Photos with Grandpa’s truck is a must every summer. We were running out of time since Emersyn and I were leaving a week early for her surgery.

Eleri’s reaction to Emersyn’s “driving”!

Soon Emersyn will be old enough to drive the truck around town!

There is still some time before Eleri will be old enough to drive around town…she needs to grow taller to see over the big steering wheel.

Sisters

After our photo sessions, Grandpa took the girls out for a spin around town. Eleri likes to honk the horn.

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 238 user reviews.

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Grandpa had a bag full of sparklers, smoke bombs and snakes for the girls when we arrived in Nebraska. He still lets them “play with fire” by using the blow torch.

The “peanut gallery” watching the fireworks fun.

Clean up crew – Grandpa!

It may not have been the 4th of July fireworks, but the girls still had fun.

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 260 user reviews.

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The “slide of Envy” (my name for the slide) at the Scottsbluff pool. I wasn’t sure Eleri was going to make the height limit this summer, but she did. Eleri had one big smile when she realized she was going on the slide. She put her arm out so fast for the yellow band that gave her access to the fun.

The “slide of Envy” has two slides. One you ride down in tubes (yellow slide) and one without (white slide). The double tubes are the best (so I am told), but they are hard to score. Once someone has a double tube, they don’t want to give them up. The yellow slide with the tubes drops into the lazy river which is fun to float around before climbing out. The slide without tubes is just a swim to the ladder.

Eleri was all smiles all day coming down the slides and around the lazy river.

The yellow band also gives her access to the bridge. Life is good when you are wearing a yellow band.

Double tube fun.

Kaylee & Emersyn

Emersyn & Eleri

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Grandpa wanted to have a garage sale. He is cleaning out and wants to get rid of “stuff”. Eleri went through the toys in the basement to add to the sale – always good to clean out!

Eleri also went through the stuff Grandpa had in the boxes for the sale. Grandpa had a garage sale last summer and boxed things that did not sell to go back out this summer. Eleri found our Easy Bake Oven from when we were kids. Grandpa tried to sell it last summer for $2 – no takers. Eleri decided the oven needed to come off the garage sale. She baked with the oven for days. Anything Grandma was baking or making, she wanted to make it in her over!

Grandma and girls make cookies to sell at the garage sale. Emersyn and Grandma used the real oven and Eleri made one cookie at a time in her over!

The girls made very nice signs to post down at the main road through town….no photo! Grandpa set everything up first thing in the morning. The girls and I got up to make homemade lemonade as people were stopping by at 7am! I didn’t get a photo of the sale as I didn’t think about it until the day was over. The girls had a table set up to handle the cash. Emersyn did most of the cash change which was good experience for her. They sold all day selling the items, cookies and lemonade.

Grandpa said Emersyn and Eleri could have all the profits from the day. Not sure that was going to add up to much as Grandpa wanted things gone and they were priced to sell! He had tools for 10 cents! However, he was also selling a set of tires and his parts pick-up. He had an old pick-up behind the garage he used for parts. Someone bought it for $450 – score! He sold the tires for $100 – score! The girls made $660 for their day at the garage sale…lucky selling the big ticket items. The girls were all smiles once they realized that each one just made $330! The girls now love garage sales!

Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 239 user reviews.

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A Shanghai Reunion in Chicago was set for this summer. We had five families (minus the Dads) meeting in Chicago.

Our five families were:
* Mary, Kelly and Erin were coming from Michigan.
* Hilary, Jack and Michael were coming from Seattle.
* Jennifer, Sean and Sophie were coming from North Carolina.
* Faith, Avery and Riley were coming from Kentucky.

Mary and Hilary had moved back to America last summer. It would be a fun weekend to see everyone and I have never been to Chicago.

Day One: All Day Travel

We left SF at 10am, but didn’t arrive until 4:30pm with the time change. The traffic was long from the airport to the hotel. We were the last ones to arrive Saturday early evening. We met in Hilary’s room for a drink before heading out for dinner. The kids met in Faith’s room…it sounded like a party in room 3917! We ate at Gino East Pizza, a famous pizza place. It was close to our hotel which was good as getting enough taxis for 15 people will be a challenge. The kids sat at one table and the Moms sat at another – a perfect dinner!

Emersyn, Michael, Jack, Sean, Kelly Avery and Erin, Sophie, Riley & Eleri

Day Two: The City

We had a 10am meeting time in the lobby. We didn’t make a plan the night before, but as we discussed the options, we decided to go to the Field Museum of National History. We determined we could walk to Millennium Park and maybe see about a taxi after getting there depending on Emersyn. Emersyn said she was good to walk.

At Millennium Park is the Cloud Gate sculpture more known as “The Bean” since is looks like a bean.

