, but there were a ton of people at the reunion!

One last family picture in Harveys, and we were headed home!

This is how we all felt at the start of our 8 hour trip home!

It felt like FOREVER away.

We had a great time on our vacation.

Lake Tahoe is beautiful and if it wasn't 8 hours away,

I would look forward to the next time we could get there!

In the meantime, I'll stick to my philosophy:

IF I CAN'T FLY, I DON'T NEED TO BE THERE!