Tahoe Tessie might eat your toes!

It's a good thing I'm not taking blogging for college credit. When I revived this blog back in June, I set a goal of posting once a month. And, yeah, it's now October. If I were to dock points from this assignment using the same rubric I use in my courses, I would definitely have an "F".

But, going with the theme of "better late than never," I wanted to post about our trip to Lake Tahoe in August. Tahoe is pretty special, as we have been going there at least every other year since 2005. Our first trips were before kids, and thus primarily involved snowboarding, drinking beer, and playing board games. More recently, we've taken summer trips with the kids and enjoyed biking, hiking, and swimming. What makes these trips so special is being back in the same place and realizing just how much the kids have grown up since the last time we were there 2 years ago.

This year was also special because it was Owen's first trip to Tahoe. As you can see, he was overwhelmed with excitement.



He did eventually wake up and have fun at the beach.



Evan also had a great time digging in the sand. In looking through our pictures, I had to laugh because in this one, he looks like a little Abercrombie model.



But, he spent most of his days digging in the sand and having a good time.



So who is Tahoe Tessie? One of the first times John and I went to Tahoe, we took a harbor cruise, and they talked about Tahoe Tessie, who is the big monster who lives in the lake. One of Evan's favorite books (Fred and Ted go Camping) features a big fish who tips over Fred and Ted's canoe. We started joking with Evan that the big fish was named Tahoe Tessie. So, when we finally made it back to Tahoe, we couldn't resist the endless entertainment of telling him that Tahoe Tessie was going to nibble at his toes when he went in the water. Fortunately, Evan knows us a little too well at this point, and simply responded with a "you're just joking!"

The gift of a Mother's Day gift

So, it's been a while since I posted here. Shortly after moving to Utah, the busyness of my new job got in the way of being able to write blog entries. I figured that we were still really good about taking pictures, so at least that was something.

Then, I received a fantastic Mother's Day gift from Evan this year. His day care had asked each kid why they love their Mom, then printed out each kid's answer and took a photo. This is what I received on Mother's Day (now framed and in my office at work).




The second sign says "I have Owen at my house and she changes Owen's diaper so I don't have to!"

Needless to say, I was rolling on the floor laughing. I guess we deserve this, as we pretty consistently teased Evan that he would be the one to change the baby's diapers. But, it reminded me of another really awesome Mother's Day gift from Evan, which then got me reading through some of our old blog entries. I realized that the stories were truly priceless, and that despite the business of our lives right now, it's completely worth the time to chronicle some of our adventures as our kids grow up.

So, what's happened in the last three years? Things are chugging along at work. I'm still at the University of Utah, and John is now also teaching there. It's fun to have offices right down the hall from each other. Evan is now going into kindergarten (I know, seriously?). And, this February we welcomed Owen into the family.

Here's Evan enjoying some Froot Loops and Veggietales




And here he is "child proofing" our cabinets so that Owen can't get into them.




Here's Owen with a BIG smile




And looking very dapper in his bumbo seat




So, it took a really fantastic Mother's Day gift to get me to realize the value of having all of our fun stories archived where we can go back and enjoy them again and again. Thus, I have revived our blog, and am going to make every attempt to post here at least once a month. And that is the gift of a Mother's Day gift.