Lake Tahoe

Vacation has officially started ~ relaxing outdoors with the BBQ going and a cold beer!

Tegan LOVES to hike with daddy!

The Smith clan on a hiking adventure

LOVE this photo!!
Hailee with her FIRST catch and yes we ate it (she LOVED it!)

This girl loves to fish!

Mommy hiking with Faith on piggy back. Going back into California from Nevada!

Mommy and the girls on the top of Heavenly mountain (Washoe valley in the background - BEAUTIFUL!)
Daddy and Mommy with the 2 big girls on the top of Heavenly . . . amazing views of the lake.

Aaron with the lake. A slice of Heaven.

Love birds on another hike!

Faith with her puffy head (they are GIANT in Tahoe!)

Hailee, Daddy and Tegan at the underwater trout creek adventure.

Hailee sunbathing (like the girl needs it - she's already black!)

Faith and Daddy taking in the views.

Faith in the gondola on the way back down the mountain

View of Emerald Bay

Chandra's FAVORITE flower - Shasta Daisy - they were in abundance everywhere!

Mommy and her 2 big girls at the historic Tallac

Daddy with Tegan counting how old the tree is . . . .

WOW! Where to begin . . . we had the most amazing vacation ever! We arrived in Tahoe on Saturday afternoon. After getting setteled in at our cabin Aaron made the most amazing BBQ steak dinner. After the girls went to bed we hopped in the spa and enjoyed a glass of wine and the beautiful evening. On Sunday we walked around town and hung out at the cabin. Monday we started the day off with a hike. After Tegan went down for a nap Aaron and I took the big girls up the gondola at Heavenly (Tegan and Mimi stayed at the cabin). Once to the top of the mountain there are TONS of really great hiking trails so we went on another hike, this time to Nevada and saw some amazing views. Tuesday we decided to hang out at the beach for most of the day. There was rain in the forecast but we were on vacation and we were not going to let a few rain drops spoil it. The weather held for us and it actually turned out great because the clouds provided some shade from the hot Tahoe sun. After nap time we went to a Trout farm to let Hailee try her hand at fishing. The girl LOVES it! She caught her first fish and was so excited. I wanted to shield her from Aaron killing the fish but she just said, matter of factly "mommy, daddy has to kill it for us to eat it!". She insisted on watching him and thought the whole process was "cool". Not quite sure what to make of that. LOL . . guess she is just our little out doors girl. We ended up with 3 fish and grilled them up for dinner. They were delicious and both Hailee and Faith loved it which was surprising to me.

Wednesday we rented bikes and went on a 4 mile bike ride through Camp Richardson. We stopped along the way and went on a little walk to this very cool under water adventure whre you can see the trout in their habitat. I unfortunatley didn't take any pictures of the bike ride but Hailee was on a tandem bike with Aaron, Tegan was in a trailer behind me and Faith was in a trailer behind Mimi. We've decided to buy the family a full bike setup so we can go on more bike rides - it was SOOO much fun!! We stopped in town and had a picnic lunch before heading back to the cabin. Wednesday night was the first of THREE date nights for Aaron and I. Three nights in a row we went out and it was so nice to have some romantic alone time.

Thursday we went on yet another hike in the morning to collect pine cones. When Tegan went down for a nap I took Hailee and Faith into town to shop for some souvineers. After nap time we drove out to historic Tallac to walk through the amazing historic homes that are on display. HUGE homes right on the beach that have been around since the early 1900's.

Friday was our last day in Tahoe and we drove up to the Emerald Bay vista point and had a picnic. After our picnic lunch we packed up and headed home. It was such an amazing vacation and we made LOTS of great memories!!