Camping in Tahoe!

I am soo excited to go camping in Tahoe that I can hardly stand it. We leave in less than 36 hours and I can't wait!

A group of our family friends have been going camping together every summer for years. Originally, when my family started going, all we did was lay around at the beach all day and eat like kings. Then, my dad got the others on a hiking kick, so now there is a small hike every morning, and a big one for one of the days. We still spend the afternoon at the beach, but somehow a little of that lazy/relaxing spirit left when the athletics became involved.

Anyway, the kids (called "second generation" because most of us are at least 18 years old, now) play in the very cold water with our water toys. Originally we had an inflatable canoe and we would flip it over and try to fit all 6-7 of us on it. And then we would see how long someone could stand on it. Well, we started getting a new toy each year (including a water teeter-totter and a water trampoleen), but our favorite was "Bum Island." Now, this name has a two-fold meaning. One) you get to be a bum and be lazy when you lay on it. And two) someone accidentally showed the beach their bum as they were climbing onto it.

Bum Island was a big round raft with a hole in the middle. When there were about 8 of us "kids," we liked to play King of the Raft by pushing everyone else off. But the more challenging game that we played was when we all linked arms on our knees in a circle on the raft. Then we would all try to stand up together without falling over. I don't think we ever succeeded for more than a second's duration. Oh, well.

Unfortunately, Bum Island was laid to rest two years ago and we have been searching for one just as good ever since. The one we got this year looks really good and we're very excited! :-)

Last year our trip got cut short by thunderstorms... so that was depressing... so I'm looking forward to this year when we can stay the whole week... :-)