Cloud Gate, a public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor, is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed “The Bean” because of its bean-like shape. Made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, its highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 by 66 by 42 feet (10 by 20 by 13 m), and weighs 110 short tons (100 t; 98 long tons).

Said to have been inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture’s surface reflects and distorts the city’s skyline. Visitors are able to walk around and under Cloud Gate’s 12-foot (3.7 m) high arch. On the underside is the “omphalos” (Greek for “navel”), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections. The sculpture builds upon many of Kapoor’s artistic themes, and is popular with tourists as a photo-taking opportunity for its unique reflective properties.

We had fun with the reflective properties of the bean!

The gang of Kids

Emersyn & Eleri

The Moms – Mary, Brenda, Faith, Hilary & Jennifer

Emersyn, Kelly & Avery

Since we were half way to the Museum, we continued to walk. It took us about an hour to walk and have fun at the Bean. Once we arrived, some children wanted to go to the Shedd Aquarium next door. It was decided to split up…a very good decision with this many people. The older crew of 7th graders chose the History Museum while the younger crew of 5th graders plus Eleri wanted to go to the aquarium. Hilary, Jennifer and I took the Emersyn, Sean, Kelly, Avery, Jack and Michael to the Field History Museum. Mary and Faith took Eleri, Erin, Riley and Sophie to the Shedd Aquarium.

Upon entering the Field Museum of National History, it looks like the movie, “Night at the Museum” with a big open entrance to the Museum.

The first exhibit in the main hall is Sue, the T-Rex.

On May 17, 2000, the Field Museum unveiled Sue, the most complete and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil yet discovered. Sue is 42 feet (13 m) long, stands 13 feet (4 m) high at the hips and is 67 million years old. The fossil was named after Sue Hendrickson, the paleontologist who found it, and is commonly referred to as female, though the fossil’s actual gender is unknown. The original skull, located elsewhere in the museum, was not mounted to the body due to the difficulties in examining the specimen 13 feet off the ground, and for nominal aesthetic reasons (the replica doesn’t require a steel support under the mandible). An examination of the bones revealed that Sue died at age 28, a record for the fossilized remains of a T-rex.

Avery, Kelly, Sean, Emersyn, Michael and Jack at the Sue exhibit

Our first exhibit hall was Extreme Mammals, a temporary exhibit at the Museum. The exhibit explores the surprising and sometimes bizarre world of Extreme Mammals – the biggest, smallest, and most amazing mammals of all time. The kids were loving this exhibit. We had to rush them along as we had tickets to the Mummies, 3D movie at 12:20. Hilary had tickets to Dinosaurs, 3D at 1:00 as the tickets sold out fast. Hilary and the boys grabbed lunch during our film. Our move was interesting as it talked about the Valley of the Kings, a place we did see on our Egypt adventure.

Avery, Emersyn, Kelly & Sean in their 3D glasses

Lunch was our next stop at a bakery on the main floor which had very good food. After a long lunch, we went to the basement for the exhibit, “Underground Adventure”. The kids had fun reading and playing with the interactive games.

Kelly, Avery & Emersyn under the roots

After the Underground Exhibit, we walked through “Inside Ancient Egypt” exhibit. The day was getting away from us, as expected. Our next exhibit was Genghis Khan. This is a temporary exhibit at the Museum. This was my favorite and I could have spent twice as long in this exhibit. It was very interesting and I found myself reading all the information. Now, Mongolia is on my list for Asia!!

Hilary and the boys went back to the hotel after the Genghis Khan exhibit to swim in the pool. More than one day is needed to see all the exhibits at this Museum. We went upstairs to the Dinosaur Hall.

Brenda & Jennifer

We left the Museum around 4:30pm. It was a fun day learning on our trip to the Museum.

The view from the Museum

The kids wanted to walk back through the park as they wanted to buy shaved ice…again that makes it easier than trying to get a couple of taxis. Emersyn was tired by the time we reached the hotel walking around in the boot.

I have no photos of Eleri at the Shedd Aquarium. We have one of the best aquariums in the world at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Terri and Andy take the girls to Aquarium at least twice a year. I asked Eleri how the Shedd Aquarium compared. She said not as good, but they had a better kids’ play area. Hum, I guess we never really take Eleri to the Kids Zone at the Monterey Aquarium. We are always in the touch zone room. Eleri is forced to grown up faster to be with Emersyn.

Back at the hotel, all the kids went swimming but Emersyn. She needed the “holes” to heal more before swimming. We ordered take-out food for the kids to be eaten at the pool. Once the gang of kids were fed, showered and happy, the Moms left for an adult dinner at Ralph Lauren. The kids were put in two rooms, one for the older group and one for the younger group. They were loving the fact we were leaving them at the hotel. We figured they are old enough and enough of them to be safe!

