Edwards Haps and Mishaps

Here are a BUUUUUNNNNNCCCH of pictures from tahoe….seriously. A lot. Here’s the story behind 2 things…the amount of photos, and our trip.

I got this new album plu-in for my photos blog, but wanted to use it here so I uploaded a lot of images and it is supposed to put them into a collage…well it isn’t working on this blog, but I still have all the pictures I uploaded, which are a bunch, so I am putting them ALL up.

Also, they were put in backwards…so start at the bottom if you care to go chronologically…if you don’t care, that’s okay :)

So….back to Tahoe! We had some friends that were going to come out and go with us so we rented a cabin but they weren’t able to come so we just decided to go and have a good time anyway!

We got up there the first day and met some friends at Pope beach. This was a Saturday and not only that, the Saturday after the 4th of July so it was PACKED! I have never been to Tahoe when it was so full of people! We weren’t able to get into the parking lot, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. We parked on the street and loaded everything into the double jogger and huffed it about a half mile in to the beach! We had fun playing in the sand, though the water was pretty freeezing! After we were done there we were on our way to get some food with our friends when Ada started complaining in the car about her tummy…so I went to the back and a little bit later…blah! Throw up all over the place!!

Whenever someone throws up I go into freak out mode. “is this a one time thing or actual sickness?!” “Who else is going to get it? Oh gosh, everyone is going to get it! We are all already sick and we don’t even know it!!” “are you going to throw up again? You look like you are going to throw up…get the bowl! Here let me hold it in front of you!!! Oh you aren’t going to throw up yet? Well hold the bowl there anyway in case you do!” I get a little crazy…so she threw up in the car and now i was doom and gloom that the trip was ruined. I wanted to just go home…but I didn’t.

When we got back to the cabin, we actually packed up the car, but I wanted to wait…so we did wait. She threw up a few more times and was better by the next morning…of course :) And no one else got it (until the next week!) so that was the start to our trip. Those photos are at the bottom.

The next day we went hiking at a tiny little lake on the edge of Desolation Wilderness. Very pretty, very remote. We went hiking again on Monday at Fallen Leaf Lake. A beautiful little lake a few minutes from Lake Tahoe.

Kelsey and Glen came up on Monday and spent the night. We went to the beach, ate burgers and ice cream cones, hung out in the hammock and had a lovely time! Tuesday we left, but I had one more place I wanted to explore. I had found a trail head at the edge of our neighborhood that led through the Truckee River marsh area. So we checked that out and found some secluded beaches that you could only hike to, so next time we are in town we will have to hike in and spend the day there!

I am so glad we stayed and had some time to be in the beautiful outdoors and be together as a family!

Walking through the Truckee river marsh land area before coming home:

Preston pouting:

Hanging in the hammock with cousins:

At a beach by our cabin. The water was waist high for about 150+ yards! It was crazy! And way warmer than other beaches in the area!

Ada picking wildflowers along the trail at Fallen Leaf Lake:

Posing for daddy:

How the hike started:

Hiking around a tiny reservoir back by Desolation Wilderness:

Sick Ada, quarantined to a blanket on the kitchen floor:

Mason, relaxin’ at Pope Beach:

July has been a fun month. Let’s start back at the 4th of July. We spent the first part of the day at a lake…a nice brown, dirty one…but it was water on a hot day, so at least that part was nice. Then later in the day (night) we lit fireworks with some friends. When I write this down, it sounds like a pretty boring day. But I like low key…which could also be called boring by some people…all in all (in my opinion) it was a nice, day to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy and the men who fought for and organized this country. Even with all the bad that goes on all around us, I still feel blessed to live in this country for so many reasons.

Now on to the photos!

The week after the 4th we went up to Lake Tahoe and here is a picture we took (using a stump as a tripod…so we aren’t all that centered!) while hiking around in the beautiful Sierras!

I will post more from there in the next post…in 6 months :) haha.

Not only will you think I am a bad mom because of this SECOND…or possibly third… ice cream post in the last month or so…meaning we probably eat more ice cream than I actually post…BUT LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THIS STUFF?! We went to Rite Aid, which used to be Thrify’s, and they still carry the Thrifty’s brand ice cream. Some of them actually have an ice cream spot where you can still get their signature tubular shapes scoops. I almost feel like it taste better in tube shape.

My dad used to take us there and will still come over and drop off a half gallon, here and there, of chocolate malted crunch. Yum. Or we can usually (always) expect he has a freezer full of it…and hot fudge…and there’s always some whipping cream in the fridge so almost every time we are there sundae’s are in order. I’ve inherited an ice cream addiction…I will blame it on genetics :)

Okay, I’m going off subject a little…where was I? Oh yeah. Florescent ice cream colors that can’t be good for anyone…I let the kids choose the flavor they wanted and I had hoped since the Cotton Candy flavor was at the very top, that they wouldn’t see it. They obviously did and I let them get it. Wow. When I was scooping it, I could not believe the colors…they were weirdly pretty yet very disturbing. How could any food be that color? The pictures don’t really capture the true colors!

