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Lake Tahoe '05-'06

photos at bottom of page (text that refers to a photo is followed by o)

Fall 2005-2006

After deciding to leave the boat, we next had to figure out where the heck we should go... We ended up picking Lake Tahoe where Nancy's brother, Randy o lives. Mike and Randy really hit it off and became great mountain biking and skiing buddies. After a crazy trip down to El Salvador to pack the boat up, we flew to California, picked up the kids at Grandma's, rented a U-Haul and loaded everything in storage into it for the drive up to Lake Tahoe. The kids were so excited to be in a house again! One of the first things that happened was that some trees in the yard were to be cut down and the guy left the pieces there for us to split for firewood o. This was a great introduction to mountain living ! Within a week, the kids were enrolled in soccer o and boys and girls club. They instantly made so many friends and were invited out often. Once school started, they already knew most of the kids. We benefited, since where there are kids, there must be parents too. We met some great people within that first week that we remained friends with for the whole time that we were there. We enjoyed some great mountain hikes that first fall o. Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Mike's mom came for a visit and we all went to a fun Halloween party o. The first winter was very wet to start and we did not know if it was ever going to really snow. Our first experience was a ski weekend at Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley for Nancy's birthday. We skied Alpine all day on Saturday, spent the night at the base of Squaw where Mike worked and then Randy joined us to ski Squaw the next day. The snow was not very good yet, but then neither were we. We had so much fun playing in the snow o and learning to ski. When it finally did decide to snow, it snowed and snowed and snowed and turned out to be one of the best seasons ever! Unfortunately, we were so busy skiing that we did not stop and take any pictures of it. Bummer. But, believe us, we skied and skied. The kids were instantly amazing skiers. They are both so athletic and coordinated. Our first Christmas in a house was fun. We got way too many presents o (not that we had been that deprived on the boat, but we still went crazy with just being able to go to the store and buy what we wanted.) We had the traditional McConnell fondue dinner o. Fletcher had a great birthday party, skiing at a local resort where kids ski free. The kids skied all day taking breaks for pizza and cake. (Unfortunately, we did not get pictures, urg.) The kids were both very involved in scouts and other community activities. Nancy and Dana went to a mother daughter dinner o, both Dana and Fletcher were in the Snowfest Parade o, both kids were in school plays and Mike and Fletcher had a father son project to bake and decorate a cake o which was then to be raffled off as a fund raiser. We were ready for spring in May for Dana's birthday party. It started with a few friends on the beach, moved to a local indoor pool for the afternoon and ended with a slumber party. Very busy day! Both kids did well at school and went on several fun field trips with their classes. The snow was so good that we skied all the way through Memorial day weekend. The end of school found Fletcher deep into Little League o. It turns out that he is a pretty amazing ball player. His team was the top of his league and then he was invited to play on the All Stars team. This was really something considering that this was his first year playing ball! Mike was very jealous as he played ball for years and never made it to All Stars. We originally had a trip planned for right after school got out, but it was cancelled so that Fletcher could play on the All Stars team. The games were played in this little town in Nevada, so everyday we drove about an hour, into over 100 degree heat, to watch Fletcher play... that was our summer vacation. We saw some awesome lightening storms during the games, it was pretty exciting... both the games and the storms. The games would be put on hold and the boys would be huddled up while we waited out some pretty close lightening strikes. Fletcher did great, he was the opening pitcher in the final game. They lost the whole tournament by one point, but what an exciting season and game that was! Mike and Nancy had a fun anniversary day on the way to the ball game one day. They spent the day on one waterfall hike after another, had a picnic lunch at one and of course, champagne o! Again, Tahoe is so beautiful. The next big thing was Club Mac Lake Tahoe o. Mike's family came up in July and we had lots of fun showing them our new stomping grounds and favorite hang outs. Club Mac included a float trip down the Truckee River, a day at our favorite beach, family dinners, and hikes to scenic lookouts. August found us having some family time for a camping trip. We went just outside the eastern entrance to Yosemite to a place called Saddlebag Lake and the Twenty Lakes Basin o. The elevation was over 10,000 feet and we had Mt. Dana towering behind us. What a beautiful, spectacular, majestic, and did I say BEAUTIFUL, spot. We were very impressed. The kids fished in the lake everyday and we had trout at every meal. We did an amazing hike through the basin, every turn brought a more breathtaking view of yet another lake. The wildflowers were still present and we just loved it. There are some year round glaciers up this high, and Mike and the kids followed a river underneath one of them and spent some spooky time in the ice cave o. Hopper and I stayed out and held watch (and our breaths) until they reappeared out the other end. On the drive home we stopped at one of the best ghost towns around, Bodie o. It was very neat and we learned a lot more about California mining history.

PHOTO JOURNAL

August '05-August '06

Please click to enlarge!

Randy, the reason we moved to Tahoe! First fall on the north shore of Lake Tahoe: Chopping wood; soccer season; Halloween party with Grandma; hike to the tallest peak around.

First winter: Snow snow snow! Great Christmas! Ready to go out to the Girl scout mother-daughter dinner. Snow Festival Parade, girl scouts and boy scouts participated. School play. Boy scout project.