Ta to the Hoe

Ok, so the title sounds a little more explicit than the actually topic of this post.  No hoe (or ho, for that matter) involved in this blog post.  It's actually all about Lake Tahoe.  See how I did that??  Funny, huh?! No?  Oh, well!

My parents and my sister and her family live about 2 hours to Lake Tahoe so we went for a day trip.  We found this cool beach area called Camp Richardson in the middle of a National Forrest there.  Cool little area.  A teeny little "town" with  a beach, marina, cabins, general store, grill, and ice cream shop.  All we had to do was pay $7 for parking for a day (which we got back if we spent $7...right on) and we were set for loads of fun!  We first had lunch at the grill there that was located right on the beach.  Patio seating??  Of course!!!! And YES, we did(not) wait 2 hours before swimming  :)

My sweet little Audrey.  We built a little castle together.  She loved it!!!  Yes, Yes that is a sand castle...don't be rude!! ;)

Nora and her cousin, Mallory

Elise enjoyed the frigid cold water on the beach for all of 1 min.  Then it was nap time in the shade for the rest of the afternoon.

I love this picture for some reason.  I love how it shows 2 of my little girls playing in their own little world as Grandpa sits behind them and watches.

Nora and Hayden had the BEST time together!!  Shelley and I hope they continue to get along as they get older...Maybe even meeting up at EFY together in the future!!

Look at that Pretty Face.  We have all decided that sweet little Audrey is the devil in disguise.  She is so adorable yet completeely naughty.  But you really can't EVER be mad at her b/c she has that absolutely sweet angelic face!!

Ok, had to throw another one of this cutie in.  She was just being especially adorable that day!

Seriously, one of my most FAVORITE pictures EVER!  Nora just loves anything to do with the sun, water, and sand!!  I just feel like I caught a special moment with this picture. :)

 

Meet my Punk of a Nephew Ethan.  He is such a GREAT big cousin to my kids, but WOW!!!!  He is a TOTAL 13 year old "know it all" punk!  he thought he was too cool for a bathing suit at Lake Tahoe (Really?!) so Grandpa and I threw him in!!  He was totally cool about it, so I was impressed.

Seriously, look at those blue eyes!!!  LOVE them and this little baby girl!

We of course had to rent a paddle boat for some fun times.  It was a lot of fun...for about 10 whole  minutes.  Then my legs got a little tired.  Whew, those things are HARD work!  I was over it, but my kids weren't!

So thankful for the teenage cousins, they took the little ones out for the rest of the hour.  My sister and I joked how they actually came in useful for something....LOL! 

Looking back at the pictures, I am reminded of what a GREAT day it was.  We even ended it with some YUMMY ice cream!  PERFECT day! :)

We all decided that next year we are gonna rent a cabin for a couple days.  And Wade MUST come with us!  Never again will I travel for a  month without him!!

Disney Land...not to be confused with Disney World

On my way to visit my sister and parents into Sacramento I flew into LAX (btw, I saw NO celebs...bummer) and then spent a couple days with Zina, a high school friend whom I haven't seen in YEARS...like 9 to be exact!!!  She lives in Huntington Beach with her sweet little family!

One of the afternoon's we were there was a little dreary and too cold to go to the beach.  At about 10:00 am Zina says, "I have the BEST idea of what to do today, let's go to DISNEYLAND!!!"  The thought had never occured to me b/c I thought it would be WAY too much money to spend on something we hadn't planned to do.  Well, little did I know that they have season passes and can go when ever they want. They go for dinner and a ride or two on a date night...how cool is that?  Anyway, I happily forked over the cash to go b/c I knew the girls would LOVE it!  I should have recorded a video of us telling the kids we were going there.  It was just like the Disney commercials!

Anyway, we got there and immediately had take a snapshot at the front. Apparently, it's the total tourist thing to do.  We were tourists, so bring it!! :)

As we entered the park we headed straight to the Disney castle and look who we ran into:

So fun!!!

The girls and Zina's kids having a GRAND old time during lunch.

We we're asked if these two were twins... I could totally see it if they were.  Look at their eyes and their hair color...CRAZY, huh?  They got along fabulously!!!

