Happy Campers

Believe it or not, I'm a happy camper. I may be girly and I do hate bugs, but I love camping. So, when the parental unit announced we were heading to South Lake Tahoe for five whole days of nature-centered activities I was ecstatic. I love any chance to break out my latest camping investment: my down mummy bag. We loaded up the Tahoe and hitched our boat up and made the 3 and a half hour drive to the woods.

Our campsite: #344

We aren't your typical campers. We go to a campground located right off highway 50.

We went to McDonald's every night for dessert (ice cream sundaes). My family isn't big on s'mores. The campgrounds are complete with a pool, tennis courts and community tent that hosts karaoke night and movie nights.

The guys setting up the tent. Mom and I attempted the set-up and were quickly shut down because we weren't "doing it right." Oh well, can't say we didn't try.

Louie's set-up. We bought some fake grass from Home Depot. He's already an experienced camper.

My pride and joy: The Cat's Meow is it's name. Everyone else slept on silly air mattresses and even sillier cloth sleeping bags. Overall, very silly indeed.

Cooking up some breakfast potatoes.

This is seriously one of my favorite meals ever: breakfast potatoes with onions, bell peppers and scrambled eggs. MMMMMMM!

So, as I said before, we had hitched up our boat to take out on the lake. We launched just off Lake Tahoe Boulevard and headed West to Emerald Bay. If you haven't been there before, you probably already know what it looks like. It is a very popular photography spot.

The Emerald of Emerald Bay.

Taking a couple shots of Vikingsholm Castle right across the water from the Emerald.

Nick got an incredible sunburn that day. He's a lifeguard.

The next day was spent at Heavenly Village. We went to the dog store we always go to and did some window shopping. Nick found a beautiful looking girl on the stroll.

Nick hanging out in Heavenly Village with his date. She was a little over dressed.

Mom and I dropped the boys off at the campsite to play some tennis, while we headed over to Pope Beach. This small section allows dogs, so we took Lou with us. He found a dog that looked exactly like his "brother" Bear, our yellow lab. He was convinced it was him and kept barking when he played fetch in the water.

Lou keeping an eye on all the other dogs.

Nick got a hold of my camera and took some shots of me and dad

playing our made up card game around the campfire.

Dad and his poker face.

We packed up and left Thursday morning after another delicious plate of breakfast potatoes. This was our last family vacation before everyone moves out. I'm headed to southern California in a month and Nick starts college and dorm life. At least Nick will be close by to do laundry (hopefully he does do that...) and eat normal food when the college caf makes him sick or steals all of his money. I won't be able to visit as often with an internship and school, so this was a great last trip before this big change in our family.

Road Trip

For those of you that know me pretty well you know that I love to travel. So much so that this past weekend I flew down south to drive up north, and drove down south to fly back home. Let me explain...

Aren was asked to be the Master of Ceremonies (MC) at a friend's wedding in La Selva Beach, California. Aren wanted to bring me along as his date, so we talked about meeting in the middle, since he would be coming from San Diego and I from the Napa Valley. That idea didn't last too long when the words "road trip" were mentioned. So, we bought a ticket for me to fly out of Oakland on Thursday to San Diego.

Aren is the best at little surprises. When he picked me up outside baggage claim he handed me this vibrant bouquet of blue flowers. He was a little disappointed when I explained to him that they're dyed blue and don't actually grow that way. The first time he picked me up from the airport he had a surprise dinner out on his patio waiting for us. There were candles, fake floral arrangements and cold food. He sure is a charmer! In all seriousness, it was really very sweet. Besides, the microwave did a fine job in re-heating our pasta, bread and corn.

On Friday, I helped Aren and his youth assistants dismantle their VBS set in the church. (He was more than relieved to be done with the week-long program and that it went so well.) We spent the rest of the afternoon watching an episode of The Bachelorette he had missed and we shopped for dinner and waffle ingredients for his Sabbath School class.

It was Communion Sabbath at church, so that meant Aren was one of the "important people" on stage handing out the trays of bread and wine (crackers and grape juice). It was my second time at his church, so I've started to get to know a few people now (although I can't say the same for the head deaconess who has met me quite a few times and still thinks I'm Aren's sister). It is such a warm, family environment - something I'm not quite used to, but I'm embracing it.

We stopped by Aren's house before we left to pack up.

At around 4 PM, we finally left for Monterey Bay Academy (where we would be staying for the weekend). We decided to take 101 up the coast and made one stop in Santa Barbara for dinner. It just so happened to be our 7-month anniversary. I knew he had forgotten, so after we finished our plates at El Torrito I quickly exclaimed, "Happy Anniversary!"

"Uh...is it? Oh yeah I guess....I..."

"I win!," I said. (Please, please, please tell me you watch Modern Family. Gloria surprised Jay by turning his Valentine's gift on him and shouted that she won too.)

Aren looking at the Santa Barbara pier and not thinking about our anniversary.

Like I said, Aren really is a charmer. So, we got back on the road. I'm officially the worst wingman because I passed out immediately and left Aren to fend for himself on the road. He had to stop and get some caffeine to keep going. It was close to 1 AM and we still hadn't made it to the school. (We kind of made a wrong turn...or two.) Finally, it's 3 AM and we see the welcoming Monterey Bay Academy sign. Yes! A bed was within reach.

Sunday was the wedding day. We woke up and spent some time with friends, then Aren took me into Capitola. It's a super cute beach town where there is absolutely no parking and people don't care that it's freezing cold outside. They act and dress like it's sunny and 80 degrees in the shade. Hey, they're at the beach! Aren and I grabbed some coffee and sat on the pier, huddled in our jackets, and watched little kids build sand castles and play in the ocean.

We got too cold sitting outside, so we headed back to get dressed for the wedding. The couple got married by the golf course and had their reception in the club house. The bride walked down to Edelweiss, a beautiful song from The Sound of Music, and the groomsmen held up score cards of 8's, 9's, and 10's for the kiss. It was a very sweet wedding ceremony. Then came time for the reception. All eyes on Aren time! (Of course I'm kidding.) As nervous as he was, he did a fantastic job.

Strawberry jam favors. Delicious!

Wedding reception set-up.

We woke up bright and early the next day for our road trip back down to San Diego. Scratch that - He woke up early. He had to come wake me up from my slumber. We packed up the car and drove to Salinas for breakfast at IHOP, where Aren apparently had the best breakfast plate ever. We bought an audio book by Francis Chan before we left San Diego, so we started listening to a few chapters. It's called Crazy Love, and it's an awesome book that asks you to take a better look at God and yourself as a Christian. Even though we didn't finish it, I highly recommend reading/listening to it sometime.

I know you all are wondering if we made it back in time to watch the season finale of The Bachelorette - and the answer is yes, yes we did! By the way, we are both ecstatic that she picked J.P., whom I loved since the beginning, and applaud ABC for keeping us in suspense for the last hour.

True love!

Tuesday came, and it was time for me to head back home. Aren and I decided to check out Extraordinary Desserts in Balboa Park before I had to catch my flight. He got cheesecake and I got a coffee cake. They were huge portions and a little pricey. I don't know if we'll ever go back, but I recommend that you try it if you're ever in San Diego.

I had strawberry and raspberry coffee cake.

He had a New York marble cheesecake with ice cream.

Can you see the excitement on his face?

My next trip is to Montana in less than 2 weeks. (See, I really do love traveling!) I get to see my best friend and spend some time at a relaxing lake cabin in Seeley. I leave you with this quote from a song that just speaks to my soul...

"Life is a highway. I wanna' ride it all night long..."