Summertime, and the Livin's Easy

An eleven-day vacation will make you forget about all sorts of things, including eye surgeries, work, and Sunset fog. We spent a wonderful, relaxed week in Lake Tahoe and 5 days in Twain Harte with Tim's family, visiting the lake in both locales almost every day, and treating our sun-starved babies to lots of water fun. They got to visit and play with cousins on both sides -- Megan and Bridget on Meeks Bay, and 15 month-old Tommy and 6 month-old Marco at Twain Harte. The adults had plenty of fun, too, consuming way too much wine, playing far too many board games, and staying up much too late at night.

I took almost 500 pictures over the course of the vacation, which only nets out to about 50 each day, but adds up to a lot of pictures. Here's the best of the bunch.

Our first night in Tahoe, we hosted Crystal, Chad and Lorelai and Lily, and Shawna and Matt and the girls drove in for the bedlam, too:





We met up with the Stecher clan for the next several days at Meeks Bay, a beautiful sandy beach that's sheltered from wind, and boasts a snack bar and an air pump for all those inflatable toys. Shawna and Matt brought a baby pool and put it right at the water's edge for the smaller babies.

Joey and Bridget had fun digging in the sand together... they're kindred spirits in every way :)

Clara really looks like a strawberry blonde next to Bridget!



Clara happily chowed down on a drumstick at lunch one day:



Megan and Joey had a blast wrestling and chasing "East Coast Jack" Stecher:




Clara showed off her retro, ruffled rear end:








Joey practicing his football form with Daddy and Uncle Matt:





he even perfected his showboating technique:


Back at the Raley homestead, Clara dug into Joey's toolbox, and got spectacularly messy at mealtime, every time:





We had several outings on the South Shore, including miniature golfing at the Heavenly Resort, and ice cream at Camp Richardson:














We headed to Twain Harte on Sunday, and had a blast with all the Cecchin cousins, shown here in their birth order/ batting order shirts from Aunt Meredith -- Joey, Tommy, Clara, and Marco (who needed a little prop to keep him upright).

The whole gang out to dinner on Sunday night, minus the camera woman :)

Marco and Jeff showing off their matching shirts:


Three guys and three strollers, heading to dinner:

Marco shows off his tummy and his smile:

The kids loved the baby pool on the deck, including a very devious Joey:

Joey had a blast building sandcastles with Tommy and a very talented Uncle Tom:

taking a break to douse Grandma:

Thanks to Grandma Cecchin for these last pictures, since I'm usually the one behind the camera!

And finally, two more cute photos of Clara: