Lake Tahoe is happiness for our family. Brent's parents built a cozy cabin among the plentiful pines when he was a youngster of about 9 years old. He remembers pounding a few nails in the frame. Yes, they really built the cabin! He has countless memories of playing, exploring, sledding, snowballing, swimming, canoeing, cliff jumping, hiking, golf ball hunting, etc. in the forest that surrounds the cabin.
I joined in on the fun when Brent and I honeymooned there in July of 1991. I have to say it was quite romantic...a cozy cabin with no distractions, lazy walks on the beach holding hands, sharing homemade lemonade at Angora Lake, night time cuddles on the deck, exploring little shops, dining at the Cliff House overlooking the gorgeous sunset lit lake. Sigh...
Our children joined in on the fun as soon as they came along. Our Brown family vacation was often at the family cabin over the 4th of July holiday. Grandma and Grandpa Brown were always so generous to treat us all to a fun filled week. Then the fireworks spectacular over the lake ~ well, it was the cherry on top of the perfect vacation!
It was an emotional day when Paul and Joyce made the decision to sell the cabin. With Joyce in ill health, it was turning into too much work to keep up and all of the kids were living too far away to take care of it on a regular basis. So it has been a handful of years since we've spent time there.
That all changed this year when Paul generously treated the family to a week in Tahoe at a lovely resort and passes onto the beach to enjoy the best firework show over the lake! It was such a great week! I loved seeing the cousins together ~ laughing, playing, joking and doing all the things we love to do there. Being in Tahoe always brings me tender memories of Joyce. She loved it there and more than that, she loved having her kids and grandchildren all around her. I'm sure she was watching over the fun and smiling!
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One of our favorite spots to enjoy the water is at Angora Lake.
It's a small high mountain lake that you hike into. The water is straight snow melt so it is V E R Y cold. The beach is small and fills up quickly. We never come to Tahoe without a day spent here.
And this is where you sip on fresh squeezed lemonade as you relax in the sun.
(the most expensive lemonade you'll ever drink but what's a vacation if you don't splurge!)
Cooper was the first in the water, along with Uncle Tom. He plays with the kids the best and joins in on whatever they are doing. Cooper loves that!
This is also where the cliff jumping happens.
Notice the boys checking out the jumpers...in years past the kids have always been too little to actually jump. This year proves to be different!
Everyone climbed onto the 5' rock first to get their nerves up.
It's a good warm up spot : )
Uncle Tom jumped first but Cooper was right behind him. Cooper doesn't hesitate when it comes to this stuff. Crazy boy! But this water takes your breath away! Davis follows but it takes Maddison a long time to decide she actually wants to be submerged in this icy water!
Well, it has been decided.
They are in the row boat which is the only way to get to the cliffs that are on the other side of the lake.
That means I have to get into a row boat so I can get close enough to capture all the action. Sure wish I knew my camera better when it comes to stuff like this. But fuzzy pictures beats no pictures!
And who was the first to conquer the 20' cliff...
uh. yeah. cooper.
And Davis...
And Maddie and her cousin Chelsea...
And big Daddy proved to everyone that he still has what it takes!
They all repeated this process over and over again. I think Cooper took the top prize of 19 jumps. He slept like a rock that night : )
I, on the other hand, got a rockin' sunburn.
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Another adventure took us on a day trip to Virginia City, Nevada, home of the Silver Queen. What? You haven't heard of the Silver Queen? Well, let me back up...maybe you've heard of the Comstock Lode. Aparently it was part of my history lessons at some point but I don't remember so Brent gave me a brief overview. It went something like this...in 1859 silver was discovered and by the time all was said and done over $300 million dollars worth of silver was pulled out of the mines. Who knew??
At the peak of its glory, Virginia City was a boisterous town with something
going on 24 hours a day both above and below ground for its nearly 30,000
residents. There were visiting celebrities, Shakespeare plays, opium dens,
newspapers, competing fire companies, fraternal organizations, at least five
police precincts, a thriving red-light district, and the first Miner's Union in
the U.S. The International Hotel was six stories high and boasted the West's
first elevator, called a "rising room.
Inside the Silver Queen Hotel (and a saloon and a wedding chapel where the Captain and Tennille were hitched in 1975) stands the Silver Queen herself. A mural made of 3,261 Morgan silver dollars. She stands 15 ft. tall and 8 ft. wide. Picture worthy indeed : )
Notice the "notice" on the piano. Maddie busted out a little Canon in D.
Cool bikes added to the fun.
And had we been a drinkin' sort of family the boys wanted this to be the place to do it. Good times!
Along the streets of this quirky town was a lovely old, mid 1800's chapel, St. Mary's In The Mountains.
The stained glass inside was stunning.
It was a fun and interesting afternoon exploring this old town.
History really is a beautiful thing!
And since we were out that way we all went to a Reno Aces baseball game.
Funny thing...we got to see Ryan Wheeler play 3rd base that night and the next thing you know he is called up to play with the D-backs not long after : )
Our three generations of baseball boys, top and bottom. It makes me happy.
They even celebrated with fireworks!
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Another favorite spot at Tahoe is Emerald Bay. Isn't it beautiful!
I love this kid.
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Ah, Lake Tahoe! With your crystal blue waters that would be so easy to mistake as a bottomless pool of amethyst jewels. Truly so unbelievably rich and glittering in the silky sun.
Another memory keeper, like many times before, is sitting beneath the fireworks that literally cover the entire sky. Honest. A single firework that would explode into a circle so vast that you could barely take it in and then it would cascade in seemingly slow motion to the water. It made my heart burst with American pride and gratitude.
It was good for the soul to be back in this beautiful part of our family happiness. I thought many times about the creation of the world and how blessed we are to soak in it's glory.
And so ends our vacation in Lake Tahoe.
It was so good to be back : )
