There's no place like home

I took the girls on a little roadtrip on Monday so that they could have their first real beach experience. We went back to Lake Tahoe where I had a mama's getaway weekend a few weeks ago.

We stayed overnight with the hope that my girls would actually sleep and if all went well, we were going to stay a 2nd night. If I had magic red shoes like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I would have been clicking my heels like crazy to get home asap when bedtime came and went last night.

My girls went without their nap yesterday (gasp) which was hard for this schedule-oriented mom to even think about without cringing, because the side-effects can be disastrous. We survived the day and had lots of fun, but as I expected, the girls had a difficult time falling to sleep at bedtime as well. Everyone had their favorite blankies, pacifiers and comforts from home, but being in a new environment kept us all awake.

Makena and Alyssa slept pretty well once the finally fell asleep, but Riley woke up at 3:00 a.m. and was wide awake. She ended up in bed with me where we kept each other company until 5:00 a.m. when she finally dozed off again. So, because we were all feeling sleep deprived and my kids would have been cranky monsters all day, we packed up and headed home in time for naps this afternoon. We will head back to Tahoe in August for a big family picnic at my Aunt Laurie's house.

When you ask the girls what their favorite activity of the trip was, they'll tell you it was riding the "alligator" (elevator) back and forth from our condo. The beach is an afterthought for them!

BF Jess and I missed the Season Finale of the Bachelorette because we were busy trying to put our kids to bed. Hallelujah for DVR and full episodes available online!

BF Jess and her kiddos enjoying Lake Tahoe with us

Nanny M helped me with the girls since daddy had to work. There is NO way I would even think of going near water with my girls without an extra set of hands. My crazy girls think they can run right into the water without looking back, so we really have to keep a close eye on them.

Mama and her beach bums

Makena thought it was hilarious to throw sand at everyone, which helped me teach the first lesson in proper beach etiquette. We also worked on not running across other people's towels with sandy, wet toddler feet!

Happy Birthday Ly! We celebrated her birthday on Monday night with some BBQ and pineapple upside-down cake. Nobody tops Ly's BBQing skills. She can marinate some meat like nobody's business and whip up side dishes that make everybody happy.