a big, fat, 4th of july post

We were not in AZ for long before we took our first vacation away. My parents had their vacation place at Tahoe for the 4th of July and let us invite Cori's family up to spend the holiday all together. It was no small relief that Cori and I signed a contract on a house the day before we left. We were finally able to leave the house hunting scene alone and allow our brains to dwell on other things. Mine dwelt on pretty much nothing the whole time we were away. It was lovely and welcomed.

All the members of my family made an appearance at one or several points along the way, and of Cori's family we had Sandy and Ray who brought Jacob and Sydni with them, Cory and Brittany with Ashton and hunter, and Ethan and Megan. I did a not-so-great job of documenting our vacation and don't even have good pictures of everyone who was there. I know others got good pictures though, so maybe I'll update this a little when I get copies from their cameras, but for now this will do.

Ashton, Grant, Jacob, Grace, and Sydni

Our first adventure was a hike to the waterfalls at Grover's Hot Springs. The Sierra's are so gorgeous this time of year. I didn't get many pictures of the hikers, but ended up with several of our vistas. There were brave souls who got themselves into the icy water. Dad and my sisters brought up the dogs. The place was pretty crowded by the time we were all back from the hike, so we took a pass on the hot springs and headed straight for our picnic lunch.

On Sunday after church, my mom packed us coolers of food and drinks and we went to a concert in the park. Sara has been in NV for her externships this summer and has been playing cello with a pops orchestra. It was fun to hear her perform and to listen to a couple hours of patriotic music on our nation's birthday.

We watched fireworks at the lake that night. Sandy had brought us all cute 4th of July t-shirts to wear and my mom brought glow sticks for the kids to share. We all felt quite festive. This year, South lake had fire dancers on podiums over the water at sunset. And once it was dark we watched the show reflected in the lake.

I heart my sisters

Another big adventure our group took was hiking out to Angora Lake. Several years ago, my dad and I hiked from Fallen Leaf Lake up to Angora. It was such an enchanting place to me- It is a pristine little Sierra lake that cascades with waterfalls, and has a little snack bar where you can buy homemade lemonade by the pitcher. I was really excited to go back. I had been under the impression that we could drive right up to the lake to park and was mistaken by about a mile. Everyone in our group was a real trooper about it and packed our lunch and even a couple of kayaks out to enjoy the afternoon. One of the attractions at Angora are the granite cliffs. There is a lovely little boulder with a good 5 foot jump. There is another ledge that boasts a 15-20 foot drop. And then there are a couple of jumping spots for the more serious thrill seekers. Cori, Ethan, and Brittany jumped off these ones. We've heard reports that these cliffs are in the 50-70 foot range. It was a fun outing and we were all pretty pooped by the time we got back to the condo.

Taken from Angora Ridge. That is Fallen Leaf Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background.

Ethan jumping from one of the cliffs of insanity. Dad is in the green kayak below taking pictures, and Ray and Sydni are in the yellow kayak beside him. They look so crazy small in perspective.

Megan and Ethan going for another jump off the boulder.

Me and Grant heading out for paddle around the lake.

Sara in the sun. You can see a few of the many waterfalls behind her.

Grace playing Blink! with her Grammie Marla

Back at the condo, we spent our time swimming, eating, and playing games. Ethan and Megan brought their Wii and graciously played with all the little kids for hours. We went out to eat a couple of times- all 14-18 of us- which ended up being really fun. Both restaurants set up a big seating area for us outside and we were able to eat and talk and let the kids run around. Oh, and the guys scheduled all their ladies for massages one day too. So great.

getting our Mongolian grill on at Fire and Ice

A happy Sydni after some Thai food at Thai One On.

We were treated to an Aces game in the Waddell and Reed box. My favorite part of the event was that by the end of the night, my whole immediate family was in the same place at the same time. It has been a while since that happened. We had a fun time cheering for the Aces, eating stadium food, shouting "CHARGE!" and chatting throughout the game.

Cori, Grant, Me, Sara, Jared, Thea, Erin, Mom, Dad, Grace

We took a late afternoon trek to Taylor Creek Park. Below is Jacob in the river observation room.

Not that any of us were feeling depraved of sun/water/swim suit time, but we couldn't have everyone come to Lake Tahoe without going for a swim at the beach.

Papa Ray digging the moat. Tahoe sand isn't the best for castles, unfortunately.

Cori putting the moat to good use

Cori and I hung out at the resort a little longer after we had checked out and waved all our UT family good bye. We took the kids up the Heavenly Gondola to the observation deck. Heavenly has started running their Tamarack chair during the summer which runs straight to the very top of the mountain. The views of the Carson Valley and the Lake are so amazing from up there.

We stayed that night in Gardnerville with my family. It gave us a chance to go visit some more with my Grandma Bettie. She let Gracie go through all her jewelry boxes which was a super big hit. The next day was Saturday and we spent it in true W* family style. We got up early for a big breakfast of apple pecan pancakes and then Cori and Dad left to help a family move and the women and children headed out to the garden to work. I could count on one hand the number of Saturdays I slept in as a teenager. At the time, of course, I wasn't super thrilled about our Saturday schedule. But I was all kinds of nostalgic working in the garden that morning. Once Cori and Dad were back and we were all showered from our work, we loaded up the 4Runner and hit the road for AZ.