Probably wouldn’t get it again, but it was fun once!

Okay, has it been a month since I updated this thing?! YIKES.

Life has been busy. It always is, right? Does it ever slow down?

Preston finished his first year of school!

Ada turned 3!

We’ve made a few trips to the bay area to visit the cousins.

Lots of pictures taken…both for work and for fun!

I ran a half Marathon!

The heat came early this year…we have already had 110 degree weather. Blah!

Lots of sprinklers and splash parks.

Here are some pictures from May:

Thank you Shaun, my awesome husband, for dragging the kids around to cheer for me! It REALLY helped at the end because I told him not to bother with coming since he would have find parking and drag all 3 kids down to the bike trail…it just sounded like a hassle to me, but as it got warmer and warmer I was losing steam there at the end  I saw my big, yellow double wide and I was SO happy to see my family cheering me on for the last 2 miles!!

Car washin’:

Folsom Lake:

Hot, dusty, poison Oak-y hiking.

Cute Dallin:

It seems like I can’t quite keep up with the messes of everyday life…like just messes that come with living, eating, sleeping, wearing clothes…, you know, the things you do not intentionally making a mess, but it just happens? THEN I add in children…and I really can’t keep up. Pretty much not at all some days. Especially with days like this: This walking, curious one year old business is getting exhausting! I’m so glad he is funny and cute, or it might not be so easy to like him, haha.

We have been enjoying all this warm weather lately! At the moment though, the “warm” spring weather has been more on the “hot” side…which I am not totally ready for yet. this week is supposed to be up to 98 degrees!!! Seriously?! I have been running with some girls from church and we signed up for a half marathon with is on Saturday ..so with this 90+ degree weather, I think I might die. Almost literally…my body does not mix exercise and heat very well. So we’ll see if I get to cross the finish line on my legs or in the first aid wagon :)

We’ve spent a lot of our time lately out and about or in the back yard. Dallin is now walking all over the place and LOVES to be doing anything outside. He’s turning into our little independent man. If he doesn’t want to do something he will either whack you and say, “no, dont’!” or turn all limp noodle on you. He’s funny…now when he is one…maybe not when he is a little older!

Well, here are a few of the goings on in April for us!

Walking along a bike trail by our house:

Made some homemade chocolate ice cream together!

Dallin playing in the backyard

Trying out sock bubbles

More Dallin playing…he’s the victim of my picture taking lately since he’s a little bit more willing than the others!

Grandma and grandpa came to visit a couple weeks ago and we had fun playing and showing them the temple!

We went on a little hike by Folsom lake yesterday and it was beautiful! Wish we could have hung out there all night!

The other day I gave the two older kids ice cream cones and thought, “why not give Dallin one too?” He obviously loved it! Who doesn’t love an ice cream cone?! If you really don’t, I’m not really sure what to say to you right now….

Somehow, to me, ice cream tastes much better in a cone. Dallin agreed and you can see the dirt on his elbows from all his falling, but he’d catch himself with his elbow so his ice cream didn’t touch the ground. I’d do the same :)

 

A little vacation was needed so I loaded up the kids and went down to my brother and sister-in-laws house in San Jose. This was actually in February…and it’s April, but whatever. Some schools around here get presidents week off, so that’s what happened here! We had so much fun just hanging out with the cousins! We ate amazing tacos (not pictured here) which I still think about and crave (my mind often revolves around food.) We went to Henry Cowell State Park and saw huge redwoods, rode scooters, and played, played, played!

We will have to do this again really soon!

The girls “brushing their teeth” or eating toothpaste…

The boys playing hard:

A huge stump that had so many rings it dated back to Christ’s birth!

J and Preston wrestling in the few beams of light that hit the ground:

I loved the perfect clovers that grew here!

Inside the visitors center the kids got to make an animal foot print book. It was really cute.

Here we are on Easter… We had nice day at church and then headed up the the mountains to spend time with family. A great way to celebrate the blessing of the atonement and resurrection of Christ!

I have so much to catch up on if I want to make another blog book that will actually document what we do all day…I am failing miserably. So, for now i will post about a more recent event: the school egg drop.

I learned something new about Shaun…he is a champion egg dropper. Apparently he won (I will probably get this totally wrong) the state championship egg drop at the science fair in Oregon back in his prime. So, seeing as this was a family project, he helped Preston with his contraption. We couldn’t execute Shaun’s previous design because of size regulations but we made do and well, let’s check out the results: