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.