We had an 8pm reservation for a lovely adult meal. Faith treated the ladies to a champagne toast. I had the best roasted lamb ever!! It was a fun evening enjoyed with good friends.

Mary, Hilary, Faith, Brenda & Jennifer

We walked back to the hotel to arrive around 10:30pm. The older kids had just ordered the movie, The Hungry Games ($20 a movie). Emersyn was a bit concerned to watch the movie as she doesn’t do well with scary movies. She has read the book series of three books twice so I told her she knows what to expect. Emersyn and Kelly decided to have a sleepover to watch the movie. I took Riley back to my room for a sleepover as the movie is not age appropriate for her.

Day Three: A Girls Day

Today, Jennifer’s family was meeting her Aunt and Hilary’s family was meeting a sister for lunch. Mary, Faith and I were taking the kids to the American Girl Store…another reason the two families with boys decided today was a good family day.

We started off our girl day with a stop at the Disney Store. Eleri had been asking to go the store – not that we don’t have one in our mall she can go to anytime. We had time before we went to lunch so the girls had fun looking around the Disney Store. The big black bear in the store was for the new movie, Brave.

We walked to lunch at an old establish dinner from 1945, Ed Debevic’s. At Ed Debevic’s the staff dances during break for the customers. The main difference at this restaurant is that the staff is rude to you. The girls were having fun being rude back.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel with a few quick shops along the way. Faith had made reservation for tea at 2pm. We had to go back to the hotel to get the American Girl Dolls. I had packed Eleri’s doll, Mia, from Shanghai to California to Chicago. I didn’t bring Emersyn’s doll, Nicki. I had asked her in Shanghai and she was fine not brining it. Emersyn went to the American Girl Store in New York with Terri and Andy when she turned 7. She had her American Girl experience at that time. She doesn’t play with her doll as much and bring it all the way from Shanghai was extra baggage. When we arrived at the store, I felt terrible about not having Emersyn’s doll. All the girls had their dolls, but Emersyn. They all got their dolls ears pierced which is the one thing Emersyn wanted for her doll. She was fine with it as she is Emersyn.

We went to sit down for our tea, but they wanted to serve us lunch. We just had a big lunch of burgers, fries and shakes so lunch didn’t sound good. They explained lunch is served until 4pm. We decided it would be best to wait till 4pm for tea. We would use this time to shop and some of the girls wanted to get their dolls’ hair fixed. Emersyn picked out a guitar for her doll which was perfect. Eleri and I walked all around the store several time (both levels) for her to decided what she wanted. It was fun to spend the time with Eleri as Emersyn was busy with her friends. Eleri decided on an old fashion ice cream set. I also purchased a table and chair set, but had it delivered as it was too big to drag to Nebraska. Amazing how fast two hours went by when you are shopping at the American Girl Store!

The girls with their dolls

Emersyn & Avery

Erin, Riley & Eleri

Tea consists of the following foods:
* Warm Cinnamon Buns
* Kayaâ€™s Blueberry Scones with Devon cream
* Addyâ€™s Fruit Kabob
* Rebeccaâ€™s Cucumber Sandwich with Boursin cheese on white bread
* Josefinaâ€™s Turkey Sandwich with sliced tomato and tomato mayonnaise on wheat bread topped with American cheese
* Julieâ€™s Pepperoni-and-Mozzarella-Cheese Turnover
* Ivyâ€™s Peanut-free PB&J on white bread

All the food is named after a doll in the collection.

Dessert included:
* Kitâ€™s Linzer Cookie
* Ruthieâ€™s Jell-O Smiles
* Mollyâ€™s Victory Garden strawberry Mousse Flowerpot.

The Jell-O smiles were jello in orange slices. The girls had fun with the smiles.

We had planned to take the kids to dinner tonight, but they all wanted take out and to stay at the hotel, again. That can be arranged! We ordered take out to feed the kids before dashing out the door to another adult dinner. They are enjoying hanging in the rooms with their friends.

Day Four: Good-byes and More Adventures

Hilary, Jennifer and Faith were leaving on afternoon flights. I had decided to stay an extra day as we would have been on an early morning departure. Mary drove from Michigan so she was staying another night, also. We all enjoyed a long breakfast at the bakery across the street. Jennifer and Hilary were the first to depart. Faith was on a later afternoon flight. We walked back to the American Girl store to deliver Avery’s doll as it needed to go to the hospital to fix a leg.

