Stephens' Stories: Lake Tahoe 2015

We spent August 29-September 5 at Lake Tahoe!! It was a wonderful trip and we are thankful that MiMi and Big Deal have a condo there for us to escape to. We flew on Southwest on Saturday and had to make a stop in Phoenix to change planes. Austin enjoyed being plugged into headphones and watching Monsters Inc or Planes on the Kindle the whole time, over and over. Talk about tunnel vision. He also enjoyed all of the snacks he wanted. Anything goes on an airplane with kids, right? Too bad Campbell is never that entertained or interested in snacks....but he sure loves to walk the airplane aisles! He is not much for sitting still AT ALL. Oh well, at least there wasn't any turbulence so the time that the seat belt sign was on was the minimal. Campbell did not nap on the plane even after much trying to get him to fall asleep.

MiMi picked us up at the Reno airport and Campbell finally napped for about 40 minutes on the way to Incline Village, Nevada. We unpacked and set up all 4 of us in the master room - Austin on a pallet on the floor and Campbell in a pac n play. It actually worked out well and much better than last year considering Campbell doesn't wake up at night anymore and wake us all up. The boys even napped in the same room at the same time. The weather was PERFECT the whole week, with a little wind added in. The temperatures were in the low 70's for highs and low 40's for lows. My morning runs with Campbell were so refreshing (opposite of the Houston summer mornings which feel like a rainforest). David and Austin walked around the Hyatt property and threw rocks in the creek each morning while I ran with Campbell.

We played mini golf three times during the week - twice in Kings Beach which is about 15 minutes from the condo and once in South Lake Tahoe which is about 30-40 minutes away. We also went to the Northstar ski resort where they had some summer activities - the bungee jumping and a thing called the spider web (see picture below). Austin did both of these and had a blast! David tried the bungee jumping and climbed the spider web once with Austin and did NOT have a blast. Let's just say both were uncomfortable. Guess that's why they are made for kids.... Another thing we did this year was try a family hike. Since we didn't have a hiking backpack with us and we also wanted Austin to try hiking the whole way, we chose a hike that was flat around Spooner Lake. It was a two mile loop around the lake that was compatible for the BOB stroller. It was fun to get out and try something different. Austin kept asking "where are we going?" as we tried to explain that we are out to hike and look at God's creation with no real destination but following the trail back to our car. He struggled with that one but did make it most of the way with only a short break to ride on daddy's shoulders. I had hoped to try a gentle white water rafting trip with Austin and leave Campbell in MiMi's care but the river was too dry! Apparently the rafting season was very short this year due to not enough snow melt. Bummer! Maybe next time...

David and MiMi fit in their gambling during nap time each day or after the kids were in bed. We swam most afternoons in the heated pool or hot tubs. Campbell was not such a fan of the pool and the hot tub was too hot so I mostly walked around with him looking for bunnies in the bushes near the pool or visited the playground. We also visited the Incline Village beach twice where the boys got wet in the cold water in their clothes and also played on the playground. We watched a kite sailor in the strong wind - pretty cool! One night David and I even went out to eat alone at the Big Water Grille. It was excellent and we will definitely go back in future visits - a great view and good food. The smores ice cream dessert was delicious as was the fish and steak! We ate lunches and dinners out and we also cooked at home some. We discovered that Campbell is not at a good age to eat out after his behavior at Mofo's pizza place. He was not in the mood to eat and the straps on their high chairs were broken so he wanted down and wanted to run around the restaurant. That was no fun.... We hadn't eaten out with him all summer basically because we would just go to Lakeside and eat by the pool instead.

We returned back to hot and humid Houston on Saturday 9/5. Campbell did not nap the whole day of travel (had to change plans in Vegas) and then immediately fell asleep before we got out of the parking garage at Hobby at 10:30 Houston time. He was one tired little guy after walking the airplane aisles and running around the airports. It was a super trip once again and we can't wait until next time!! Thanks MiMi and Big Deal for such fun time in a beautiful place!