Lake Tahoe

This past weekend we went to Lake Tahoe for the first time. It is a 3.5 hour drive away, and a very popular weekend destination for people in San Francisco and the East Bay. Fall is considered off-season since it's too cold for the beach and lake activities, and there is no snow for skiing on the many hills. It was lovely to see some fall colours, smell the crisp air, and get an idea of what it is like before the snow and crowds arrive. We rented a little cabin-esque condo that was the perfect size for us, and looked out at a redwood forest.

We went for a walk behind the condo on Saturday afternoon and the kids had a great time with all the pine cones, sticks, leaves, and rocks.

I tried to get a decent timer shot, but they all turned out a bit blurry.

Daddy was woken from a snooze on the couch by this squishy little cheek smothering him with love!

On Sunday, we drove from the north end, where we were staying in a little village called Truckee, down the eastern edge of the lake (which is actually across the state line, in Nevada). At the southern end of the lake, we found a beach where we had lunch and the kids played in the frigid water for a while before we began the long drive back.

It would be fun to go back at least once in the winter - this is probably the closest we will live to snow for the next few years! Steve and I would love to use our x-country skis again, and it would be fun to introduce the kids to playing in the snow.

Big Sister, Little Brother

A few weeks ago we went for a little hike in Tennessee Valley, which brings you out onto a beautiful beach with big cliffs and interesting rock formations all around. It was really cute to watch M and R on this stretch of the hike (when they were both actually walking forward)...

M definitely loves to be a leader, and for now, Ross is happy to follow.

She also loves to mother him at times, and I often hear her telling him things I have told her.

He can only tolerate so much mothering from his big sis though, and then he starts to push her away...

Ross loved running with the waves, poking jellyfish with sticks, and digging in the sand.

Ross is still very attached to me; he doesn't like to see me leave, and often only wants me when he's just woken up.

 Madeleine, on the other hand, is becoming quite independent.

 She loves her new lego set.

But most of all, she loves her Daddy, and the time she gets to spend with him in the garage. She sits on the workbench and they do little projects together. This past weekend, they were learning about batteries and he showed her how to use a multimeter. Steve also set up a string of coloured lamps that she could turn on one-by-one by touching a wire to them. She loved it, and immediately made up a story about which one was the mommy light, the daddy light, the big sister light, and the baby brother light.

Alberta and B.C.

The kids and I just returned from another two weeks away. This time, we spent four days in Calgary with my two wonderful friends Ashley and Natalie, and their kiddos (we each have two now), and then the rest of the time with my parents in Abbotsford.  Ashley, Natalie and I studied nursing together and then all had our first babies within months of each other. We hadn't met up in over two years, and since Ashley is in the process of moving from Vancouver to Philadelphia, we figured this might be one of our few chances to all be relatively close. It was so nice to have that time together - even if six kids ranging from 9 weeks to 3.5 years did make it chaotic at times - it was fun to see the kids play together, and to have the evenings to just sit and chat (plus or minus a baby or two).

In Abbotsford, the kids felt completely at home and loved playing with all our childhood toys. I got to spend two days in Bellingham visiting with my Grandpa, who is 92 and still living on his own in an assisted living apartment. Here is Madeleine playing dress-up with some of our old handmade costumes.

We also enjoyed genuine autumn weather, and got to wear sweaters (matching ones that were knit for my sister and me as kids), enjoy fires in the fireplace, visit a local apple orchard, and even splash in rain puddles. The kids hadn't seen a rain puddle since we left New Zealand - it was definitely a highlight!

Here is Ross eating one of the little apples from the orchard...

Every day, Grandpa would go outside for a few hours to work on the fence that he and a neighbour are building together. The kids often sat on the front steps to watch, anxiously waiting for him to finish so he could come home and play.

I don't think my Mom's living room usually looks like this...

My mom, Madeleine and I went out for lunch one day during Ross' nap time.

We are home now, and happy to be back with Steve/Daddy. Unfortunately, we arrived just in time for a major heat wave, and I am desperately missing the autumn weather and rain puddles. My friends here assure me that "normally" it does get cool and rain in the winters.