TAHOE Family Vacation

Onto Tahoe!!! Which was still only the middle of our California adventure!

Every five years, starting on their 50th, my grandparents have treated us to a wonderful trip as a family.

And on this third attempt.....we noticed just how much our family is growing! The previous two trips were cruises, so this time we changed things up and they rented a HUGE home in South Lake Tahoe!

We made our own meals, and relaxed amongst the beauty of the mountains in summertime.

The home had 8.5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, an indoor pool on the bottom level, and a hot tub up top!

 Swimming in the pool!

 Spent a day at Zephyr Cove to soak up some sun. Of course the water was freezing, but we all had fun.

 Abby and her Great-Grandparents

 Aunt Amy--any chance to make a silly face

 Maddy and her marshmallow (one of about a dozen she ate that night I'm sure :)

 Hot tub time!! Grandma and Grandpa got to relax too!

 Abby & Andrew (3-1/2) had a blast being the "big kids" on the trip!

We had zero great-grand kids on our first anniversary cruise 10 years ago.....and this time around we had 5 under the age of 5!

 Abby & Andrew hot tubbing it together!

 The view from our deck

 Each night a different couple/group would prepare dinner! On this night my cousin Erin and I teamed up and did a Luau  night! The kids looked great in their grass skirts and leis!

(Maddy's favorite activity of the trip.....for the whole week.....taking (or pretending to since we didn't teach her to advance the old fashioned disposable cameras) photos of everyone! After each shot she would say....."Got it!!!"

 And of course Mike and I's eighth anniversary was during the Tahoe trip!

He surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers that traveled all the way from the Mediterranean Sea....or at least the order did :)

 My beach lovers

 Sand castle building-- Amy and her boyfriend Adam got into the mix and took over to make quit the fortress!

Family shot!

 Leaving Tahoe to head to Los Angeles.....the car was packed in tight!!

Redding- Lake & Family

After Fairfield, I made the drive with the kids all the way up to Redding to see Mike's brother Kyle's family!

I just couldn't go all the way there and not see them too!!!!

(Oh, and I forgot, on the way to Redding we stopped in Chico and had lunch with Aunt Sarah too!!! No visit overlooked!!)

Again the kids haven't seen their CA cousins in a VERY long time. The weather was perfect!! We spent one day at the Whiskeytown lake with the entire Smith clan! Then the kids had just enough time to play outside and inside with their cousins.

Ryane & Abby swinging

 Stefan (almost 4) & Abby playing dressup!

 Oh......and Abby's favorite part of their house--cousin Ethne's hamster!

I quickly informed Abby that we do not do rodents in our home so she should enjoy her time holding one now!

 Maddy, Ethne (8) and Stefan

Fairfield- Family & Fun

Leaving Cailin's I headed back to Fairfield to stay the day/night at Mike's mom's house!

(And of course somehow I ended up with no photos of Grandma Smith......not sure how)

The girls walked right in and of course were infatuated with Grandma's little dogs! 

We made a quick visit to the Jelly Belly Factory with Mike's long time friend Ian, and then relaxed at Grandma's for the evening and the kids were entertained with storytime by Aunt Susan!

 The girls latched onto Ian as if they've known him forever!

 When in jelly bean world.....buy your own mix!!

Ian took on Maddy the whole visit and helped her choose her beans!

Steinbach's-Best Friends

I left Bonnie's after our pool party and headed to San Ramon, CA to see my best friend (and old college roommate) Cailin and her family. Her daughter Sienna is just 2 weeks younger than Maddy, and it was my first time meeting her adorable chunky 4 month old little guy Connor! We spent three nights with them, and kept busy!

 Can you tell Abby was starting to get worn out???!!! The three of us shared a room at Cailin's, and one night when I went to bed, I found Abby passed out like this with her lovey on her face (usually she snuggles it under her arm, so this was a first)

 One of the days we took a trip to San Jose to "Happy Hollow" to let the kids have some fun!

 

 

  Abby can't get enough of little babies! She loved holding Connor any chance she could get.

 Oh, and when in California, do as they do and get pampered! 

Cailin and I took her to get her very first Mani/Pedi! 

She LOVED it!! Such a special treat!

 Sienna and Maddy on their horses!! Giddy up!

 Hopefully they follow in their mommy's footsteps and stay friends forever!

Smith-Christensen Family Pool Day

After leaving my dad's in Cool, I made an afternoon visit to my sister-in-law's house in Roseville for a swim playdate and lunch! The kids haven't seen their older cousins in a very long time, but were good friends in an instant. Auntie Linda was there too, so we got to enjoy some nice conversation while the kids kept busy in the pool. Inside the house Maddy even showed Dane her skills on the iPhone....nothing like a bossy 2 year old trying to tell you how to play your game! 

What a wonderful visit! Thank you for the afternoon visit Bonnie!!

 Maddy cuddling with her Auntie Bonnie

Grandpa Ron's--Visit to Cool

The girls LOVED (understatement) being at Grandpa Ron's house.

I forgot how much fun it is to live in the boondocks and enjoy some nature with the kids.

Their favorite feature of course were the horses. And Grandpa lives around a bunch. Their favorite thing to do each morning was get up and run out the back deck or onto the driveway with Grandpa and see what the horses were up to......

 ALT Rec Lake--Both girls enjoyed it more than the pool! So much fun exploring.

 First time ever feeding ducks!! Pretty nice ducks too, especially since Maddy has no fear of anything and I worried she'd get a finger minced off......no casualties! They used up every last piece of bread.

 Morning check on the horses with Grandpa!!

Thanks for the visit dad!! The kids loved being there!!

California......and BACK!!!

Our BIG trek out West!!

The kids and I packed up and flew to California on July 13th to start our whirlwind CA tour to see as many friends and family as possible. Of course the whole vacation was based around my grandparents' 60th anniversary family trip in Tahoe, so I piggybacked on the trip to extend it and make it worth out while for traveling so far! The flights out and back were pretty seamless, and the kids enjoyed the process and even slept a bit--of course just never on the same flight at the same time.....just my luck!

Happy 8 Years to US!!!

July 24th will roll around soon, and in true Navy style, we are missing another anniversary together.

And since I will be traveling through California for the next few weeks, I thought I'd go ahead and post this now since I'll be far from a computer for a while. 

EIGHT wonderful years together!

TWO adorable girls growing up in front of our eyes!

FOUR times moving our lives across the states to new Navy destinations!

COUNTLESS memories captured over our years together.....

with ENDLESS memories yet to be made!

We may have found LOVE in California, but who knows where we will end up year after year!!??

I guess I was cut out for this military lifestyle after all, because years later I still LOVE the thrill of finding out where we will live next........

 Happy Anniversary Mike!! 

Even though we don't look quite as youthful as these shots from 8 years ago, we are still looking pretty darn good!! Have a wonderful anniversary on your end--Here's to many more wonderful years filled with adventure and new discoveries!! CHEERS!!! :) A

Out to Sea.....Week #3

 On the flag bridge

 Standing with the Rock of Gibraltar in the background--Mike has MANY uniform changes with this job, so he swaps between the green flightsuit, these blue camo's, and his dress whites!

  As they crossed by the Rock, Mike says there is an old sailor’s tale that the monkeys that live on the rock will swim out to your ship and stow away during a transit, so it is tradition for kids to dress up and fight off the monkeys.  This is a picture of the flight deck "monkey patrol" as they did a dance to ward off any potential monkeys.

 Submarine running alongside the carrier during part of their travels

 And a small glimpse into Mike's living quarters on the ship! 

His rack (bed), TV setup and mini desk! All squeezed into a small space!!