8/25/09
We don’t get to hang out much with Brad and Rachel and fam, so when they invited us come to Tahoe for the weekend, of course we had to go. We headed up Friday after work to meet them at Taylor’s cabin. It was a great start to the weekend because after putting kids to bed Rach and I hopped in the hot tub to relax! A little bit later their other friends the Suttons’ arrived as well. The next morning when the adults finally started to surface, Brad gave us the run down for the day. – I love it when someone else does the planning and all I have to do is go along for the ride! (Thanks Brad!) First on the agenda was a boat ride over to the beach by ___?___ Trail. So we piled 11 kids and 6 adults in the Cobalt and we were off. It was quite a site to see 9 kids sitting in the bow of the boat, waving and EVERYONE who went bye.
When we got to the beach we hung out and ate lunch then we hiked up along side of the cliff where Brad showed the kids a little cave that they could squeeze through. It was funny standing on one side of the rock because you couldn’t see where the kids went in, all you saw was kids coming out of a small crack in the rock. And it seemed like they just kept coming and coming. It reminded us of a clown car. They even got Colby to try going through. After the hike we hung out on the beach a little longer just relaxing while the kids played on the rocks, with the rocks and in the water. It was really rocky at the edge of the water so the kids were a little timid about playing in the water, until Brad told them there was the softest sand ever just out past the rocks. Then it was a challenge to see who could get the softest sand. It was great… it kept the kids busy for a while so we could all relax.
After that we hopped back in the boat and headed over to Emerald Bay. We cruised around the little island and saw the neat stone house of the lady who used to own all of Emerald Bay. Brad told us they story about how the lady built a little play house on the top of the little island for her daughter. Of course that got our curiosity going so the boat dropped off a few of us off, and we hiked up to the top to see the little play house. There were some sketchy rocks so I ended up carrying Colby all the way up to the top. … that was fun, not. So at the top it was basically a little old stone house. There is no longer any roof or windows, but it still was pretty cool.
Next we headed over to the beach where Beacon’s grill is for dinner. We planned on eating on the deck that was on the beach while we watched the kids play. While we waited the kids had a blast playing in the water and digging in the sand. It was really cute watching Hailey and Luke (the Sutton’s 6 year old). They got along really well and seemed to have a lot of fun playing with each other. What ever we did they were always wanting to be in the same group or by each other. Alicia and I think they might have a little crush on each other. – I’m not sure I am ready for this!
After a little while the kids started to get hungry so we started feeding them the left over snacks and food from lunch. Brad grabbed a bag of grapes and started feeding the “animals”. After that the kids were obsessed with trying to catch food in their mouths. Much to our dismay after about an hour and a half we realized that we weren’t going to get a table on the deck and we knew it would just be to much to take all 11 kids inside to eat, so we decided to head home.
After a little while the kids started to get hungry so we started feeding them the left over snacks and food from lunch. Brad grabbed a bag of grapes and started feeding the “animals”. After that the kids were obsessed with trying to catch food in their mouths. Much to our dismay after about an hour and a half we realized that we weren’t going to get a table on the deck and we knew it would just be to much to take all 11 kids inside to eat, so we decided to head home.
As luck would have it, when we were loading up the boat we realized there was a great little restaurant next to the patch of grass where the kids were already playing. The “Fresh Ketch” was close and the kids could keep playing while the adults ate. It was perfect. Almost everyone ordered the special - the blackened fish tacos - and they all loved them. I even tried just a plain piece of blackened mahi mahi! Yes… I ate fish and I liked it!! Watch out folks I am turning over a new leaf. It was a nice casual relaxed dinner other than the occasional screaming from the car where Olivia (Sutton), Sammie Lou and Colby were trying to watch a movie. All the drama for the weekend came from those three.
As luck would have it, when we were loading up the boat we realized there was a great little restaurant next to the patch of grass where the kids were already playing. The “Fresh Ketch” was close and the kids could keep playing while the adults ate. It was perfect. Almost everyone ordered the special - the blackened fish tacos - and they all loved them. I even tried just a plain piece of blackened mahi mahi! Yes… I ate fish and I liked it!! Watch out folks I am turning over a new leaf. It was a nice casual relaxed dinner other than the occasional screaming from the car where Olivia (Sutton), Sammie Lou and Colby were trying to watch a movie. All the drama for the weekend came from those three.
After that we headed back to the cabin where the kids played in the hot tub for a while and then headed to bed. Then the adults got their chance to relax it the hot tub. We pretty well hung out and visited until we were to hot and tired.
Last but not least Sun. morning we started packing up and got ready for one last activity, an off-roading trek. So once again we packed up some lunches and headed off road in the Edgren’s Land Cruiser and our Expedition. It was pretty rough and sketchy in some parts, but for the most part we did ok until our back tire hit some sand and before we knew it we were stuck.
So the Moms and kids got out and hiked up the hill a little more to eat lunch while the guys headed back to get a tow strap. It was fun watching the kids pal around together. Jade and Coleman seemed to be inseparable. They have been great friends playing together ever since they were little. Hailey, Luke and Drew seemed pretty pally as well.
After eating and hiking around with the kids the guys came back and thankfully successfully pulled our car out. We finished up with eating and sending the guys on a hike with the kids. We even got to see some crazy trucks off-roading. They were literally climbing rocks. The kids got a real kick out of watching them. Then we had a fun crazy drive back down the hill. I was holding on to the “oshi” bar for dear life and the kids were in the back laughing and squealing with excitement. I think they enjoyed it! (ha/ha)
Unfortunately as all things do, our trip had to come to an end. We all had a great time hanging out with the Edgrens’ and Suttons. Our kids especially enjoyed playing with their “cousins” aka Edgren’s kids and their friends the Suttons’. I have to admit all things considered all the kids got along and played together very well! Thank you so much to Brad and Rachel for inviting us. Hope that we have an opportunity to do it again!