The Gang – Sophie, Erin, Riley, Eleri, Jack, Michael, Emersyn, Kelly, Avery and Sean

The 7th grade crew – Emersyn, Kelly, Avery, Sean & Jack

After saying our last good-byes, Mary and I decided our adventure today would be to walk down to Navy Pier. At Navy Pier, we had lunch at Bubba Gumps. We eat at Bubba Gumps when we go to Monterey, but Mary and the girls do not have one in Michigan. We enjoyed a long lunch with our friends. After lunch, the girls rode the ferris wheel and we walked around the Pier.

For dinner, we decided we would go back to Gino East for the deep dish pizza. Again, we enjoyed the time to visit with our good friends as it always seems like old times when we get together.

Emersyn & Kelly

Brenda & Mary

Mary and I enjoyed a last chat and a drink in her room while Erin and Eleri played with their American girl dolls in our room. Kelly and Emersyn had teenage talk time.

It was a fun trip enjoying good friends and seeing a new City.

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With no improvement in Emersyn’s bone cyst in the past year, her doctor wanted to squeezed in two procedure before we went back to Shanghai. He was able to squeeze one in before we left for Chicago. It is hard to work with in our summer schedule!

On the morning of her surgery procedure, Jim was leaving for Toledo for work. Nancy drove Jim to the airport, Eleri went across the street to Karla’s house to play with Izzy. I took Emersyn to the Surgery Center. Everyone at the Surgery Center is so nice. She had the same nurses and doctors, therefore, she wouldn’t need an iv based on last summer’s experience.

The time I am at the Surgery Center is about five hours. When her doctor came to talk to me about the procedure, he did not have good news. The bone cyst had changed with one of the three cavities filling with tissue. He wanted to do the bone operation he was trying to avoid. We were leaving for Chicago tomorrow so I will need to do some plan changes to squeeze this surgery in before we leave for Shanghai.

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We arrived back to the Bay Area to unload the car from our adventure at Tahoe. The girls had some poppers Aunt Terri bought at Target on the way up to Tahoe. They went out front to throw their poppers on the ground. No fireworks as they are illegal in the State of California. California is brown in the summers and green in the winter based on the rain season. The girls have on their usual California attire for the evening…shorts and a fleece!

Grandpa did say he would buy the girls some smoke bombs and snakes for when we get to Nebraska. Fireworks are legal until July 4. After July 4, the blow-up popping fireworks are illegal.

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5 based on 261 user reviews.

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After our extended family dinner last night, we hadn’t packed a thing for Tahoe. Time was spent cleaning the house (always a big one when you are not living there). When Emersyn finally arrived in California, one of the top priority was a follow up on her bone cyst. Jim took her to see Dr. Semkiw while I ran Eleri to the dentist. When I got back from the dentist, I could begin to throw things in a bag for our trip to Tahoe! Emersyn came home with bad news, her bone cyst hadn’t changed. We did three surgery procedures last summer tying to get the bone to heal. Dr. Semkiw wanted to squeeze in two more this summer. The first would be the day before we leave for Chicago. Emersyn wasn’t in the best of moods driving to Tahoe. She also realized we were driving home on the 4th of July and there would be no fireworks to add to her bad day.

“In and Out” burgers are our tradition when driving to Tahoe. Since we were getting such a late start, we grabbed a burger at Milpitas on our way out of town. Terri was riding to Tahoe with us while Andy is coming on Friday driving Mimi and Papa. Terri and Andy are leaving on July 4th from Reno to South Dakota for a family reunion.

When we got to the cabin, we unpacked and cooked up some good steaks for dinner. After dinner, we had game night. I had purchased the game, Clue. A game we all played as kids. It was fun as Eleri is now old enough to play more advanced games. Terri won this round of Clue.

Day One: Lake Fun

We were meeting our neighbors, Daniel, Karla, Sophie and Izzy, at the beach today. We have this routine for going to the beach. Jim is on lunch duty taking orders for sandwiches while I am on sunscreen duty. We load the car with more stuff than we could ever need. I remember the days when Jim and I WALKED to the beach with a towel, a water and a book…those days are long gone. Now, everyone is carrying something…chairs, umbrellas, beach toys, lunch bags, lunch cooler, towels…good thing the walk to the beach is short after the drop off point. I should get a photo, but my hands are full! Here is a photo of our little camp spot. Jim was busy making calls for work, but a beautiful view to enjoy while working.

It is early in the season, so the water at Tahoe is extra cold. The temperature is cooler, too. I packed our fleeces to take to the beach. I know if we swim, we will need them to warm up. The girls had fun digging in the sand with Izzy and Sophie.

Eleri & Emersyn at the Lake

While I was getting food at the grocery store, I saw a new Sharkie. Eleri had put a hole in our Sharkie last year when she swam out to the rafts. Sharkie is a team mascot when we raft.