We waited in line to seet he Disney Princess's. For a minute, I wished I had bought those autograph books from the gifts shops, but then I thought, "WHY, so they can immediately go home and loose it or tear it apart?"  You see that is what  my kids do. If your kids play nicely with things and take care of their toys, consider me JEALOUS!!  My girls just tear things up.  And just know that every baby doll or barbie is naked in my house!!

Nora loved Pocahontas!  She started to tell her all about the cartoon and then Pocahontas said, "then you know my story"

Audrey LOVED seeing Belle! She just couldn't take her eyes off her and rubbing her...LOL!  She pointed to her earrings and Belle said,"those are very special earrings, the beast gave them to me. "  I just love how these princess' stay in character.

And then there was Ariel!  Audrey was not interested in her at all and Nora wasn't very thrilled either.  Maybe if she had her Fin on it would have been more impressive.

Zina's daughter had to leave for a dance competition practice so It was just us and the rest of the kiddos.  We waited in a VERY long line to go on Micky's Roller Coaster in Toon Town.

Audrey and Nora were both big enough to ride it themselves. Isn't this so cute?

By that afternoon the kids were ALL sooooooo tired of walking and we just had the ONE double stroller so we improvised. 

After Zina was tired of holding Elise, we improvised again!  I know, bad parenting skills at their finest. Don't worry, this was mainly for giggles!!

Nora was so excited for Gianna to join us once again.  They were so cute with each other.  It was like the next generation of "Nicole and Zina"!  HA!

The whole gang watching the fireworks at Disnyland!!!  We pretty much closed the place down.  We even rode a couple rides after the fireworks.  If Iived around the corner from Disney, I would go for the fireworks and then ride some rides.  There were hardly ANY lines b/c more than half the people left once the show was over....AWESOME!

Zina and I!!!  So fun to have such a good friend for so long.  We always pick up right where we left off.  Also, friends from your youth are awesome b/c they just "get" you!!  LOVE it!!!

Yeah, we take lessons from the celebs in the tabloid mags. Look at us proppin' those legs out to look slimmer!! LOL!

Strikin' a pose with the gals!

And...I think we're done here!! :)

We really had a fabulous day, but if I had to choose, I think I would have to say that Disney World is better!!  Cali is cool and all, but you just can't beat Florida when it comes to sdany white beaches and Disny World AND Universal Studios!! :) And that's all I have to say about that! :)

Half Birthday

Elise had her 1/2 birthday this past week.  SIX whole months, can you believe it?  It's so true what they say, "time goes by faster the more children you have". I think "THEY" have said that.  Or maybe I said it. And who is "THEY" anyway and why do they know so much.  And are "THEY" really always right?? 

Anyway, I took these pics Sunday at my sisters house in Califonia.  I'm a little limited with my editing b/c all my editing "tricks" are on my mac desktop at home.  But thanks to Pioneer Woman and some other photogs, I downloaded some free stuff for photoshop on my laptop.  :)  I think they turned out pretty good!

I just can't get over those blue eyes.  I mean, they are REALLY blue.  My sister said both her boys had blue eyes until they were about 4 or 5 and then they turned to green.  So we'll see.  I finally discovered that there are blue eyes in my family.  So I do have a recessive jean, oops I meant gene, couldn't help but leave that typo in...hilarious!  Anyway, Wade has some siblings with blue eyes.  So we just might have made ourselves a blue eyed daughter.  Craziness, I would have NEVER in a million years thought I would have a blue eyed child.  But again, time will only tell for sure. ;)

This picture just makes me smile!  My wonderful sister in law, Evelyn, said she looked like a baby zombie.  After looking at it, I think I'd have to agree.  But in a REALLY cute way.  I mean DANG cute! 

 I don't know why, but I just love this picture!  This is how she sits most of the time.  Sometimes she pushes herself forward and onto her tummy.  She's been trying HARD to crawl latley, but not there just yet.

Growing Feet

Eyelashes.  All my girls have the longest eyelashes.  LOVE them!  They get them from their Dad.  Mine (or "Mines" as Nora would say) aren't long at all.  And  I will forever fall victim to the mascara marketing schemes that claim their product will give you muti-length lashes or lashes that look like falsies.  Just bought some of the "Falsies" mascara today.  Anyone with me on that?

And last, but not least, a little smile for Momma!

I swear I am gonna take some pictures of all my girls soon.  I'm hoping to take some while I'm here in Cali.  I'd like to get some cousins shots too!!  So stay tuned!