Tahoe Vacation

Our Family Pic in Tahoe

We spent a week up north in Lake Tahoe. We had a great cabin and some great family bonding time. It was a beautiful place to escape the heat. Too bad Dad had to go home early! The kids loved spending time with their cousins and family. Unfortunately we had a case of the stomach flu and Ashton & I missed out on river rafting. Next time!

We arrived to this beautiful scenery

Violet was excited about the geese

Tim was just happy to be out of the car!

Ashton already found a "gun" and was ready to get in the water

Tim gets a ride from Papa Tom on our hike

The big kids with their Great-Papa

Violet gets a ride from Dad on our hike

Taking a view of the waterfall

Ashton was quite the trooper on our hike. He loved wearing his backpack. It made him feel like a real hiker, like his Papa Tom who just completed the Tom Muir trail.

Dad encourages the baby to climb! Like he needs any encouragement! I think he may be a better climber than the other kids!

Just a cool tree

Not sure Violet walked any of this hike!

The pretty lake -- the reason for our hike

The water was crystal clear

Ashton going in to catch the butterfly

Can you believe he caught it?!

A big tree!

I love how this bark looks fake

Getting in some good beach time!

Tim loved the kayak

The kids enjoying the gondola ride from Squaw Valley

My future gymnast!

The cabin view

Cousin Iris "painking" Violet's toes

Garden Update

My tomato plants have turned into weeds and are now producing tons of tomatoes! I have NO idea what I am going to do with them, but I hope they are yummy! And I don't even like tomatoes!

My squash plant!

Roma tomatoes!

Sweet tomatoes!

Matt's super hot chili peppers

Tim in the Tub

Tim is such a funny little guy! He loves his baths and the other day I caught him drinking the water out of the spout! Once the bath is full, I let the cold water trickle in and he loves to put his mouth under the spout for a little drink! Today, he learned he can climb himself out of the tub! I think his love for climbing may very well exceed Ashton's and Violet's at this age!

Just a happy kid

Thirsty for water?

Satisfied!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Well, we'll see. I found the recipe here. Of course, off of Pinterest! I still have half of my commercial grade detergent, so we'll see how well it works. But I'm very excited to try it out! It took me awhile to 1) remember to buy the ingredients and then 2) find them! Well, I found the Borax at good ol' Target but found the Arm & Hammer washing soda at the grocery store. Random right? I have oodles of Dawn from Costco, so I can't wait to give it go! Supposedly it is for HE washers since it is already low sudsing (if that's a word). So for ~$7 (since I had the Dawn), I should have months and months of detergent! We will see since I often do over 10 loads of laundry a week!

Some Pics of the Kids

I was backing up some of pictures and found these. My parents are surely in an uproar that I have been "withholding" these. Without further ado...

Big hugs!

Nana & Papa with all 3 Besmer grandkids

Papa and Violet

The bros

Big smiles

He stands

Guess who's walking?

Well, not really walking, but Tim has taken steps! He can stand on his own. He can even put himself in a standing position from a sit, which I don't think the other kids did first. But he can! And while we were away celebrating a wedding, Tim took 2 steps for Grandma and Ashton. Then today, he took two steps from the couch to me! Let's see if he's walking by his 1st birthday!

Fresno Zoo

We had a MOMs Club day at the zoo. It was a lot of fun seeing all the 3 year olds and their siblings run around. It was a little hectic to say the least with 3 rough housing boys and the sweet girls whom I call the "mamas." Definitely a different personality between those boys and girls! And that was just the 3 year olds! Here are a few pics of just the Besmer kids.

Ashton with the elephant that every child HAD to sit on top of!

This bird was amazingly close!

Tim enjoying the ride!

Violet held back a little but once all the kids abandoned the elephant she wanted to make sure she got her own picture too!

In the turtle shell