Carson City

 We went on a spontaneous trip to Carson City last week.  But, before I get into that, here are some exceedingly cute photos of our babe:

 Golly, I love her.

Ok.  So, last week, we found ourselves with Nick out of school, work stuff he could miss, and a somewhat empty calendar for a week, and school starting soon.  What were we to do but head on out of town?  We crashed with family and enjoyed a week in the beautiful areas surrounding Carson City.

We spent quite a bit of time playing in the water and sand of Lake Tahoe:

We went to the Nevada State Fair.  It was small, the smallest fair I've ever been to, but the bonus side was that the kids actually got to participate in things, unlike here in Utah where there are a bazillion kids everywhere you go.  A balloon twisted into a "kitty" made this girl the happiest:

The kids participated in the cookie stacking contest:

 That kid got second place, but I'd like to see how he'd do if he didn't run out of cookies.

I'm older now:

 I requested German chocolate cake and Nick's butter pecan ice cream.  He made them, froze them, and brought them with us.  What a man.

We went to church at Nick's ward he grew up in.  That was special.  Nick loved seeing people, and I just kept thinking how it really does take a village to raise a child, and how grateful I was to those people who served well, set a good example, and encouraged my man to grow up to be the amazing covenant-keeping father and husband he is.

After church, we visited some people we love and look forward to meeting someday:

And we visited a horse (and the people she belongs to, which happen to also belong to us):

 Everett and Maren were apprehensive, but Ellie LOVED it and didn't want to get off.

We went to Virginia City, where we rode the steam engine train:

 That was fun for all.  

An adorable shot of my babies:

We hiked the kids across town (I mean hike too, how in the world did they build that city on that steep hill?) to the school museum:

Great fun at Uncle's house:

And then, back to the Lake:

 My "princesses".  In fact, in that photo, Daisy is saying, "I'm a princess."  I think she's about on the "s" sound.

Everett was mostly a wimp and wouldn't get in the water, but we forced him on the paddleboard and took a quick photo (he actually even enjoyed it for about 30 seconds).  The big girls and Nick and I spent a good half the day in the water.  We had a blast.

So much fun wears a girl out:

We drove up to Emerald Bay, but it seriously freaked us out on those roads with drop offs (at one point, on both sides!).  Our old age has turned us into scaredy cats.  We did make it to this lookout area, and took a few photos before we took a deep breath and headed back down.  Oh, and we saw (or perhaps I should say almost hit) two bears!  That was exciting for us, from the safety of our car.

What a wonderful week.  It's a good thing it's a LONG boring drive, or I'd want to turn right back and do it again.