Swimming Across Lake Tahoe

Dada and his friends from high school decided it would be a good idea to swim across Lake Tahoe without wetsuits so we packed up the minivan and headed north! This was the minivan's first road trip and los Tios and Bailey came with us. Even with four adults, three kids in car seats (two rear facing), two pack 'n plays, and a double stroller we still had plenty of room! I guess this is why I broke down and got a minivan.

The trip there involved a fair bit of crying. Bailey and Emmett didn't want to go to sleep (I think it was hard for them with their mom's sitting right next to them) and Clara threw a 20 minute tantrum because I wouldn't let her drink out of Bailey's cup anymore after we had to stop on the side of the road so she could pee 20 minutes after she went. She finally wore herself out and we spent the last part of the drive with three quiet sleeping kids!

We rented a six bedroom cabin and all six families stayed there. It was a little crazy with nine kids, but they definitely had fun! Clarita was really excited to see Keira again and Keira was so sweet and spent most of the trip playing with Clara. Bailey and Emmett enjoyed playing in the dirt and chasing after the big kids. The older boys loved playing video games.

Keira is a great helper

She loved this beam

Comparing heights

 

Dirt!

Playing in the dirt equals bathtime!

The guys had their swim Saturday and Lizanne and I dropped them off at the lake (in Nevada) bright and early while Tia watched the kids. It was much colder than I was expecting and my feet were frozen. The thought of getting in the lake without a wetsuit made me want to cry. Erik had the first leg and I think he wanted to cry too. Our friend Drew is from Tahoe and they recruited his dad to drive them on his boat (one guy swam while the others hung out on the boat). His mom even made them brownies! Dada borrowed Drew's GoPro and apparently spent a good amount of time jumping into the freezing water to take videos of the other guys swimming from below them.

Getting ready

And they're off!

Eric had the first leg

The first wave

The ladies and the kids relaxed in the morning and Tia and I put the kids down for early naps (since they woke up at 5:30) while the big kids headed down to the beach to watch the swimmers come in. I ended up having to wake Clara up and we packed up and barely made it to the finish before David came in. Brian had pulled a prank on the guys and taken everything out of my car the night before when he got in late (apparently my door was open). He forgot to put the beer back in and poor Tia lugged it down to the finish only to find out we had to go to a marina to meet the boat and the rest of the guys. So she lugged it back up the trail and then down to the marina only to have nobody drink any...what a trooper!

Clara pulling Bayleaf on a floaty

The guys on the boat waiting for David to finish

The spectators

Here comes David

David and Keira

Kevin, Brian, Phil, Russell, Eric, David...literally a high
school reunion!

The kids had fun watching the finish and playing in the water. The guys (well most of them) had fun swimming and nobody drowned or got hypothermia, the ladies had fun catching up and drinking wine so I'll say it was a successful weekend! They are already talking about next year...

Emmett's joining the team next year

The kids table

The Nasalroads

Hudson is four!

Pretty excited about the cake

The whole group: Lauren, Phil, Russell, Kevin, Laurie, Bailey, Emmett,
Shannon, ClaraLizanne, David, Liam, Keira, Brian, Tyler, Katie
Hayden, Hunter, Eric, Brooke, Hunter

David the baby whisperer!

Clara's "seatbelt" aka Bailey's and Emmett's feet

Tio snuggles

On Sunday we headed out to Bert's Cafe, the restaurant Drew's family owns. The food did not disappoint (especially the party pancakes which even I loved and I am not a huge pancake fan) and it was fun to see his mom and sister. We headed home with full bellies and the kids fell asleep pretty quickly. I also fell asleep quickly (apparently before Clara) and Tio got some nice pictures of me. 

Bailey and Clara love Bert's!

Bailey drinking half n half

We love Bert's!