family traditions. and biking and hiking fishing, too!

while we were at lake tahoe last week, we spent some time hiking and biking and just enjoying the outdoors as much as we could. the area was so beautiful, it was hard to spend time inside. it’s always a funny thing for me, because i grew up in the mountains, but i never appreciated them the way i should have until i moved to new york city. i guess i just took it all for granted. i probably still do more than i should.

josh and i have been talking a lot about family traditions. like, what is it that our family will love to do together over the years to come, and carry on over the decades together. we know a family back in DC who all have learned to unicycle, even their tiny children. and they unicycle now in parades or on sunday afternoons together or in the evenings after school and work. it’s such a fun and unique tradition that really gets everyone involved. right now i feel like biking is a big one for us, but we’re not seasoned bikers by any means. biking around the city is a whole different ballgame. but maybe as the kids grow, if they are into it, that could turn into a bigger family thing for us. maybe each family just falls into some sort of tradition by happy accident, maybe you can’t plan what you’re family will love to do together over the years to come. maybe you can’t say, “we’ll be a tennis family…” because who knows if everyone will be up for that. i don’t know… i just want to be sure we cultivate a spirit of loving to do things together from the early years on, and that we can find maybe one specific activity or sport we all love and are passionate about.

anyway, back to lake tahoe. here are a few last photos from our time there last week if you’d like to see….

^^^their first experience in a bike trailer. i think they liked it. besides those ten minutes where they kept banging their helmets against each others thinking it was funny before it turned out not to be funny and both were crying from a big bonk. ;) and there’s me and mister samson and the baby bump hiking around the lake! ^^^

^^^we bought a second ergo last year for traveling and hiking. we don’t seem to go too often, but when we do, all we talk about is how we need to do it more.^^^

^^^hiking with a bit of our family. those rocks are no joke.^^^

^^^the pinkest of skies one night on our way back to the hotel… ^^^

^^^trying to feed the ducks, but really just unintentionally frightening them.^^^

^^^donuts early in the morning from a local grocery store that i didn’t think would taste that great but still went out at 7-something in morning to pick some up because you don’t mess with a pregnant lady and her cravings. these donuts exceeded all my expectations though and i ate more than i’d like to admit.^^^

^^^ice cream face! and jumping into the pool has never been so fun. don’t know how many times we did that!^^^

^^^more ice cream one afternoon near lakeview beach. it was a little stand by the lake called lakeview cafe with several homemade flavors and if you go, i’m still thinking about the pistachio!^^^

^^^on our last afternoon, we went fishing in hopes to catch some trout for dinner! josh’s older brother caught 3 fish within the first half hour and our poor kids were growing impatient with our terrible skills. i mean, how hard is it to catch something in a pond packed with trout? (if you’re asking me, very hard! impossible, really!) but josh and samson finally caught one and please note samson’s face in these photos below. he couldn’t have been happier! pure joy, bringing that fish in with the net! it was the sweetest.^^^

^^^do you see what i mean?^^^

^^^it was like the world stopped for a good minute while he just giggled over his fish! “i did it! i did it!” and eleanor cheered him on like the sweetest big sister, “you did it! you did it, samson!” such a fun moment for all of us.^^^

^^^back at the hotel, papa and the men cooked the trout for dinner! i was a little bit skeptical at first, but it actually was pretty delicious.^^^

^^^oh yes, and we kayaked too! thanks kids for paddling! ^^^

and that pretty much sums up a few of our favorite moments from lake tahoe! thanks for following along.