Pacifica Millers: Lake Tahoe, Part One

At the beginning of August, we took a trip up to Lake Tahoe with our good friends. We rented a 3br/2ba condo in Incline Village and spent 5 glorious days there. The weather was a perfect 75-80 degrees the whole time we were there. The goal of our trip was to do a whole lot of nothing...even with 4 children.

Wednesday morning, we departed in the van with all four children. Equipped with snacks and dvd's, we set off at 9am. Smooth sailing right through to Auburn, where we stopped at In&Out Burger to pick up lunch. We took lunch to a nearby playground and sat on the grass under a tree to eat. The kids had a chance to run around and stretch their legs before we got back in the car for the rest of the drive. They did great and Alyssa slept almost the entire second half of the trip. The men were arriving on Thursday night after work.

We arrived at our condo around 3pm. It was a really nice complex and our condo (which seemed more like a townhouse) was really nice. Much nicer than we anticipated. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms with plenty of room for the kids to play. There was a small grass area in front of our unit and a swimming pool right across the parking lot.

Our first day was spent at the lake, which the kids quickly realized how cold it was. The girls didn't seem bothered too much as they were floating around, running and jumping in. Jimmy didn't get in much past his knees and Alyssa put her little toes in and headed right back to the sand.

Much of our trip was spent at the pool in our complex. After our experience at the lake, the kids decided they would much rather swim in the pool at our complex. Which was fine by us because they charge $12 per adult per day at the beaches in Incline Village. They were nice beaches, but that was a little much. So each morning after breakfast, all the little people scrambled around excitedly putting on their swimsuits and grabbing their gear.

Jimmy and Alyssa taking a break.

While Alyssa slept in the afternoons after lunch, the kids would relax. One afternoon Jimmy and I went on a little adventure walk around the complex. He was fascinated walking down the paths and through the trees. Finding pine cones, spotting dogs, picking up sticks and seeing squirrels. It was awesome spending some one on one time with him too.

Our evenings were spent relaxing, making dinner, watching movies, talking and reading. Once the kids were all in bed we had some time to play games like Cranium and Scattergories.

On two of the late afternoons, we packed up everyone in the car and went down to Kings Beach for some time on the playground at at the lake. Of course all 3 older kids ended up in the lake!

On our last evening, we went to Kings Beach again (no kids allowed in the lake this time!) for some time at the playground and dinner at Jason's. This is such a great restaurant. Seriously, the best clam chowder ever! Doug and I have been going to Jason's since before we were married and the food is always good. We had a great dinner! The kids enjoyed it (and were all behaved!) and so did we.

We went for a little stroll after dinner to soak in our last little bit of Lake Tahoe.

Trying for a nice group photo!

Our last morning was spent packing and getting ready to hit the road. Five days was definitely not long enough. It was a wonderful trip and we are looking forward to a winter version this season!