Sunday in Tahoe

Tahoe City is cool enough to host some really fun concerts at Commons Beach on Sundays during the summer, and we are lucky enough to live close enough to drive up and enjoy them. Having a Dad in a band that plays there is pretty sweet too.

Lake Tahoe is really stunningly lovely. I don't visit as often as I should but still feel so lucky that it's just a day trip away. What do mid westerners do? Sacramentans can drive 90 minutes in any direction and pretty much wind up in a totally different environment/climate. I can't imagine having to travel hours upon hours for a change of scenery. Eek.

This past Sunday we took a nice little (almost 2 hour) drive to Lake Tahoe with a bunch of Whole Foods goodies and beers and blankets to lay around and enjoy the music and the lake.

Van loved wading around in the cool water, throwing rocks and looking at stuff.

 

 



 And jacking his cousin's ice cream.

 Some kids gave us this sticker. Strange on many levels. Like, what do mustaches have to do with wineries? What does being a dick have to do with wineries or mustaches? Why are children handing these out?

 I hopped on stage to take some pics of the crowd. Holy shit. So many people!

My Dad said that if you have to work on a Sunday, this isn't too bad.

 



Fun times! Thanks Tahoe City for arranging these rad events. I always tell people how important it is to take advantage of these kinds of things. It's like a present from the city. A free, really fun show on a gorgeous, world-renowned lake. What's not to love?!

The Freakin (Easter) Weekend

Easter weekend! I never feel more adult and surreal as I when I have to do the holiday thing for Van. For so  many years Easter was pretty much a roll out of bed, get ready and go to some kind of family BBQ or something type of holiday. Now it entails the full on Easter stuff - - filling an Easter basket, dying eggs.

Van didn't really have any idea of what was going on. We didn't mention anything about Easter or candy or bunnies bringing him anything until about the day before. I had mentioned making Easter eggs all day Saturday, which confused Van because when it came time to actually make them Van ran in the kitchen asking if he could crack the eggs and stir them in a bowl. I definitely should have been more clear about what Easter eggs actually are. He was interested in dying them for about 5 minutes before ditching us at the table to watch Feist sing 1,2,3,4 to the monsters on Sesame Street.

 

 

 

On Sunday we all woke up around 11. I told Van that there were some treats for him on the coffee table from the bunny and that all the eggs we dyed were gone. He was pretty stoked to get his little basket of treats (a Beatles book, organic lollipops, a learning game and a bubble gun) and see that the eggs were missing from the carton. With some pretty heavy hinting from Tony and I he was able to find all 12.

 

 



 

 

After getting ready we headed out to my Aunt Lora's to eat and hang out with my extended family. We had a nice ravioli lunch and the kids ran around collecting plastic eggs in the backyard.

My sister made these hilarious eggs with our pictures on them. They were pretty much the highlight of Easter. She printed the pics on tissue paper and decoupage'd them onto the eggs. Freaking hilarious.

 

 

 

Once home we had a three hour family nap and some lettuce wraps. Holidays are exhausting.

 

I'll close this out with some gratuitous pics of Van and his homegirl Minnie. She came over for a bit on Saturday. They are so freaking cute.

 

 

 





 

The Freakin' (Wedding, Birthday) Weekend

This year I got to spend my birthday in lovely Santa Barbara celebrating my oldest friend's wedding. despite my kid puking in the car on the way up and crapping on the floor of our rental home (seriously...and it wasn't totally his fault. i can explain later...) it was a really fantastic weekend.

we took my sister and brother in law along with us so they could watch van while we were at the wedding. it was so nice to have them not only to babysit the night of, but just to offer help throughout the weekend. i feel so lucky to be surrounded my family and friend/family that are always around and willing to help out with van. i think that's the best way to grow up. i digress....

we got into Santa Barbara and checked in to the really great house we rented from a vacation rental site. it was awesome and quiet had an incredible view of the city. after settling in, we had a few beers and headed out to dinner.

we combed State Street and landed on this place. it was really good! the ambiance was nice, and they gave us a bomb dessert because they felt bad about accidentally adding tomatoes to my brother in law's salad. hah! van was exhausted and stayed asleep pretty much the whole time.

the next day aja and shea took van out shopping and to the beach while tony and i attended the wedding. my friend Kaitlin and her husband Matt both have ties in the wedding/event industry. needless to say, their celebration was off the chain. i didn't take too many photos, but did manage to snap these two of their stunning table décor and the area where the dinner was held. the ceremony took place at the Santa Barbara mission, and the reception was at the Bacara Resort and Spa. both venues were so pretty.

                

 in addition to all the superficial aspects of the wedding, the toasts were great and the overall vibe was really loving and warm. it was one of the best weddings I've ever been a part of.

on sunday we packed up, went to lunch and took van to the ocean once more before we hit the road. this little bugger is so fearless, i tell you. he was all up in that water.

 the drive home was LONG. we needed to stop and get something to eat, but the only place for miles and miles was Pea Soup Andersen's. if it wasn't in the middle of freaking nowhere, no one would ever go there. this place could not exist anywhere else. their specialty is pea soup, for christ sakes. the waitress was old and mean and they gave tony two bottom buns on his hamburger.

we left for Italy three days after returning from our long Santa Barbara weekend because we are crazy like that. it's been an eventful month. chaotic, but worth it. i'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Freakin (long) Weekend.

we should get long weekends every weekend. or at least one weekend a month. it's nice to have two days to do fun things and still get one more day off to take care of laundry and groceries and other home chore type BS.

we spent our weekend at a wedding...

 

 

playing hungover wiffleball....

 

 

eating delicious meals with friends and letting the kids run around...

        

 

        

 

 and lounging....