Pigs Join VM Fam!

Even over a month later, we are still sad about Lily.  Tears sneak up on the girls at unexpected times and we just miss having a pet to love and take care of.  Though the girls have been working very hard in their attempts to talk us into it, Dave and I are holding firm on not getting another dog for a long time.  But, we did agree to consider a smaller pet, and wouldn't you know?, a simple trip to the pet store "just to look" turned into us coming home with 2 new guinea pigs!  I am thrilled!  I had guinea pigs growing up and Dave and I had them as pets before the girls were born.  It feels just perfect to go back to this great pet and make these 2 adorable critters the object of all our attention!  

Sooooo, meet Sundae, the pig Ella picked out, named and is holding, and Twix, the pig Delia picked out, named and is holding!

Just for fun!  Check out this old pic I found of me holding my first guinea pig, Taffy...

Squaw Valley

Because of our location on the lake this summer, we decided to go home around the top of it and make a day out of visiting Squaw Valley.  It was fun to see new-to-us North Lake Tahoe, and then spend time taking in The Village at Squaw Valley, where some fun Olympic stuff is located.

 It was neat to check out the slopes.  I am barely a skier, but it looks like Squaw Valley may have a few runs I could actually do without dying!

The village had a whole area to just play-- slack lines, badminton, ladder ball and bean bags.  They also had lots of cute restaurants, shops, and places to sit around artistic fire pits.  Of all the ski villages we've visited in the summer (Heavenly, Mammoth, etc.) this one is my favorite and one I'd actually consider coming back to in the winter!

After lunch we took a hike along this path that runs parallel to the slopes.  It was SO beautiful!

Dave and I have been talking all summer, but this vacation was a good time to deeply discuss how different this year is going to look for both of us and what all our anxieties about it are.  We know that in both of our jobs God is asking more of us, but will equip us with His strength and Spirit.  Time to prepare for and face this reality is the main reason I am SO thankful for the sabbatical we've been blessed with this summer!    Here we are, at the near end of it, contemplating all that the past 2 months have given us-- the opportunity to serve, to worship in all new ways with the big body of Christ, and to reconnect with family back home.  Dave has read a dozen books about pastoring and been able to dream and plan without the daily distractions of being in his office (which we gave a thorough cleaning out and make-over to one week).  We've explored some lovely parts of creation, rested, and just had a ton of fun.  Most of all, our marriage and family has been fortified, allowing us to feel excited and as ready as we can be for whatever comes next on our ministry path!

Sand Harbor

On our trip to Tahoe two summers ago, we found the best beach I've ever played on-- Sand Harbor on the Nevada side of the lake.  I have not stopped thinking about the fun time we had there, and honestly, much of this trip back to Tahoe was just an excuse to revisit this beautiful beach!

What makes Sand Harbor special is the crystal clear, blue-green water dotted with these huge boulders.  The boulders are fun to climb and they make natural swimming holes that feel like your own private pool on the beach.  Our state's drought did have the lake's landscape looking different this year.  Our favorite swimming hole, which was pretty deep the last time we visited, held just a few inches of water in it this year.  Compare and contrast for yourself!

The big story of this day was the Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP) we rented for 3 hours.  The coves at Sand Harbor are the perfect place to SUP-- there is lots of pretty stuff to paddle around and explore and little deep water or waves.  In fact, after both Dave and I had taken turns, Ella wanted to give it a go...and then she didn't get off for the rest of the day!  

What fun we had letting Ella paddle us around Sand Harbor!  She said this was one of her favorite things that she did all summer!

Delia took a few rides on the SUP, and did try it herself with Dave's guidance, but her happy place was on the beach catching crawdads with a gaggle of other kids she quickly befriended.

We stayed at this beach for over 7 hours!  Considering my hubby tolerates the beach, but doesn't love it, this is a testament to what a special spot of Lake Tahoe this is!

Activities with Scenery

What I love about Lake Tahoe is that incredible views are everywhere.  Every drive and walk you take are rewarded with scenery.  Here are a few of the fun things we did in the middle of all that gorgeousness...

 We walked around the Heavenly Ski Village.

We played a little more mini-golf.

We rented bikes and rode on the lake-hugging, foresty bike path for a few miles.

We got off the bikes for a couple scenic stops along the lake.

And we drove up to the vista point at Emerald Bay, which is one of my very favorite places along the lake.

 Seriously.  Can you imagine anything prettier than this?

Last Hurrah in Tahoe

Our destination was Lake Tahoe.  The resort we booked seemed too good to be true for the price we got it for.  We enjoyed an apartment-like room with a full kitchen, a pool and 2 hot tubs that we had all to ourselves, and gorgeous grounds nestled right in the middle of the mountains.  How is all this possible, you wonder?  Well, we learned that this resort on the Nevada side of the lake was SO remote, it took at least 40 minutes to drive down the twisty mountain roads each time we wanted to get to anything!  So, that was the catch.  But, we all decided that a little extra time in the car enduring some scary driving each day was worth it and we would definitely stay here again!

Dave continued sabbatical-ing, getting a couple more books on his list read.

These mountains were part of our view, Delia named the one "Mount Delia" because of the big D she found emblazoned on it!

Summer Fun at Home

The week following our long stay in the Midwest was a wonderful time to just be home and enjoy life at a slower pace.  The kids went to VBS while Dave and I took advantage of quiet mornings at home to get stuff done.  Lots of time was spent this week starting to reconnect with church family-- including a couple dinners, a sleepover and a rollerblading date.  One day in this week was Delia's birthday.  While she had no shortage of celebrations with family members in the two weeks proceeding her birthday, we didn't want the 13th to go by totally unrecognized, so we planned this small date with our good friends Rachel and her kids Evan and Zane.  We used our "pastors and their families golf for free" card and played a round of mini golf followed by a frozen yogurt outing.  It was the perfect little activity to connect with our friends AND make Delia feel special.

Another afternoon, when VBS was over, we took the kids to the county fair.  It's been a while since we've been to a fair and this was a fun one.  As you would imagine, the animal barns were favorites-- especially any having BABY farm animals!

The animals were our favorites...until we got the butterfly house!  Here we were encouraged to dip Q-tips in nectar and feed the butterflies!  We've been to butterfly exhibits before, but always with the rule of "Don't Touch the Butterflies!"  Here we were encouraged to feed and handle them!  It was awesome and crazy and actually a bit scary when 10 would flutter around your face and land all over you!

Giant bubbles and games in the kids' tent and Footsie Wootsies were other fun things we found at the fair.

Like I said, this was a good week to just be home to rest and get caught up on things, BUT it was also during this week that we had what I'll call the Cinderella Realization-- that our summer and Dave's sabbatical was quickly coming to an end and we wanted to squeeze one more dance in before midnight.  Also, some guilt set in for Dave that being home, but not being at church, was hard.  And so we found an amazing last minute deal on a hotel in the mountains and took off for one last summer getaway, just the 4 of us...