July 28, 2011 - Daddy's Birthday

Riley helped Daddy set up the tent by holding the poles, a very important job

Setting up the tent is exhausting!

Relaxing in the hammock

Lake Tahoe

Walking along a narrow strip of beach of Lake Tahoe; the lake level was higher this year than we've ever seen it.

Throwing rocks in the lake

Testing the water temperature - its cold!

The girls relaxing in their camp chairs

Decorating cupcakes isn't as easy in the woods as it is in my kitchen! Riley's job was to unwrap peanut butter cups and top our gourmet cupcakes: chocolate cupcakes with a mini peanut butter cup baked inside, topped with creamy peanut butter frosting and another peanut butter cup (Chad made a complicated request this year, he's been sucked into the cupcake craze!)

Hey, that's supposed to go on top of the cupcake!

Birthday kisses for Daddy!

Our little Illini sporting a sweatshirt on a cool early morning

Mountain bike maintenance before Daddy leaves for his ride

Returning from riding up Stanford rock.

Riley LOVES to walk Seamus

Walking with Daddy

I'm glad we had a lot of quick-drying pants, she loved playing on the beach and always got hit by at least 1 wave

Waving to Daddy as he rinses off the mud from his mountain bike ride

Riley could never stay awake long enough to roast marshmallows on the campfire, she had to use the grill

Instant s'more coma

Chad's fire photography

Good morning!

Riley enjoys dutch oven cinnamon rolls while Daddy finishes cooking breakfast (I cook and prep as much food as possible at home before we leave, but Chad does most of the cooking when we camp; open flame=man cooking).

A birthday breakfast of eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls and coffee.

Exploring the campsite

Taking the poles out of the tent during tear-down

Rock princess!

Hanging out on the beach before the drive home

Seamus digging, digging, digging

Family pic in front of Lake Tahoe

The birthday boy enjoying one last cupcake

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating Chad's birthday in Tahoe. We camped at our usual campground right across from Lake Tahoe and enjoyed perfect weather. The highs were in the mid-70's, so we stayed very comfortable during the day. It cooled off at night but we had no problems staying warm under blankets in our tent.

Riley absolutely loved camping. She took great pride helping Daddy set up the tent. He told her it was a castle and she was the princess; she thought that was fabulous. Riley spent most of her time climbing rocks and wandering around the campsite, exploring everything everywhere. She had fun throwing rocks in the lake, playing in the sand and touching the water. Not surprisingly, she was far too excited to nap but slept great at night in her pack and play (we have a really big tent). It gives us so much joy to see our daughter enjoy the outdoors.

Unfortunately none of our friends were able to join us this year, so Chad went mountain biking alone. CA has had truly bizarre weather this summer with snow falling in the mountains as late as July. Some of the ski resorts are still open! Chad couldn't make it all the way up his trail because the snow drifts were too deep, but he still got to ride for a few hours so he was happy. He later got in the lake to rinse off mud from his bike ride, but Riley and I stayed on the shore. The air temperature wasn't warm enough to jump into that snow-melt water for us! It was a great weekend, definitely the kind of birthday celebration that Chad enjoys.