Month: May 2021

Cam’s first Tahoe retreat ;)

Published on by ashley@vegvibes2 Comments

We finally did it! We made it to Olympic Valley near North Lake Tahoe with our little guy.

If you know us, you know the resort there is a special place. We had plans to go last year to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary but they were derailed because of covid. Nevertheless, we made it for our 2 year celebration!

This was Cam’s first road trip and we were nervous about how he’d do in the car for 4+ hours. Amazingly he was a champ!! He skipped his morning nap the day we left which ended working in our favor since we fell asleep literally before we turned off of our street and slept for the next 2 hours. Hallelujah.

When he woke up we were already halfway there. We quickly stopped for some iced teas, a bathroom break, and a diaper change and were on the road again.

Pulling up to the resort was such a relief. One, because we made it there in record time and Cam was great the whole way; and, two, because we were finally baaack and it was so good to be there.

The view from our room

By the time we checked in and unpacked, it was close to Cam’s bedtime. We did our normal routine but realized we forgot a book to read to him before going to sleep (!) cue the now-tradition of buying him a new book wherever we go for a vacation. Which I feel like is the best souvenir for a child anyway.

After, Mike and I ordered a to-go pizza, opened a bottle of wine, and …worked! Hah. Not the most romantic start to our vacation but we had to tie up a few things before putting up our OOOs for the following Monday and Tuesday.

The next morning Mike woke up early to hit the pool for some laps. He’s done this in the past, and I would join him at a more reasonable time – coffee in hand and ready to hot tub. Of course now that we have little Camaroni, I was up doing the mom thing instead of sleeping in. 🙂 After feeding Cam breakfast and jamming out to some Pat Benatar on the radio (which, side note, we didn’t even know the rooms came with a radio but Cam INSTANTLY found that remote and loved turning it on throughout our stay), we headed down to the pool to join dada.

Sadly the pool’s heater was broken. Happily Cam is the best baby in the history of the world and was fine hanging out on one of our laps so we could (in shifts) enjoy the hot tub. Which is our main hobby. Ask any of our friends.

After some tubbing, we packed up and excitedly DROVE TO MY GRANDPARENTS HOUSE. They only live 45 minutes from where we were staying and haven’t met Cam yet because of – you guessed it – the pandemic. It was so heartwarming for them to finally see him. And for me to finally see them. The last time I saw them was my baby shower in February 2020, right before we knew how much the world was going to change…

We ordered enchiladas and chatted and watched Cam scoot around and it all felt so normal and wonderful.

Cam and his Great Grandma. Yay!

Back at the resort later that afternoon, a very exciting milestone happened. Cam took his first steps!!! Now he is a walking machine and we keep saying he knew to take those first steps in a special place.

We woke up on Sunday with no set plans, aside from another morning hot tub sesh. Then it was all about finding baby/kid friendly things to do. We spent some time outside on a grassy patch with a bunch of games and ran around with Cam. In the past, this area was largely ignored but now I see us frequenting it.

Giant baby-sized Jenga

We made pitstops for naps back in the room. When it was warm enough, we took Cam to the pool. This mostly consisted of Mike holding Cam so only his toes dipped in and me safely (warmly) staying poolside, sitting on the edge instead of actually going in the water. We also went all out for a wayback playback and had drinks in the lobby! This is something Mike and I used to love doing and, since it was between snow and summer seasons there, everything was relatively calm so we felt comfortable with Cam running amok in the lobby while we sipped.

We did the standard take out thing for dinner that night but also had the absolute pleasure of watching Ellen’s gameshow, Ellen’s Game of Games. I had no idea this existed but what.a.gem.

Monday was our 2 year wedding anniversary (!) and I am already ready to renew our vows as an excuse to have a party with all of our loved ones again.

We celebrated with a bike ride and lunch out, both firsts for us since Cam has been born. We rented bikes and a trailer and hit the path to lunch. When in motion, Cam did great in the trailer. But the second we stopped, he was not happy about it. We are hypothesizing that his helmet was just a little too big for him and might have taken more muscle control than he has yet developed to hold that little head up. (One particular bump all but proved this theory correct when, after hitting it, we checked on Cam and he was leaning completely sideways unable to pull himself back up. So sad but so funny.) Nonetheless we made it to lunch and enjoyed a nice meal on the patio.

We wrapped the afternoon with another trip to the pool and a round of drinks in the lobby. And then it was boxed mac n’ cheese and leftover pizza for dinner. Maybe next year Mike and I will go out for a fancy dinner to celebrate our anniversary but even if we don’t, I don’t think I can ever complain about quality time spent with my guys.

