Once again we headed to Mammoth for part of a week on our annual pilgrimage.  Then we headed to South Lake Tahoe to enjoy Steve & Maria's hospitality and toys.

We arrived late Friday night.  So Grandma Sarah decided that Alek was too much of a dirtball and washed him up a bit in the kitchen sink.

       
I took Alek off before breakfast to catch fish.  He was determined to catch little fish with a net. 
Then he headed off to fish with Caroline in the boat.  Caroline knew the right fishing hole but the fish eluded them.

   
We celebrated Sarah's birthday at our usual haunt - The Chart House.
Alek did his cute pose and his demonic one too.


Caroline and I went to the top of Mammoth for some riding.  It was a big giggle all the way down.

           
Alek has to fish.  He cannot help himself - he has the fishing gene.
He will drown worms in the lake even when it's raining. 

   
Alek played cards a lot.  He got Sari to play with him one night for a very long time.
And he convinced Grandma Sarah to play quite a few hands too.

   
The crew waiting for the climbing pass.
Alek attacks the wall with gusto, until about half way up.  Then he decided it was higher than he wanted to be.

               
Then there was the zip line.  A long wait in the line.  Then a climb up the ladder and another wait.
Finally he got strapped into the rope and he jumped off the platform with a death grip on the rope.

       
About 150 feet later Alek landed on the grass, got unstrapped, and ran the rope back for the next kid.
I don't think Alek would do it again immediately.  But I bet this isn't the last time he tries this.


One night there was a really big spider in the window.  Now that is real entertainment, if you're Alek..

   
One morning before breakfast, to keep Alek from driving everyone crazy we headed out to climb some rocks.
Of course every rock between the cabin and the slide was an opportunity for practice.
And don't you know that all good rock climbers need a flower in their pocket!

               
We scrambled up the rocks.  Alek picked the route and moved as fast as could be.  And eventually we were at the top.  And what a view!

       
Then we headed down.  A different route than the way up.  And fortunately Alek found the flower that fell out of his pocket on the way up.

               
We took a little hike up to a higher lake.  Not too long and not too steep.  Alek was just starting to complain about it being boring when this little girl and her mother appeared.  After that Alek pretty much ran up the trail.

   
And of course if a small boulder happens to be discovered along the way it most definitely needs to be summited.

       
When we got to the lake, which is somewhere around 9,000' ASL.  It didn't take long for the kids to start playing in the water, building sand castles, etc.

   
Alek recently developed a modest streak.  It's great fun to catch him with his clothes off now.
And then there is the Alek support crew to prepare him for the descent.  Everything must be in place!


Alek perfects the one man radio check.
You could say there was a lot of radio chatter all the way up and down the trail.

       
You could say that Alek ran just about every step, when he wasn't jumping off a rock or a tree on the way down the trail.  It was a personal best for this trail.

               
We saw a bear!  On our last day a bear ambled into the area.  It slightly acknowledged the chained up dogs.  And then it ambled up the hill.
Caroline and Alek were transfixed by it's appearance.

We headed to South Lake Tahoe to spend some time with Steve & Maria.  Alek slept almost the entire way.  So we needed to do something with him when we arrived..

Alek and I took out the scooter.  We chased some ducks and geese.  Then we went out on the lake together.  Alek got used to the speed and thought it was scary fun.

       
We went to one of the beaches.  The boys played in the water a lot, with glee.

       
Alek did his sea turtle imitation.  The one where it's crawling up on the beach to lay eggs.  Maybe we should restrict some of that Animal Planet channel watching..
Courtney played with Ethan a lot. 

       
The water was delightful.  Almost everyone really enjoyed it.  It was still a little too cool for Caroline.


Captain Steve got us where we needed to be every time, with a smoothness that mere mortals practice long and hard to achieve.


Caroline could be found on the canal side deck, frequently.

       
The boys drowned a bunch of worms from the dock.  And sometimes a fish came out of the water.

   
The boys played on another beach together.  And Steve got a chance to ride the scooter for a while.

           
At some point someone thought it was a good idea to bury Alek in the sand.
Everything but his toes and his head were buried.
Then Ethan jumped on his chest, which made them both giggle.
And then Alek escaped!


So now it was Steve's turn to be buried.  But somehow he didn't trust us as much as Alek did.  I wonder why..?


Dave and Courtney got some time on the scooter.

   
One afternoon the kids piled into the dinghy with the electric motor.  Of course the paparazzi immediately showed up. 


The kitchen crew turned out some good fare on a regular basis.

       
You can always count on Alek to make some silly faces.  Even Ethan gets entertained by them.


Emerald Bay.  One of the most picturesque places you can imagine.

   
There is a pier in Emerald Bay.  It's really good for jumping off...

       
Alek did his jumping from the back of the boat this year.


And when everyone else is doing whatever the fisherman heeds the call to drown yet another worm..
 

Page last updated 02-Sep-2008