Home sweet home

We just got back from a one week vacay up in the Bay Area and I'm already getting hassled by my dad for a blog post. GET OFF MY BACK DAD! I'M BUSY! Reading my Kindle. :D So here I go, feeding into the guilt. Just kidding, I missed my sweet little blog.

So we went up for our friends Sarah and Nils' wedding up in Lake Tahoe which was pretty magical. Pictures below. We figured we would extend the trip to see the whole family so everyone could see what a big girl Miss Elsa now is. Since we stayed at my parents house last time, we shacked up with Sue this trip and Elsa peed on her carpet. Fingers crossed we get invited back.

Time for pictures! We spent a lot of time in the famous McMillan backyard which was fantastic. Elsa loved the waterfall, the putting green, the steps, and tormenting the poor doggies trapped behind their baby gates watching the fun. My dad dipped her toes in the waterfall and she had fun playing with the rocks (video on YouTube!).

I think I may have made a snide comment our last time in San Jose about my parents not having any toys at their house for their special granddaughter, because this time they had tons. My mom put together a box of toys for Elsie to yank out and throw around the house. Both Sue and my mom spoiled her with purses filled with baby-friendly items for her to rummage through and empty out. It's pretty much her most favorite activity ever.

While we were up there, we were treated to awesome tickets to the Linkin Park concert at Shoreline from our friend Joe (he's in the band. He's kind of big time, and he's totally our friend. Be jealous of us.). Jeff did the poster for the show, you can see it in the background in the picture below. I made him stand in front of it for a picture and he was embarrassed. Btw, the posters sold out. YEAH!

Tahoe! The wedding was at the Hummingbird Lodge up at North Lake, and it was gorgeeeous. Perfect warm day and such a lovely wedding. The food was amazing, we saw and met wonderful friends, and had a nice little road trip with no screaming child in the backseat (left the screamer with Sue).

Picturesque, no? The view and the couple.

We hit the casino after the wedding and I won big! I love Wheel of Fortune. I only spent $12 gambling and cashed out with my big win below. Suh-weet! It helped pay for our hotel room. And the late night pizza and calamari.

I really hope the Folkmans are reading this! This is Elsa and her favorite book, which they got her. She FLIPS out over it, and can spend a solid 20 minutes flipping through it, eating the corners, and pointing to each animal and shrieking "KEEEETY! KEY!!!" Best Norwegian book EVER.

Uncle BM and Nicholas drove all the way down from Bend to see us! It was really nice to see them, and Elsa took the opportunity to show off for her older cousin. She did the same for Mason and Mitchell, such a little flirt!

On the drive home, Elsa wasn't quite as good as the ride up, but we got a few minutes of respite when she took this angelic little nap:

The rest of the time she emptied my purse about 18 times and squealed and shrieked and babbled like a madwoman. We stopped for lunch at Subway and she suckered the Subway girls into a free oatmeal raisin cookie.

Those are the end of my pictures?? I felt like I took a ton up north but apparently not. I need to hijack Jeff's phone and see what he has on there. Maybe if my dad is lucky, there will be a blog post part 2...