On our last morning we grabbed coffee and bagels and headed down to the lake. One of the benefits of waking up early on baby-time is how empty things are. We had the whole lake to ourselves and leisurely strolled along, talking, what if we move here one day…?

We found a little park and pushed Cam in the swings while looking out at Lake Tahoe. It was the perfect way to end a great family vacation. We can’t wait to go back!

Read about the last time we visited here.

Checking in!

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For those keeping score, I’m loosing in the battle of consistent blogging this year…

As always, life is busy. A lot of our meals lately have been easy ones that aren’t worth a recipe readout. We’ve also been trying our hand at Blue Aprons, generously gifted to us, so I’m not experimenting much in the kitchen.

We’ve fallen into a nice routine around here and, despite still dealing with covid-19, I’m trying to stay in the moment and really appreciate every day. A sliver lining of the pandemic that I’ve mentioned time and time again is all of the extra time we get to spend with Cam. While we don’t have any immediate plans to send him to daycare, I know eventually he will go and I’ll be missing the days where I could sneak a cuddle in between meetings.

Extra time with my mom, who helps us watch Cam 3x/week, has also been a highlight. Right now, our weeks look like this:

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, my mom comes down from 10am – 4pm to be with Cam. Mike takes the morning shift from 7:30am – 9am, while I work; and Cam usually naps from 9am – 10am. We all break for lunch together around 12pm and it is a flurry of dishes and stealing bites of food between Cam wanting one of us to practice walking with him (a back-breaking task that Mike bears the brunt of). Around 4pm I shut my laptop and go for a walk with Cam. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. It is a nice way to decompress from working and, since we’ve adjusted Cam’s seat to face outwards, he loves looking at cars, people, and dogs pass by.

Tuesdays and Fridays are more about survival than feeling accomplished. Mike and I alternate shifts between working and watching Cam. Tuesdays are chaotic and leave us both feeling pretty worn out by the end of the day. Fridays are less crazed because we both work “scattered hours” – me in the morning and Mike in the afternoon – and catch up on emails and to dos after Cam goes to bed. The solid time blocks working or watching Cam means less context shifting throughout the day, which makes it seem more manageable. Plus by this point, we’ve made it to the weekend!

A note that almost every day starts with Cam waking up early and then, after I feed him, snuggling between us in bed and watching a few episodes of Trash Truck while Mike and I try to catch a few more Zzzzs. Some people might be like, screen time (!) for a one year old (!) but I’m like, mama needs more sleep. Besides what is a better way to start the day than baby cuddles?!

A big update is, after weeks of prepping and a tortuous experience with wall papering, Cam moved over to his own room after he turned one! His first few nights were tricky but now he seems to be used to the transition and sleeps well in there. We themed his room Adventure, with an emphasis on mountains (think: I will move mountains) and I loveee it (even with our shoddy wallpaper job).

Even though California is mostly open again, we’re still hesitant about eating out. We have, however, discovered getting take out and sitting on a little grass patch inside a round about is a close second. It’s located near a bunch of restaurants so we have a lot of choices. Plus it almost feels like eating out since we are away from the house and around people; just very distanced and in the middle of a traffic circle…… ha. Honestly though, with a baby, picnics seems soooo much easier than trying to confine Cam to a highchair.

We’re also still loving Sundays at the Farmer’s Market. Often we will grab coffee on the way there and then beeline to a French pastry stand for sweet treats, enjoying them – you guessed it! – picnic style at a big, open, sunshiny field in the same area as the market.

I’ve also started a lovely Sunday tradition of virtual yoga with my friend Lauren. Since the start of the new year, we’ve joined a Google Hangout, rolled out our mats in our respective locations, and flowed to something on Youtube. So far we haven’t missed a single session and I hope we don’t anytime soon. In life before covid, I doubt we would have lasted this long – likely getting swept up in other plans. But, with less to do, it hasn’t been hard to get in the habit of making our yoga date every week. It’s just such a nice way to start Sundays and gives us some built in time to catch up every week. Win-win.

We celebrated my 2nd Mother’s Day (!) and I have to say, it is niiice to have another day – besides your birthday – that is all about you. Highlights from my day were sleeping in; coffee and bluebs muffins upon waking up; a family walk; hot tubing and reading (two favorites); and a virtual wine tasting with my mother in law. It was perfect and full of delicious indulgences.

The most exciting bits of news is that Mike and I have both received 2 doses of the covid vaccine now! We’re actually in Tahoe right now, our first time taking a vacation since the pandemic, and it is really nice to get away with the peace of mind that we’re both vaccinated.

Stay tuned for a recap post of our time spent here, celebrating our 2 year wedding anniversary!!