Izzy and Eleri wanted to go out on the paddle boats. Daniel offered to go with the girls which made us all happy as we are out in the paddle boats every summer. They are a little hard to steer while staying in the roped area.

Eleri, Daniel & Izzy paddling on the lake

After the paddle boats, Izzy and Eleri wanted to swim to the rafts. I have one rule on swimming in the Lake, I don’t swim until after lunch as I need time to warm up. Jim offered to go with the girls. Izzy has been floating and playing in the water as if it is warm, which it is not! Izzy swam out with one tube while Eleri put Sharkie on a tube so the only thing in the water was her legs.

Izzy & Eleri on the rafts

After lunch, Terri went to play in the pool with the girls.

Emersyn & Terri at the pool

Since she was already wet, she decided to swim to the rafts…but it was colder than she had expected. It took her all afternoon to warm up.

Izzy, Eleri, Sophie, Terri & Emersyn

Sophie was trying Eleri’s trick of staying above the water! Emersyn jumped right in, but she did comment this was NOT the temperature of the ocean in Thailand!

Emersyn & Sophie

Jim and I packed up the car while the gang was swimming to the rafts. After the lake swim, we went home for warm showers. Our girls were spending the night with Sophie and Izzy. They are staying at another neighbors’ cabin. We dove the girls to their cabin and enjoyed a glass of wine with Karla, Daniel and Karla’s Mom, Mirtha. Then, Terri, Jim and I went out for pizza – a night out with NO kids!

Day Two: Squaw Valley and Zipping

Today we were meeting the gang at Squaw Valley Ski Resort for pizza. Karla and Daniel would bring our girls with them. Karla had a favorite pizza place, Fireside Pizza, in the Village. I haven’t been to Squaw in years. Squaw grew! The parking lot has been filled in with shops, restaurants and hotels. Squaw Village was not three times the size it was ten years ago. We did enjoy walking around the shops. The pizza was excellent as it was a beautiful day to sit out and enjoy the fun.

While shopping at Squaw, Eleri decided she wanted a Sock Monkey likes Emersyn’s monkey. Emersyn made her monkey from the kit with Aunt Nancy about two years ago. One shop had a monkey for $19.95 – stuffed and ready to go home. Another shop had the kit to make a monkey for $19.95. Emersyn said Eleri should make the monkey because the fun part was making it with Aunt Nancy. Eleri purchased the kit so now we need to squeeze in some monkey making time with Aunt Nancy!

After lunch, the plan was to take the cable car to the top. However, there was a new zip line course. Izzy really wanted to zip and Sophie really wanted to take the cable car. Since they were leaving tomorrow, it was their choice as we had other days to enjoy the fun. In the end, we decided to zip.

The Tahoe Treetop Adventure park opened yesterday at Granlibakken. The cost was $45 for an adult and $28 for kids under 13.

Geared up & ready to go

The key to the fun is height. Eleri was not tall enough to go on the Intermediate & Advanced Zone course. We all started off on the beginners course, Flying Squirrel Zone.

Emersyn

Jim

Brenda

Eleri

The Flying Squirrel has two courses. After finishing the course, Terri, Jim, Izzy, Sophie and Emersyn went to the Intermediate course. Eleri and I worked our way around the two beginner courses about 3 times. After that, Eleri was done. The course was fun, but to short and simple to keep her attention. From my point of view, it was too expensive. Eleri can not do the course by herself as she can’t reach a few of the clip-ins. Therefore, for the two of us to do this small course, it cost $73. They need a discount for adults doing the beginners course. I would not come back until Eleri is tall enough to do the other course.

Since Daniel and Karla were with us, but not doing the course, I left Eleri with them while I did a round on the adult course. Terri waited for me as the group had began to get split up. Izzy and Jim were out in front while Emersyn and Sophie were working together to get through the course. Some of the course was hard and out of their comfort zone…except Izzy who has no fear. I pulled this off their website, we didn’t know which course was what color at the time.

The Adult / Intermediate & Advanced Zone offers 5 different courses for all abilities.

Pink course â€“ Eight different bridges including a zip line finish will ease you into this zone and prepare you for the intermediate courses.

Orange Course â€“ is an intermediate course that has many of the most fun and exciting events youâ€™ll ever find in an Aerial Adventure park.

Yellow Course â€“ is the Canopy Tour course in this Zone. It contains eight different events with four zip lines totaling 500â€™. You will also walk across a 120â€™ suspension bridge between â€œThe Twinsâ€, two gorgeous twin Cedars estimated to be 500+ years old.

Red Course â€“ starts with a zip line and finishes with a zip line. Designed to be interactive and within view of other participants, the red course is great with friends and family.

