camping trip to tahoe

back in april, brian reserved a campsite for our camping trip to lake tahoe with kimberley and madeline. 

i am NOT the best camper in the world, for many reasons... but I'm happy to report that after my most recent 3 days in the woods, I'm coming around!

the worst part was that we had to pack everything- including 6 people- into our mid-size SUV! since everything is so pricey at lake tahoe, because of the remote location and popular tourist destination, we even wanted to pack all our own food and drink to bring with us... ugh!

macy, are you back there?

 all 4 of our "kids"-

 we wanted to leave at 8:30. we left at 9- not too shabby!

but we had to stop to get gas. and then the bank. and one last stop at walmart!

about 20 minutes up the road, the chairs on the roof got loose, so we pulled over and brian climbed up there to get em secure-

 yup, we are The Clampett's!

only 2.5 hours later, we are there and the campground is great! we stayed at the DL Bliss State Park and were in the middle of the forrest!

brian quickly set up our new tent- a 3 room, 10 person tent for just the 4 of us- now we are talking about camping farrah-style!

 macy and tate instantly loved it. (we had been camping once before with them both, in switzerland. macy was only 3.5 months old though. and it was fancy camping- my favorite!)

the kids built their own see-saw, with a 2x4 and an old stump-

 after we set up camp, we walked down to the beach. again, a perk of this campground!

 check out the colors of the lake-

 brian jumped right in sand castle building! (don't the mountains and sky in the background look painted?)

 these geese came right up to me and seemed to want to nibble my toes-

 swimmers-

 sand- ugh!

 if you were wondering how blue the sky was while i was laying on the beach, here is your answer:

 amazing, right?

 love this-

 tate and brian took some time to play beach football-

 and then back to camp for our first dinner. cooking while camping stresses me out! it is a challenge that my want-to-be-chef actually enjoys! how about some marinated chicken breasts, rice pilaf and baked beans??!!

 before dinner, we heard a voice nearby. a voice of another little boy! the kids were SO excited that 5 yr old Nicholas was camping right across from us-

 they played, and played and played for 3 days!

at one point, a toy got stuck in the tree and kimberley literally had to shake it down-

 almost dusk, my favorite time!

 can you say s'mores?!?!?!

 I'm doing okay... kinda liking this camping stuff-

 spooky fire picture-

 kimberely doesn't like marshmallows. so i got an idea- graham crackers and chocolate with a banana, roasted in the fire-

 delicious!

after spooky stories and a round of kumbaya- time for bed. which was exciting, with lanterns-

night #1, complete!

first thing tuesday morning a little nature craft project for macy and kimberely-

 then we set off on an adventure. lynn and bob (kristen's parents) were unfortunately not up at their lake tahoe house while we were there. but, they were so generous to offer us their boat for the day!

our first stop was to a fav lunch spot- the beacon, of course, for lunch and a Rum Runner!

next stop- emerald bay. we "parked" the boat and the girls (kimberley and madeliene) and boys (brian and tate) jumped off to swim to the island in the middle of the bay-

 this is why i had to stay on the boat-

 the girls loved being out on the boat and soaking up the sun-

 the kids both slept on the way back-

 and our wonderful captain did a fantastic job navigating around the lake-

have i mentioned the bears? we were camping in bear country! this is serious stuff. upon check-in, we were given our briefing on what to do to avoid meeting a bear! all food, drink and scented anything (cosmetics, toothpaste, etc) MUST be kept in the "bear box" at each campsite at all times-

 nothing could even be kept in your car, because the bears will damage cars trying to get in if they smell something! so even the mint flavored lipgloss i had in my purse had to be locked up! CRAZY!

luckily we didn't see any bears...

night #2, same shenanigans- plus roasting hot dogs over the fire!

 macy takes a break before bed to enjoy a marshmallow-

 and wednesday morning she realized that the chair could be a hammock for her-

it was awesome to have the girls with us for this trip! sure, we needed a bit more stuff- but their extra hands and late night talks around the fire were precious! they even managed to take down their own tent-

i was a bit sad wednesday morning that it was already time to pack up and head home! part of me wished we had another day- to relax at the campground, walk to the beach again, play a game of cards, go for a hike, take a nap- all of the above! next time... ?

so, i give camping a 7 out of 10. next time, we will bring air mattresses (and i won't forget our pillows! oops!) and i bet it will be a 7.5! we were certainly lucky to have perfect weather. and lucky to have kids that loved the whole experience. they didn't care that it was too dark, too cool, too warm, too dirty, etc. they were having fun! i'm glad I'm not hung up on keeping them clean (in a hotel room!) either, because there is a pure joy that kids exhibit when camping that is brought out by few other experiences- and certainly not in those hotel rooms!

so, i decided that each summer we will camp- up to 3 nights at a time- at least twice a year. mark my words.