We had originally planned to do a kid-friendly river rafting tour for Day 4 but the river was too low and the rafting company was closed. But we adapted and quickly made some other plans. On our first day's drive around the lake there was one hike we didn't do so we decided to get there early that morning so we could actually find a parking spot at hike down to the Vikingsholm Castle in the Emerald Bay area of the lake.
The kids, especially the girls, were pretty excited to see a castle although it wasn't quite the princessy-type castle they had maybe envisioned.
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| Abby, Molly, Chloe, Tessa, Grace, Brynn |
We were able to take a tour of the castle and learn some of the history and I think the older kids actually enjoyed learning about life 100 years ago and then walking around the castle, inside and out.
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| almost all the grandkids: Stockton, Grant, Gavin, Molly, Chloe, Ben, Tessa, Harper, Abby, Brynn, Grace, and Spencer |
The beach here was gorgeous and we considered staying there the rest of the day. We eventually decided against it because we would have had to pack our lunches and bags and everything required to take care of 13 kids for a whole day down and then back out. But we took some pictures of the beach and the view.
You can't see it from these pictures, but there is an old cottage built on top of that island...the wealthy woman who built the castle had it built and used it as her afternoon tea house.
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| Gavin and Molly |
The hike back up was much more difficult...it was completely uphill and there was no castle to see at the end. I discovered that Stockton is actually a really great hiker. Justin took Brynn ahead and Molly stuck with her cousins so I had a chance to hike with just him. He really enjoyed the hike and didn't complain once.
We ate lunch when we got to the top and then we did decide to just go to the beach for the rest of the day. We went to a place called Camp Richardson. It was a popular and crowded place! The beach itself was fairly rocky, but we made do and the kids had a great time.
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| Molly and Abby |
After playing around for a few hours, we started heading back to the condo. But not before we stopped for some famous (or so they say) Camp Richardson ice cream. They had humongous scoops! I couldn't even finish my baby-sized cone.
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| Abby, Ben, Molly, Gavin, Tessa, Chloe, Grace, Harper, Spencer |
Driving back to the condo, and look at what we found: Stockton Avenue! Stockton thought that was so cool!!
Our last full day was also a beach day. It was also the warmest day of the whole week. Our favorite beach thus far had been Zephyr Cove where we had done the boat cruise a few days earlier. The sand was soft and the kids had loved climbing and exploring on the rocks. There were also a few other extras at that specific beach that we wanted to try on our last day.
We split the cost and rented a paddleboard for a couple hours. This was fun! All the kids had a great time sitting down while an adult paddled them around.
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| Chloe, Molly, Abby, Tessa, Grace (with Justin in the back) |
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| Abby, Chloe, and Molly with Aunt Ali paddling |
Stockton only went once, he was kind of nervous of it.
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| Stockton, Brynn, Justin, Grace |
He preferred playing beach baseball and digging in the sand.
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| Grant, Harper, Stockton |
The last thing we did was parasailing. I wasn't sure I would be able to go, but there were no restrictions for pregnant women (yes, that is an announcement) so up we went! Here are a few pictures...
Sitting on the back of the boat, all hooked up, waiting to take off.
Off we go!
Getting higher!
Soaring over the mountains and lake. I'll admit, this was kind of scary...you really don't realize how high up you are until you are up there.
I felt better when we starting getting a little lower.
We did it and we're excited!
I didn't really know what to expect when we started our vacation, but Lake Tahoe really did exceed everyone's expectations. Number one, it was gorgeous! Number two, I thought it very family friendly. Number three, it really wasn't too far away...driving distance for sure. We had such a good time with our family and we made some great memories. A successful trip!!
You are so cute! Love your announcement!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of fun! I think we'll have to try it out sometime. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, congrats on the pregnancy. :) When are you due?