Cherry Vacation: Tahoe

We were lucky enough to be able to get away for a fun vacation/family reunion with Steve's family.  Allyson was so excited to go on a vacation with all her cousins, she was counting down the days.  She also started calling it the "Cherry Vacation" which I thought was cute and so that is what we called it.  She insisted only people who were Cherry's could come on the vacation.  She very seriously informed my mom that because she wasn't a Cherry she was not invited.  Silly girl.

The reunion was Linda's idea and with a little bit of luck everyone was able to make it! All of the Cherry boys, their wives and kids, Bob and Linda, and Uncle Greg got together for some fun family bonding.

The for the first part of the vacation we all stayed in a cabin in North Tahoe.  The drive was a little long (not nearly as long as it was for Kevin and Emma though) so I planned a fun stop half way.  We stopped in Auburn at In-N-Out to grab some lunch and headed to a nearby park.  It turned out to be a great park!  There was a great playground, a small pond and lots of grass.  Just what our girls needed to stretch their legs and get their wiggles out.  Eva ate her entire grilled cheese sandwich, while Ally maybe ate half of her burger.  Oh well, I guess Ally had too many teddy grahams in the car.

We were the last ones to make it to the cabin and Ally quickly joined in the fun.  She loved playing the snow and got properly wet just in time to jump in the hot tub.  Uncle Brandon was amazing, he was so good to the kids playing fun and crazy games with them.  I certainly appreciated him keeping the kids occupied and entertained.

Eva enjoying some snacks with Papa on the deck.  Eva did amazingly well (not perfect, but pretty good) she had very few naps, had a bad cold but was happy most of the time.

Sunday morning we took advantage of the whole family being together and headed off to church.  Thankfully there was a church just down the road from our cabin, oh how I wish we only had a 5 minute drive to our home ward.

After church Steve and I drove around the lake a bit looking for a beach to go to that afternoon.  We found a great park that had a playground and plenty of beachfront.

The serious pose, I hope Steve's no smile policy isn't rubbing off on the girls.

The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, but the wind was so cold.  Despite the wind there were people swimming and sunbathing!  

They playground was a hit, the kids had a blast and wore themselves out.

Linda, Katelyn, Kevin, Emma, Brian, Cameron, Steve, Ally, Erin, Eva and Brandon

Linda brought some fun beach toys.  I am not sure who enjoyed them the most, the kids or the Uncles.

Monday we managed to get everyone out the door (quite a feat) for some hiking fun.  I found two fun kid friendly hikes.  Sadly the first hike turned out would have been through a few feet of snow.  We abandoned that idea and headed for the second hike.  It was the perfect hike for the kids, we hiked up a fire road to a lookout where there used to be an old fire tower.  At the top there was an interpretive trail with historical facts about Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area.  

The entire Cherry Family

Eva was a trooper in the backpack, she loved being outside.  The hike was right at her nap time but she was happy the whole time.  

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

We really got lucky with the weather, beautiful sunny days and just chilly enough to keep the Cherry boys happy.

Uncle Brandon helping the kids with their rock climbing.

Ally's favorite part of the entire trip was the hot tub.  She is still talking about it.  The kids used the hot tub way more than the adults and they probably had more fun in it too.

I was just glad her swimming suit that she wore for two summers still fits!  Barely, but it fit.  I need to get shopping for a new suit for this summer.

On Monday Eva kept acting like she wanted to get into the hot tub too.  After some convincing I got Steve to take her in the hot tub.  Apparently Eva didn't really want to be in the hot tub, she started crying instantly.

Thankfully daddy was able to convince her it was fun and she started to enjoy it.

The first Cherry Reunion was a success!  I didn't get a single picture of Uncle Greg (how did that happen?)  or the mini birthday celebration we had for him on the last night.  Ally is already asking when we get to go on the next Cherry Vacation, she is ready to do it all again.