Blue Course â€“ is the advanced course for those looking for the most challenging bridges and events. Comprised of 9 different events including two 100â€™ zip lines and a 300â€™ zip line, this course should challenge even the most adventurous.

The group did 4 of the 5 courses. I did 2 courses. I started on the Orange course which had a bike to ride across the cables. The bike was a bit hard to get on and off which required help. This created a problem when Jim was doing the course with the girls. No more than two people are to be on the platforms, but the girls could not hold the bike cable so all 5 of them were on the platform.

After the Orange Course, Terri and I moved to the Yellow Course. Halfway through the course on the third zip line, I missed and zipped into the platform. It hurt and I was done, but I had to finish the course. Crashing into a platform left me with a nice bruise and cut. As I type in August, my leg is still healing.

Terri

I had more photos of Eleri since we were on the beginners course together. By the time I finished my course, it was getting dark in the trees to get any good photos of Jim and Emersyn. Jim and the girls did the Blue course. Even Jim said it was challenging.

Emersyn

It was after 7pm when we finished. Everyone went home for showers. Then, Karla brought the girls to spend the night at our cabin. We fixed a big pasta dinner for the hungry and tired crew. Andy, Mimi and Papa arrived about 10pm just before everyone went to bed.

Day Three: More beach Fun

Jim packed the lunches for the expanded crew. We went to enjoy another day at the beach. Izzy and Sophie only had until about 2pm to play as they were driving home today. The girls had fun digging, swimming and playing together. They spent most of the day at the pool with Uncle Andy, a big kid himself.

Eleri & Izzy

The girls took the camera to the pool to get some fun photos.

Eleri

Emersyn

After the pool, Izzy and Eleri decided to swim to the rafts. I should have taken a video of Eleri, but we were to busy laughing. She was trying to get off the raft back in the water on her tube/Sharkie combination without getting wet. A couple of teenagers offer to help her, but she didn’t want help as she didn’t want to go IN the lake.

Emersyn & Sophie warming up after the swim

With the girls leaving, we arrived back to the house early for a change. We enjoyed a nice dinner with more game night fun. We played the game Enchanted Forest. It is for ages 6 and older, but, it is a hard memory game. It is one of those Germany wood board games. Mimi and Papa were playing with us – a little bit of a challenge for Papa so we put them on the same team.

Day Four: Biking the Path

After Jim took his parents to church, we left on our biking adventure. The bike shops only has two “tag-alongs” to rent. We did get the last one. We also rent a bike for Emersyn. Since she only rides it once a year, we haven’t invested in a bike for her, yet. With Eleri on the back of Jim’s bike, we are able to bike from Homewood to Tahoe City. It is a beautiful ride along the Lake – about a 20 mile round trip adventure.

We ALWAYS bike to the River Ranch for hamburgers on the deck. It is a great place to enjoy the afternoon sun at Tahoe.

After lunch, we ride into town to shop. The girls like the toy shop at Boat Works along with the ice cream shop. We always shop longer than we should. Then, we have to ride home a bit faster as the bikes need to be back by 5pm. We did make time for a quick photo by the Lake.

Tonight’s game is Creationary by Legos. Again, ages 8 and up. Ok, this game is hard. You have to make lego items based on the card you draw. Jim and Emmy against Papa and Eleri against Mimi and I. Terri and Andy went out for dinner. When they arrived home, they took Mimi’s spot as I needed an engineering mind to help build these pieces.

Day Five: An Outing on Lake Tahoe with Justin

Justin had arrived early this morning at Tahoe and made a surprise visit to see us with pastries from the Tahoe House. Mimi loves surprise visits especially from her grandchildren. Justin had said he could take us out (all of us would fit) on a friend’s boat today. Justin was staying at his friend’s house since this house was full! Jim went to work packing lunches for the crew. Good thing he has a system for making everyone their special sandwich. We met Justin at Sunny Side at 11am for our exciting adventure on the Lake. We have spent many summers at Lake Tahoe, but we have not been on the lake.

Justin

The girls enjoying the front of the boat

Justin let the girls take turns driving the boat when the way was clear.

It was a beautiful day on the Lake.

Justin took us to Emerald Bay. Emerald Bay State Park is a state park of California, a National Natural Landmark. The Park features include Eagle Falls and Vikingsholm, a 38-room mansion that is considered one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the United States. The Park contains the only island in Lake Tahoe, Fannette Island.

In 1969, Emerald Bay was recognized as a National Natural Landmark by the federal Department of the Interior. In 1994, California State Parks included the surrounding water of the bay as a part of the park, making Emerald Bay one of the first underwater parks of its type in the state, protecting the various wrecks and other items on the bay’s bottom. The 1, 533-acre (620 ha) park was established in 1953.

