reno/lake tahoe/minden

this past week, jesse had a conference in lake tahoe and since it is so close to his sister, we decided to make a family mini-vacation out of it. the kids and i flew up late thursday night. we were able to do a few fun things in tahoe before we headed down the mountain to where his sister lived. we went up the gondola to the top of the mountain, to see all of the lake below. the views were amazing, but the ride was a tad on the scary side. definitely not my cup of tea.

my sister in law and her hubby's home is beautiful. they have a litte rock fountain in their backyard where frogs and toads like to hang out. we don't get frogs and toads where we live, so the kids loved this. they were able to finally catch one tiny frog. they were in heaven, i tell ya!

as jj's reward from his tutu and uncle chris, he and ellie were able to go to circus circus in reno and play on the arcade games and carnival games. it's so funny to watch my very competitive husband play these fixed carnival games as if his life depended on it. first try=no win. second try=no win. so what do you think the third try is going to be?

by far though, the most difficult game to win is the ring toss on coke bottles. the concept is super easy and it makes you think that you will get it the first try, but that's how they suck you in. $8 later for over 100 rings does not equal one measly stuffed animal. we didn't get one ring on a bottle. stupid game.

i think the highlight of the night was the fact that jj beat everyone in our family, on 3 different occasions, on playing a specific game. it's the one where you make your horse move by rolling a ball in to a hole. the further the hole, the further the horse moves. when you see the pictures, it will make more sense. he beat us all. every. single. time.

they have an aquatic center there that is awesome! i have never been inside an aquatic center before. i guess, living in southern california with it's great weather doesn't require an indoor pool/splash area. it was really fun. the kids loved it. jj especially loved the water slides. ellie was too small. :( my eyes were burning though by the end because of the chlorine fumes.

one of the nights, uncle chris took us in his parents' backyard to do some shooting. jj had been dying to shoot his pellet gun since hearing that he had gone hunting the morning before. he set up two paper targets and let him go. the gun was so heavy that he needed help holding it up, but he actually has a really good shot. made it on the target all the times he shot. jesse even tried, me too!!! even ellie tried. yes, my sweet 5 year old girl got down and dirty and shot her first and probably only gun. the gun had a little kick back and since she got a little too close to the scope when she pulled the trigger, she got nailed right in the eye. just a little bump on her eyebrow, but a few days later, it turned black and blue and it currently looks like she is wearing eyeshadow on her left eye. poor baby! :(

we had a great time and are so excited to go back for christmas!!!