July 18

We just got back from Lake Tahoe. We had such a great time. We left Tuesday around 1:00 and got there at 9:00. The kids were so good even though the trip was longer than our usual 5-6 hours. Amanda's rental house was perfect. It's a furnished vacation rental on a golf course in Truckee. It had a guest room for Bob and me and seth. And the kids room had enough beds for her kids and ours. And it was so great to spend so much time with Amanda and her family. I'm so blessed to have such a great friend!

Wednesday we went to the beach for several hours. It was great. The water was shallow for quite a ways out and the weather was great. Even Seth liked to play in the water some. Thursday we went to Sutter's mill where they first discovered gold. The kids got to pan for gold, which they all thought was awesome. And that night we got a tour of the Truckee airport where Amanda's husband, Kevin, works. Friday, we just had a family day and went to Carson City to a train museum, which all the kids liked, but Seth loved. And we went and saw the capital building and all the other important state buildings and had lunch on the lawn there. I realized that when my kids study state history and government, this will probably be what they study, since we're thinking we're going to stay here. Saturday we all went to South Lake tahoe. We went to another beach and had a great time. And we went on a little "hike" and saw a stream profile where you can see the river from underneath. It was great.

The weather was perfect and every night Bob and Kevin took all the kids and walked around the golf course looking for lost golf balls. They loved it and they always found several balls. Then after the kids went to bed, the adults would play games. It was such a great vacation!

Seth is starting to use words a little more. Bob and I have been making more of an effort to encourage him to talk. He's been saying things like fish and cookie and step. He still only says them when he feels like it, but he's doing it a lot more.