My cousin Jacqueline and I had the brilliant idea to take a trip to Lake Tahoe this summer, since all the kids had one overlapping weekend here, and our aunt from Australia also happened to be here as well. It has been over 10 years since I’ve been to Tahoe during the summertime, so I was pretty excited about this trip.
With such a large group, we decided to rent a cabin to keep everyone together. We found a good one on VRBO in North Lake Tahoe, near Carnelian Bay. After patiently maneuvering through Friday traffic for 5 hours, we arrived to Tahoe and started our weekend off with a delicious italian dinner near the Marina.
The cabin that we rented was quite nice and comfortable, with 4 bedrooms, 2 large rec rooms, a deck equipped with a BBQ grill and hot tub, and a very spacious backyard with a monkey bar and sand box for the kids. The kitchen was full of the best utensils and equipments for our usage, which my aunts and mom were very happy about. Our only complaint was the fact that the cabin had no air conditioner, so we were steaming in 84 degrees temperature inside. The basement was about 15 degrees cooler though, so the kids mostly hung out downstairs where the rec rooms were.
The kids went crazy over the bunk beds, and both Brianne and Bridgette begged to take the top bunks. With 5 kids, it’s a constant battle of what’s fair and what’s not, so every request has to be debated upon!
After a night of rest, we were ready for some adventures the next day! Brianne and Bridgette were both so excited that they woke up at 6:30am, while the rest of us trailed after around 8-9am. Surprisingly, we were all ready to leave the cabin by 10:30am, and we headed about 10 miles east to King’s Beach.
King’s Beach is one of the more popular beaches around north Lake Tahoe, because it has a ton of water activities. There is a parking lot conveniently located just steps before the beach, for $8 a car. Because we were there early, we were able to grab a nice shady space under the trees. The girls hurled down into the water before we finished laying down the beach towels!
The water was icy cold, but that didn’t seem to deter the kids from splashing, swimming, and monkeying in the water. Things like water temperature do not bother children at all, but it sure took the adults a long time to get past their knees in the water. It really was freezing!
We rented a jet ski and took turns on it with all of the kids. They had a blast, and Bridgette kept telling me how bumpy the ride was because “daddy was going super duper fast“!!
Unwilling to leave the beach, we went to a nearby restaurant and brought lunch back for everyone to eat right by the water. After all the morning action, we were all famished by noon!
After lunch came the real excitement of the day. We boarded a boat that took us out deep into the lake for….parasailing! Not all of us went. My aunts, uncle, and my 3 year old cousin Sherwin didn’t want to join, so instead, we rented one of those pedal boats for them to kill some time.
Parasailing is actually a very safe activity. Yes, you are 800 ft high, but you reach that height gradually, so there’s hardly any adrenaline at all. Each person is in a life vest, and protected by a harness that holds your lower body and provides support while you are up in the air. Once you’re all the way up, you get to enjoy the most beautiful view of the lake, in its dark, indigo blue color, sparkling from the reflection of the sun. It is also extremely quiet up there….very peaceful and serene. You’ll feel like you’re in a postcard or something!
My cousin Jacqueline and her boyfriend Peter were first to go. Since Jacqueline seemed to be the most fearful of this adventure, we figured it’d be best for her to go first and get it over with. I think I heard her screams from 0-500 ft, and then it faded away. 🙂
My mom, who has long claimed to have a phobia of heights, was actually the most enthusiastic one about this activity. She totally surprised us all! She went next, with my cousins Serena and Katherine, and they loved it so much they wanted to go a second time!
Next up was Alan, together with Brianne and Bridgette, one on each side of him to balance the weight out. My sister and I warned Alan not to pull any crazy stunts up there before we watched them grow smaller and smaller in the air. The girls squealed in delight when they were dipped into the water, and genuinely had a great time parasailing. We were all very proud of their bravery!
Finally, my sister and I took our turns at the very end. I loved being able to chat with her up at 800ft where it was utterly silent, while gazing down at the extraordinary view below us. Little did we know that the rest of the gang asked the boat captain to dip us down as low as possible, so we totally got soaked up to our chests! Fun times, fun times!
After all that excitement, we finally packed up our beach bags and headed back to the cabin so the kids could nap. I couldn’t help but nap with them, for 2 whole hours! That evening, we enjoyed a wonderful BBQ at the cabin, with a ton of yummy food prepared by my aunts and my mom!
After we were totally “BBQ’d out”, we got into the hot tub, and then laughed our heads off at our own version of charades.
The next day, Alan, my aunts, uncle, nephew, Jacqueline, and Peter left Lake Tahoe to get home in time for work on Monday, but I stayed behind another night with my mom, sister, Serena, Katherine, Brianne, and Bridgette. We spent another fun day at King’s Beach; this time, building sand castles, sand mountains, and riding out the small waves in the lake. I purposely didn’t bring my camera that day, so that I could fully be engaged with the kids, and we had a very lovely time together! Ofcourse, I couldn’t resist snapping just a few shots with my iphone so I could post on my blog 🙂
That evening, we ventured out to town and found us a nice looking restaurant across from the Marina. The patio seating sounded like a great idea, but I became the unfortunate victim of the mosquitos there and left with about 5 big mosquito bites all over my legs! 🙁
Good bye Lake Tahoe! We’ll definitely be back again!
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