We had lunch at the beach at Emerald Bay Park. The Park is accessible by car. The car park is at the top of the hill with a one mile walk down to the Lake. Justin pulled in for us to get off at the pier located at the Park. Jim and Justin then had to swim in after anchoring the boat. We enjoyed a tasty lunch and walked around the Vikingsholm. We had missed the next tour so decided we should come back another time. The girls have not been in the Vikingsholm.

Mrs. Lora Joseph Knight purchased the land in 1928. Mrs. Knight’s land included the only island (Fanette Island) in Lake Tahoe and the only water fall (Eagle Falls) flowing directly into the Lake. Mrs. Knight wanted to build a summer home that would compliment the magnificent natural surroundings. Emerald Bay reminded her of many of the fjords she had seen on numerous travels to Scandinavia. Mrs. Knight would arrive for the summer in mid June and stay until the middle of September.

Mrs. Knight enjoyed entertaining and had a number of guests visiting during the summer months. Tea was served every afternoon on the terrace or in the library, and occasionally in the tea house on the island.

After our lunch, Justin and Jim swam out to get the boat. Justin took us to Fannette Island to the tea house. There is no place to dock a boat so the hikers had to jump off the back of the boat. We did need to hurry as the current drags the boat to shore and Justin didn’t want the motor to hit the rocks. The cold water takes your breath away when you jump in. Both girls did jump in quickly and swam while holding their shoes. Ok, Jim did swim with Eleri’s shoes.

The Tea House

This was my first time to the Tea House. It is a short hike to the top with amazing views. It would be a nice place for afternoon tea. I am sure Mrs. Knights guest were rowed to shore so they didn’t have to swim in, but that takes away the adventure of it all!

Brenda, Jim & Andy and Eleri, Emersyn & Terri

We hiked back down to the edge of the little island. We swam back out to Justin and drove to another part of the lake to swim. This lake area under Rubicon is to be the clearest and the coldest based on the rock formation.

Emersyn’s jump into the Lake

My favorite part of the photo of Emersyn jumping in the lake is Justin in the back ground!

Papa enjoying the day

Mimi & Jim

Next we drove to Chamber’s beach for some photos before returning to Sunny Side after a fun filled day on the Lake. It was a very grand adventure on the Lake. It was nice of Justin to treat us to such a fabulous day all spent together.

Mimi & Papa with their grandchildren, Emersyn, Justin & Eleri

Jim & Brenda

Andy & Terri

Papa & Mimi

Back at Sunny Side, we enjoyed a quick cocktail on the crowded deck of Sunny Side. Sunny Side does have one of the best views of the lake from their deck which explains the always crowded deck. Jim had a work call tonight. We decided this would be a good night to get everyone out of the house for pizza to give Jim some quiet time.

Day Six: Rafting Adventure

Lunches packed, rafts loaded and we are ready for our adventure. Jim has spent the last two evenings trying to find a leak in one of the rafts. He patched the big one, but there is still a slow leak. He solved the problem by bring the pump. The boys do the car drop which takes about 30 minutes to drive to the River Ranch to leave a car. The ladies wait with the rafts and take photos.

Eleri with Team Sharkie

I picked up another kids floating toy at the PDQ for Emersyn. Now, both rafts have a mascot.

Emersyn with Team Gator

Team Gator – Emersyn, Brenda and Jim

Team Sharkie – Eleri, Terri and Andy

The water in the Truckee River is extra cold early in the season, also. We limited our water fighting this year. We floated and enjoy the beauty of the River to our lunch spot. Our usual lunch spot was taken! We found a new spot further down that we all liked better. After lunch, Eleri put on the life vest I purchased at Decathlon. After the raft flipping two years ago, we thought it was best to be more prepared. She didn’t mind as it was small, but enough to help her if she found herself in the rapids.

Jim and I had the boat with the small leak. Therefore, we filled it up at lunch – good thing Jim brought the pump!

The girls enjoyed one more dip in the River before we headed into the rapids.

The River was a nice level this year. The rapids into the River Ranch were just right and the rocks that usually hit the bottom of the boat were less – a perfect level. After rafting, Terri and Andy wanted to go on the Vikingsholm tour. Emersyn wanted to go shopping at the new Lather & Fizz shop we found. Eleri wanted to go with Terri and Andy. Perfect as Eleri is not a fun shopper. Jim and I took Emersyn to the new pub in town for a drink before our shop…she had a root beer.

After our shop, we met Justin, Mimi and Papa down at the beach for a Chamber’s Punch…a fun way to end the day!

