Gettin' out

This time of year in Tahoe is truly glorious!  The aspen are turning, there is a chill in the air, but the snow has not hit yet.  We lived it up while G and G were here and took a couple little hikes, played tennis, went to watch the sunset and explored Hope Valley and the Grover Hot Springs.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Walking out to Cave Rock

True beauty

The Dalton Gang

Big smiles

Glorious

A short walk among the Aspen grove

The kids hugging

Enjoying the views

My 'rents with their only (currently) born grandchildren

Making a picnic lunch

Our views from lunch

Soaking in the hot mineral water

Fearless Chloe did this over and over again

Jumping in together

"Come on lets go to the park!"

 "No, you must hold my hand Little Independent!"

Me and my dad

I would have loved to sit here for awhile

On the "playground"

Wresting in the beautiful grass

 The 'hippie' bathroom in the library

Tired kiddos and adults on the way home

Four whole days!

My parents had planned on visiting my cousin up in Bend, OR while they were here.  My mom had the brillant idea of taking the kiddos with them so they could play with their second cousins and Joe and I could have a little break.  It was such a HUGE blessing!  I deep cleaned my house the first day they left and it actually stayed clean for the next couple days! Joe and I had some wonderful time together and Grammie and Gramps got some special time with their grand-children.  Win win!

My cousin and her family live on a farm outside of Bend and the kids had a blast playing with their cousins and watching the cows and chickens.  And Nate got a haircut! :)

Joe and I just sat around and drank all day missing our children.  Just kidding!  We went out for ice cream shakes one night, mixed drinks the next and had a wonderful coffee date using our free drink coupons from Starbucks as well.  If you are going to get a venti drink, you've gotta have the time to sit and enjoy it!

 The big thing that we accomplished was biking all the way around Lake Tahoe one day.  We were pumped and excited and ready for it in spirit, but not really in body.  I guess next time I ride 74 miles, I might actually train for it.  I'm sorry there are no pictures of the beautiful views from all around the lake... we (read: I) were just too tired to stop and take a photo... and that is saying a lot for me and Joe!  But we made it with only a few tears shed.  ;)

Looking back on this post I realize that there are a lot of exclamation points!!  But it truly was something to be excited about.  Thank you heaps and heaps Grammie and Gramps for blessing us in this tremendous way!

Apple Hill Visit

We made our annual trek down to Apple Hill to visit all the orchards and pumpkin patches while Grammie and Gramps were here.  It was a beautiful day and we hit up about 5 farms.  We enjoyed apple donuts, apple fritters, apple turnovers and some apple cider tasting!  The kids also had a blast in the hay maze and playing in the pumpkins.

Check out the photos to get a feel for it.

My precious pumpkins

I think she may have decided to eat dirt

Cutie patooties

"Wine tasting" with my Momma :)

Our sweet ride

Ride 'em cowboy/girl

Enjoying some fresh fried deliciousness

Superman

"Me too" child

Family photo

Sweet babies that are not so little anymore

Group shot with G and G

Cheese!

Doing some manual labor

Having a blast in the maze

Chloe too

Mommy had to get in on the action

They did great!

Grammie watching from outside

Interesting scarecrow here

My handsome man at the end of the day

Moby

So, I'm just going to throw it out there.  We got a new car!  Moby the big white minivan!  In answer to your question, no, I am not pregnant.  :)

We had been talking and saving and dreaming about this for awhile.  We were hoping to get one at the beginning of the summer... but then Chloe had her accident.  I envisioned all of our savings going to pay for the bills that kept coming in... especially the $40,000 one for the Life Flight that our insurance said they wouldn't cover.  It has been 4 months almost to the day and we just found out last week after MANY long phone calls and letters written, that they are reversing their previous decision and are going to cover all but about a thousand dollars!  PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

We decided there is no time like the present and so we purchased our first ever brand spankin new vehicle.  We traded in our dear Smooter Junior and had a pretty good deal on the van.

Nate and Chloe love it and I love it!  I mean, I'm able to open the doors with the push of a button!  But I think Joe is the most in love. ;)

Swimming in October?

We have had an extra long summer this year and I have LOVED it!  While my mom was here, we decided to jump in the lake since it was the first day of October and who can say that they have swum in Lake Tahoe in October... without a wet suit???

It was still pretty cold though and so we had to do some pushups and jumping jacks to warm up!

Catch up to ensue

I have been a bit out of the blogging world since my parents have been here for the past couple weeks.  Lots of fun exciting things have happened, so I will update you as I can.  Many posts to come...

While I still can...

I just wanted to tell you that I have a one and a two year old.  I have been saying this for awhile now when people ask the age of my children.  But for only about 3 more hours am I able to say this.

Yes, they are my beautiful children.  Well, she is one and he is two.