The boys first camping trip

Tahoe is one of my most favorite places to be. I had the pleasure to camp with my boys at Sugar Pines, Lake Tahoe. We met up with 4 other families from our church.

Day 1 and 2~The first couple of days were mixed with fun and struggles. The fun part was taking a beautiful 90minute bike ride pulling Cole in the bike trailer and Tanner riding along my side on his little bike. The whole group took the ride. Jon had his little Chihuahua/poodle riding in a dog harness on his chest, it was the cutest thing. We were all impressed how Tanner was able to keep up on the uphill areas and able to stay with us for the duration of the ride. I know he was so proud. We also went and lounged around at Meeks Bay. It is a beautiful beach area w/ beautiful sand that is brought in. The water was freezing, I was unable to get in and play or swim. I was able to take the boys out on a raft trip to the buoys and they enjoyed that. Our first night, I made the boys egg salad sandwiches and the second night, they whole church group went out to dinner at Rosies; that was yummy. My struggle was with Cole; I had to bring him to the restroom every time I had to go. He didn't understand that he isn't allowed to stay at the campsite alone. He is a stubborn little stinker at times.

Day 3~ Cole and I stayed in our camp site while Tanner went with the rest of the gang to play at Meeks. Cole and I stayed behind to wait on our neighbor and her two kids. While we were waiting we heard that a teenage bear was in the camp grounds and about 5 sites over (the sites are huge lots). They said that it was shooed away. I do wish we had been aware of this as I would had put Cole w/ another adult from the church and would had went to take a picture of the beauty. My neighbor eventually showed and we went to the store with Cole and her two kids. Tanner came back late from the lake. Once Tanner arrived the 4 kids were very excited to see each other and played around on our camp area. Carrie and I made dinner on the camp fire: Chicken, turkey patties, sliced potatoes....fruits served on the side. We did a pretty good job considering that was our first time. We would always join the church group once the sun would go down for chatting by the fire and making popcorn and s'mores.
It was then late night, Carrie and I took the kids to the bathrooms to clean up for bed. Then Carrie was far behind me when I returned with our boys back to our site. With all of the hype about the bear sighting, the boys and my imagination ran a little wild. We heard wrestling in the bushes, my flashlight couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of me, and then we heard what sounded like a grunt. I just rushed the boys into our tent once we got back to the site. I stood out trying to watch for Carrie but they were still not very near, it was then that I realized the bearlike sounds were coming from a man snoring. :o)
Day 4~ Another day at Meeks Bay and my good friend Elizabeth arrives with her nephew Cody. The kids are playing a fighting like siblings. Cole shows tender moments of wanting to be helpful to the adults and other moments of frustration over Shane and his bug obsession. Cole dislikes that the bugs that Shane had caught were being cooped up in a jar for too long and fears that the bugs will dye. I found out that Tanner is usually Shane's bug catcher as Shane has a small fear of actually touching them and Tanner is not fearful. I saw signs of Cole handling stressful moments with much grace and control. When at home in a tense moment, he would normally place himself into his room, but at camp he would dismiss himself to the tent, with the announcement, "fine, I'm going to the tent!" There was one time that he was especially upset with Shane and decided that he would place a chair with is back to everyone and stated that he is angry and doesn't' want to look at anyone, but that he is not in time out. The whole church group got together later that evening for hot dog roasting, s'mores, and popcorn. Elisabeth believes that she knows our pastor as they had crossed paths in her elementary and junior high years.

To Be Cont...