Day Seven: Quail Lake

Our last day at Lake Tahoe. Papa had been cleaning his office and he found the box with Sager’s ashes. Jim and I used to take Sager to Quail Lake hiking all the time. It is a short hike with a lake Sager loved. He loved coming to Tahoe. He would start barking as soon as we turned into the subdivision to the house. The girls have not hiked to Quail Lake. We thoughts this would be a good reason to hike to Quail Lake – to bury Sager’s ashes. Mimi had new walking sticks for the girls to use on their hike.

We made it to the top on this beautiful day. It was a little warm hiking up, but it was cooler at the top.

Time for a little rock skipping…

Time for a little seed blowing…

Time for a little ash spreading…

The hike down was easier, of course.

When we reached the house, we finished the last of the cleaning, packed the car and drove back to the Bay Area. It was July 4th…the freeway home was clear. The least traffic I have ever seen on the road. Everyone was at their bbq or gathering or somewhere celebrating the 4th of July.

It was another fun Summer at Tahoe!

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We are hosting a family gathering in our backyard. The family gathering includes extended family…Erica and Anne. Our family knows our house is a mess “in-transition”. There is nothing to “hide” from them. With Terri and Andy living in our house, they have their “stuff” stacked in various rooms in the house. However, with Erica and Anne coming over, I needed to spend the time clearing out and making the house a bit more presentable – if possible. There are benefits of my cleaning. I dug out all the toys that were shoved in the bathroom downstairs. Since there is only a toilet in the room, it has become a storage/dump zone. I moved the toy kitchen upstairs and clean out part of the toy room to actually make room to play. Now, Eleri has half the room to play in the toy room. Terri and Andy’s stuff is in the other half of the room. One day when we host, we can just host and not spend two days cleaning!

Anne and family came early. The girls had fun playing in the backyard. They added the slide to make the slip-n-slide more adventures.

The water volcano was a hit with Asha.

Emersyn & Maia

We were so busy talking and enjoying the night, I don’t have many photos. The only family photo of the Gin family.

Asha, Anne, Maia & Collin

I don’t have a family photo with Erica. I always think about the photos I need after the fact when I am blogging. Collin is from New Zealand while Anne is from Malaysia. Collin and Erica had fun getting to know each other and talking about their home country. It was a fun evening spent with friends and family.

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Jim and Emersyn were to arrive in San Francisco on Friday morning. After sitting on the plane for 5 hours, they were told their flight was cancelled. They had to de-board, gather their luggage and rebook for the flight tomorrow. Jim gathered luggage while Emersyn took care of rebooking. Jim had comment Emersyn took controlled and managed the situation like an adult. They went home for dumplings at Din Tai Fung at the WFC and foot rubs.

Saturday was a retry with them arriving at the airport to sit at the airport for 5 hours (better than the plane) to do it all over again. Jim gathered the luggage and Emersyn took care of the “counter issues”. This time Jim booked new flights for the next day to guarantee they would leave Shanghai. Back home for another night out for sushi and another foot rub. There is a new massage place across the street offering discounts since it just opened.

Sunday they finally left Shanghai which was good as we had a busy day planned. Erica, Kathy’s exchange student from New Zealand, was in town visiting. Erica spent her senior year with Kathy many years ago. She brought her three children for a visit. She is “extended family” from New Zealand. The last time we saw Erica was when Jim and I went to New Zealand in 1997.

Giselle and Scott had just moved into their new home in Oakland. They hosted a family bbq. I was impressed how much they had put away in the short time they have been in the house.

Aunt Nancy & Emersyn

Nicole arrived with her boyfriend, Michael, with fun news. They got engaged this morning! Now, the fun begins in planning a wedding and a future together.

Justin, Michael & Nicole

We were celebrating Kathy’s birthday early since Erica was in town. It was a lovely family gathering.

Kathy with Erica

We couldn’t stay for dinner as we were meeting Hong Kong friends for dinner in Palo Alto. They would be in the area for two weeks, but this would be the only time we could see them. We were off to Tahoe on Wednesday as it is one of those crazy summers. A quick family photo before we left.

The Family

We were meeting Maia, Emersyn’s friend from Hong Kong days. Maia moved to Manila when they were three. Emersyn was not very pleased. She would tell people Maia moved to Vanilla (cute for a 3 year old). Over the years, we have seen Maia and family when possible. We were meeting them in Palo Alto for pizza. They were staying in Palo Alto as the girls, Maia and Asha, were going to a two week camp at the International school to learn Spanish. It was fun to see them…no photos as we were too busy talking. Anne and Collin looked the same, but the girls had grown up so much. Maia is 12 and Asha is 7. We invited them to dinner at our house on Tuesday…what were 4 more people!

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