Lake Tahoe and Yosemite

Tahoe was a lot of fun! Sweetheart's parents generously provide the housing for the annual Locey reunion. We thank them over and over for providing the opportunity!'

Tahoe was a first for our family of four. The boys loved being with their cousins, aunties, and uncles. Sweetheart was assigned to plan the reunion, and we had some fun activities each day. Sweetheart wanted it kept simple with one daily activity. He let me intersperse some games and family evening gathering events.

Sunday - We went to church. At the reunion, the group usually eats together for breakfast and supper. Dinner (a.k.a. lunch) is one your own as are snacks throughout the day. Dinner is a word my Grandpa Kirkham used for lunch. I like to throw it in every once and a while. Sweetheart and I prepared meals for Sunday. We introduced the candy jar guessing game at supper. All were allowed one guess to win the jar of candy. There was a different candy filled jar each day. Angelina, the youngest, won the first day.

She immediately became everyone's friend. In the evening, we had an adult family meeting - a quick update on each siblings family, future reunion plans, and any other family business items.

Monday - We went to Nevada Beach just down the road from the time share. Children buried each other in the sand,

played in the water, squirted water guns, and built an impressive castle. The adults talked and played with children.

Sunscreen was a must for some of the more fair crew. In the evening, we had a candy jar (winner Auntie Laura Jane) and family home evening. Sweetheart had assigned each sibling an ancestor to learn about and share with the rest of the family. 

The children filled in "My Family" booklet with 4 generational pictures from both sides of their families.

Tuesday - Pictures are very important to me. Ten years ago family pictures were taken at Bear Lake during the reunion. We asked that a white shirt and blue jeans were wore to match the picture from 10 years previous. We had a surprise photographer, BC.

BC is Sweetheart's friend from high school. BC's family was also vacationing at Lake Tahoe. For a family of 32 people, pictures were taken remarkably fast of the whole group in 25 minutes doing various family groups.

After pictures, we went on a hike to Spooner Lake for lunch. The hike was fun and was in contrast to Bunsen Peak from last summer. 

Hurricane slowed down after lunch so I promised him a big bowl of ice cream if he beat his cousins back to the car. He was motivated, and Hurricane and I beat the entire crew back to the cars. He was super proud of himself. We swam in the pool later.

A talent show and white elephant exchange happened in the evening. We laughed at the stolen white elephant items and cheered for the talents each share. Poems were recited. A dance performance, comedy routine, and skit made us laugh.

Hurricane won the candy jar that night. He was a little more stingy about doling out the candy.

Wednesday - Virginia City was the destination. It isn't the same Virginia City as in the Ponderosa. This is the real one built on a hillside.

We rode a train, visited a church, ate BBQ provided by Uncle Aaron at the city park (Cousin Grant won the jar by guessing the exact number), visited a mine, and had ice cream.

We learned that millions of dollars of ore were taken out of Virginia City in its height, and the trains ran day and night. We rode the train in honor of Les and Claire Locey.

Grandfather Locey loved trains and spent part of his and Grandmother's retirement riding them.  We want are children to know the stock that they are built from.

We swam again that night.

Thursday - Emerald Bay proved to be beautiful and a great hike. Since it is popular, we parked along side the road and hike a 1.5 miles to get to the beach.

Our family rented kayaks to go to the island and see the "tea" house that is built at the crest. On the island the boys cliff jumped into the clear water. The water at Tahoe is clear to the bottom. Hurricane again wanted to win and beat the other kayak back to the beach following his Portneuf River run. He didn't win. With the threat of a storm we hiked out and went to Fallen Leaf Lake. The lake is not connected into Lake Tahoe.

We swam again before returning for supper (the last candy jar winner was Uncle Matt) and a flour war.

Thanks to friends' donation of nylons we filled about 80 flour bombs.

(Note: Tights don't work well. They are woven too tightly and hurt when you are hit with one.) Someone said that it was therapy to throw things at each other.

We left with mostly smiles.

Friday - We woke up to a text from Uncle Aaron sharing that their cousin's wife had died the day previous. For Sweetheart and I, we reflected on how precious life is.

Sand Harbor is Aunt Michelle's place. She grew up coming to Tahoe, and Sand Harbor is where they would come. We were in an alcove of rocks where children caught fish and crayfish.

Adults played Hearts, read books, and cliff jumped.

We returned for a left overs BBQ and one last drip in the pool. Our car was pack for an early morning departure.

Saturday - Yosemite National Park was on our way home.

Leaving at 5:30 am we traveled to the East Entrance and saw some of the highlights by starting in Toulumne Meadows to El Capitan to the Yosemite Valley and waterfall and on to Half Dome, Glacier Point ending at the Giant Sequoias.

We have 2 new Junior Rangers from Yosemite as they completed their requirements for another badge and a bonus patch. When we entered we thought we'd leave by 12 noon. We left at 4 pm. The sites were spectacular, and we had a memorable day. On our way to Redlands, CA, we encountered a wreck and took at detour of about 1 hour. We arrived at the hotel at 12;50 am. It was a very long day. They boys were amazing!

We hope this finds you well and happy.