The 1st Annual Friends Trip: Reno/Tahoe

Paul and I had three couples in Utah (that I'm sure I've mentioned before) that we spent a lot of time with over the past couple years. Saying good-bye to them when we moved was like saying good-bye to family. Tough stuff. Mara and Aron (one of the couples) moved to Reno the same time we moved to California, and because Jordon (one of the guys in the group) has a family connection to a SWEET cabin in Tahoe, we chose that as our first years destination. We just got back last night from 5 days in Reno and Tahoe, and it did not disappoint.Day 1: Everyone flew in at different times on Thursday and by early evening we all made it to the cabin. We flew in first, so Mara and I grabbed breakfast at a cute little local place in Reno while we waited for some others to arrive. That night we had dinner and some good catch-up conversation. (Garrett called it a night early.)Day 2: The boys had 'Boys Day Out' that consisted of golfing. Us girls had a lazy morning. Finally got ready and wandered around some shops with the babies. Then the boys came home to take over baby duty and the girls headed out for a spa/shopping afternoon. Mara works at a fun accessories store and arranged a private party for us. Refreshments and 20% off! It was a great store and we all took advantage of the discount! Then we got pedicures. So relaxing. Our group used to spend a lot of time together and we didn't have many secrets from each other. We all mentioned that because of life and living in 3 different states now that we all kind of expected that we'd have a lot to talk about. It was true. All of us have our own challenges right now and we definitely saved up a lot of stuff to share with each other. It was good to have several hours with just the girls to do just that. The boys had dinner ready for us when we got home that night and then we stayed up late playing games.This is Garrett's, "Mara is MY girlfriend, so why is she holding another man?" face.
Day 3: Beach day. Sun. Picnic. Swimming. Paddle Boarding. Laughing. Talking. Fun! Lake Tahoe is beautiful and it was so nice to have a whole day at the lake. We found a secluded place with almost no people, a picnic table in the shade, and free parking. Can't beat that! We all took naps after the beach and then had a barbecue and played more games.Auntie Mara is teaching Garrett how to be gentle with Conner.He seems to be getting it...Uh-oh, what's he doing??...Somebody save Conner from Garrett!!
Sad girls after we lost in the game 'fish bowl' for the first time ever to the guys. Don't worry, we reclaimed our title later.Day 4: We headed out to a fun little city about an hour from Lake Tahoe, Nevada City. We mostly just wandered up and down Main Street, did some shopping for souvenirs (and baby clothes.) We found a fun little hippie-like shop and got 8 things for lil sis and 1 thing for Garrett, all for 28 bucks! We had lunch there and then headed to Truckee for a little more shopping and then headed back to Tahoe. That night we had a Winnie the Pooh ice cream cake to celebrate Kate's graduation. (Pooh is what you get for graduation when you send the boys to get a cake!) We played more games late into the night and began to except that we needed to get ready to head home the next day.A little Bees Baby photo shoot with the little buddies on our last night in Tahoe.Day 5: The Mchenry's had the first flight out and were gone by 8:30. The rest of us got cleaned up, packed up, and headed back to Reno to have lunch before dropping the Elbert's off at the airport in the afternoon. Paul and I were the last to leave that evening so we got to spend a few hours in Reno with the Riddles. The boys went to a driving range and Mara and I got free slurpees for 7-11 day, and then hung out at their apartment talking and playing cards. When the boys returned they joined in, and then barbecued for us before we headed to the airport. Can you see little G in the window? It was a perfect weekend, it just went by too fast! We're already looking forward to trip #2 next year. Good-bye Reno!! :(