Family Fun afterall

A month ago I got a call from a timeshare salesman.  He offered my family 3 days and 2 nights in Tahoe at a price I couldn't refuse, the catch? Well I would have to sit through their shpeell Monday morning and tell them no-I was not interested in buying a timeshare.  As the month progressed I planned out all the fun my family would cram into the short trip! On the meter was miniature golf at one of THE coolest mini golf courses in Nor Cal and plenty of sunshine on the lake shores. Neither of which did we get to do.

School let out for the summer and I packed our bags to go planning on lots of family fun before Brandon leaves us for his trip to Haiti.  I over packed as usual, then decided the kids did not need 5 outfits for each day-afteall we were only going to be gone 3 days-not even because we left after church on Sunday, so I took out all but the one pair of pants and one long sleeve shirt that I figured the kids would need at night when temps dropped a bit.  I didn't even bother to pack a sweatshirt for myself figuring I would be fine.

The day came and off we went, checking into our hotel at 4:30 pm.  Brandon asked what was on my agenda and I replied that all I wanted to do was lay around poolside in the 77 degree weather we were having and watch him play with the kids.  It is a good thing we did because that was THE only opportunity to swim the entire time we were there.

The kids went nuts in the pool, Zech fearless to the point of my near heat attack as he continued to jump in-plummeting to the bottom, needing rescue from Brandon each time, laughing as he resurfaced from his near death experience.  Hannah much more mellow, needing coaxing to leave the steps.  The pool temp was manageable but with the atmosphere temperature dropping quickly we moved them to the Jacuzzi tub nearby.  Not as deep and more steps for the kids to play on without intense supervision-Brandon deserved a quick break. He took Tabby and sat waterside so I could jump in with the kids. 

Later that night we went out to eat, something I remember as far less stressful, and was no reminded why I avoid restaurants with kids.   They were jumping around everywhere, loud as all heck.  Brandon probably did not help calm things down when he threw a french fry at Hannah to get her attention and make her sit down.  I laughed out loud when it pinged her square in the forehead.  Thinking it funny because mom laughed, Hannah threw a french fry back at her father, causing me to laugh even harded.  Zechariah picked up on the fun and joined in the french fry fight at daddy, and I was in stitches and tears as to how quickly his "discipline" backfired.  The harder I laughed  the more french fries were thrown in his direction.  HE was so frustrated that he through a fry at me before joining in on the laughter.  And a full on French fry war ensued.  Needless to say we tipped the waitress well.

Brandon had to leave us a bit after receiving a call from a friend at church needing to put on his pastoral face and pray with a nearby relative.  He dropped the kids and I off at the hotel where we watched RIO ( a recent family favorite if you have not seen it-it is a must!) before going to bed.

The next day we woke up to be at our timeshare meeting-sat through that for far too long, saying no many times as politely as I could. Taking our $75 food voucher and running away. On top of the summit I commented on how cold it was, Brandon casually stated that it was supposed to snow. I called him a Liar, he was not lying. Still not believing him, I asked for him to take us to the Lake so the kids could play and I could feed Tabitha.

The longer we played the windier and colder it got.  We literally watched the snowstorm rush towards us.  And here my kids were in the ONLY warm clothes I brought them.  Clothes, mind you, that were not nearly warm enough. Before we reached the hotel the flakes began to fall.  The continued falling the rest of the day! After Naptime, I sent Brandon to the store with a list of things to buy in order to entertain the kids inside (because outside was not an option in this weather with the summer clothes I packed.) On the list: Mittens, Shaving cream, balloons, hot chocolate and hostess cupcakes.

While Brandon was gone and Tabitha slept, I took the kids out for a snow experience on the balcony of our room.    Then we played inside while it snowed outside.  We finger painted with the shaving cream on the sliding glass door leading to the balcony:

 

We played with balloons and had a dance party jumping on the bed to the radio

We ran to the hotel restaurant and ate lunch, bringing most of it back to the room, took a nice Hot tub tub (bath) afterwards and watched Rio one more time while drinking Hot Coco Brandon made using the Coffee pot in the room and eating hostess cakes. When there was a break in the storm, we ventured out lakeside for a couple of quick photo ops:

by the way, it was 37 degrees out so my manly man gave me his jacket that he had packed and braved the cold.

We had dinner in the casino again and played with the idea of going home early.  About that time the snow began to fall again and Brandon decided not to drive home in it.  Which is good because the following day was beautiful!

The kids woke up at their usual time so I left Brandon in the room to sleep with Tabitha (yes our newborn sleeps through the night) and took the other two with me to explore outside.  We met a lady on our way to breakfast that had Golden Retriever puppies and let the kids play with them. (Boo-no pictures because I left my camera in the room.) She told us that she raises and trains these puppies to track Grizzlies.  It was the cutest thing watching these puppies climb all over Zech and Hannah smothering them with kisses.  After we ate our huge and delicious Fruit covered waffle, we returned back to the room where Brandon and the kids packed the car for our trip home.  On the way we found a place for the kids to use the mittens Brandon bought and play in the snow:

Overall, it was beautiful trip, full of fun and memories.