Allred Family Tahoe Vacation

We spent all of last week with my almost ALL of my family in Lake Tahoe. I am the oldest of nine kids and everyone was there (some with spouses and kids) except one brother-in-law and my brother on a mission. It was a BLAST!! It really was an awesome vacation! I loved being with my sisters and brothers and our girls loved playing with all of their cousins. It was soooooo good to be all together after such a long time.

We rented a house for all of us in Kings Beach, which was perfect. We were up in the mountains with a trail for walking or running, but then we got to go 2 miles down the road to the beach every day also.I have SOOOOOOO many pictures. I am sharing a narrowed down version so my fam can see them, but it is still a TON. Enjoy!

Sunday - After church on Sunday we went on a walk with all the kiddos.
Kea and Brie became what Kea called "best cousins". They loved each other! They are one year apart and in the middle of all boy cousins. I hope they are always good friends.
I found this beautiful spot to take a picture. Can you tell who Brielle is related to?That evening Sarah and Landon were in charge of dinner. They made a DELICIOUS curry meal for us!
Teresa reading a story to her boys before bed. So cute.Lots of games were played. Here we are playing a new game involving sucking lots of skittles with a straw. Very fun.
Monday - In the morning grandpa made marshmallow guns and noodle swords with the kids. The boys instantly started marching around chanting, "Marshmallow Army". I caught Brie trying on everyone's shoes during all of the army marching.
We then went to the beach! The water was gorgeous. It's so clear and clean and the kids had a lot of shallow water to swim and play in. We all loved it.Tuesday - We went to a farmer's market on the beach and bought good fruit, bread and cheese. We then took the kids to the park for a picnic. Scott, Brian, Landon and Bryce went on a long, hard bike ride. Bryce got a good start to it with breakfast with the kids.
Wednesday - Back to the beach! This time with a kayak!
Grandpa vs. all the boys with their noodle swords. He looks like he is doing well.Ava lovin' her sucker.Brie lovin' her googles!Me lovin' Brandon's thighs!We finished the day off right with chocolate fondue!Thursday - MY BIRTHDAY!!
I seriously had the best birthday. What could be better than being with your entire family on your birthday! I woke up to streamers and balloons in my doorway and then had everyone there to say "Happy Birthday" to me when I came downstairs. Oh, and Scott let me sleep in.Birthday breakfast.We had crafts for the kids every day. They made visors this day and Jessica made me a special one that said, "BIRTHDAY PRINCESS". Thanks Jess.
We went to a kids rodeo for the morning. It was fun for an hour and then we were outta there to the Char Pit for lunch. YUM!
It was Smokey The Bear's birthday too! Can you believe it? 64 years old. They sang Happy Birthday to him too.
After the rodeo, we went for hamburgers at the Char Pit. Delicious. Thanks Dad! And then on to hike Spooner Lake. For me, that is the perfect birthday.Everyone took their shoes and socks off (and some their pants) to dip in the beautiful lake. Guess what they found. . . . leeches!We had pink cupcakes (of course) with the birthday song and candles.And then Scott, Brie, my mom and I went to a concert on the beach. It was a beautiful setting, fantastic music and Brie dancing with everyone up front. What a good birthday!Friday - We went into Tahoe City to eat lunch and walk along the boardwalk. Again, Dad took us to a great place for lunch. Here we are (those left) packed into the restaurant.We walked along the boardwalk to a park on the lake and the kids went wild again. Here is Aunt Jessica sending Ava down the slide.Then back to beach, one more time, for ice cream sandwiches. Blake really enjoyed his.
Ava didn't get into the ice sandwiches, but she sure got into showing off how she could stand all by herself for the first times!Scott and I with our almost walker girl!Saturday - Uncle Bryceeee's birthday. We did the best we could to make it a good birthday. We had to spend the morning packing up and cleaning up. We did go out to a really good breakfast and then Bryce got to drive in the back seat of our mini van and watch Disney movies with Brie for 8+ hours. Happy Birthday to you!

Brie saw the rain clouds out the window (gorgeous, no?) and watched her movie in the back seat with her umbrella protecting her.