Lake Almanor

We have been anticipating our vacation for quite a while now.   Brandon hasn't been home to Chico for about a year now, and so he specifically planned our family vacation near his hometown in order to take full advantage of his time off.  We stayed 2 days in Chico with his brother Tyler and Bryn.  We had a blast with them and their 4 kids, jumping on the trampoline, watching the olympics, going to Bidwell Park, etc.  We made our normal trips to eat at La Comida and the Donut Nook (B goes here every time we are up there.  He has quite a love for this donut shop.

Seth helped me pack:)  He spent 10 minutes crawling in and out of my suitcase (after he messed up all my piles of clothes:)

Porter, Ethan, Ellie, and Seth all playing.  The kids were such good cousins to Seth and played with him, built towers for him to knock over, etc. 

Isn't Ellie sweet!!

Seth's first time on the trampoline

The boys!!

Bryn, Ellie and Ty on a walk in Bidwell.

Porter pushing Seth in the swing.

We then headed for Lake Almanor.  The cabin we rented was awesome, outfited with a fantastic windows to see into the trees and watch the wildlife.  There were so many deer that came grazing in our yard every morning.  

"Okay...I'm ready...feed me!!"

Seth had no high chair so the barstool pushed in all the way was where he ate.  He loved it, and I loved it.  I could serve him from the other side and cook while he watched.

Finishing up our first hike in the evening!

I love Seth's matter of fact expression.  He enjoyed his seat...he had the best view in the house up there.  He did rather well on the hikes.  Brandon and I traded off carrying him there and back.  He did better with Brandon because he tended to pull my hair.

Brandon did most of the work.  On our way back from a hike the first day, it was almost Seth's nap time  and was so tired.  He didn't fuss, but he just layed his head on the side of the carrier and looked miserable.  Good thing we were about 20 feet away from home when he did this.

We BBQed one night, and Seth stood at the window pounding angrily because he wanted to go outside with daddy!!

(I think B looks so cute in this pic:)  We stopped to skip rocks and seth cracked up every time we threw one in.  Brandon and I had a skipping contest and he won (by luck:)jk...next time

We went out water skiing two days in a row.  This was one of the highlights for me.  Seth did so well on the boat...not surprising since he LOVES water so much.  He didn't enjoy his life vest so much, but he put up with it.  We took turns driving the boat while the other skied, tubed or wake boarded.  It takes some practice to hold a baby, drive a boat, look backwards to see how the other is doing, and hold up a flag when they fall in....all at the same time.  The second day we went out late in the evening and the water was really choppy.  I caught about 4 feet of air on the tube on our way in about 3 waves in a row.  Consequently, my neck was sore the next two days (is this a sign that I am aging??).  Spending rec time as a small family unit was so fun. Now we need another event to look forward to, in order to prevent vacation letdown:)  Actually, I can't complain.  Since being back in LA we have gone to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, had a BBQ at my step sister's house, and gone to Disneyland.  Not bad!!!