Fabulous Day at Donner Lake

Our dear friends Rick and Cheree (with their 2 sons Alex and Andrew), Cheryl and Russ (and their 2 kids Rowan and Charlie) and Cheryl and Cheree's parents Bob and Carol are not only SO much fun, but they were gracious enough to invite us up to their cabin at Donner Lake for some post-Thanksgiving family time. Jim and I headed up after breakfast yesterday, the weather was sunny and crisp. The PERFECT fall day to spend in the mountains. Kellyn was so excited to see her buddies (Charlie and Rowan, and Alex and Andrew) that she kept repeating their names the whole way there!


Once we arrived, all the kids lined up by the fireplace in their little chairs where "Grandpa Bob" proceeded to lead out a little mock sabbath school class. We sang songs, played musical instruments, even gave offering. It was so cute to see the kids just follow along with the "program" we were creating on the spot.


"Grandma Carol", with the help of her 4 grand kids, actually made the Thanksgiving banner over the fireplace. She is so creative!!!









We decided to take advantage of the perfect weather and walk down to the park by the lake so the kids (including us) could run around and play off all our energy. The boys (and men) were so anxious to show off the new "trail" they had forged through the woods to get to the park. They did an awesome job.....looked quite professional and even included a rock lining. Very impressive!!!


Out of the blue, Kellyn just went up to Grandpa Bob and grabbed his hand. Guess she needed a little bit of "grandparent" love at that moment. It was too cute!













Of course Kellyn spent most of her time on the slides and swings!Go figure!!!










Lake Donner in the background. Just gorgeous!











On our walk home, Kellyn and Charlie shared a special moment together. Walking hand in hand up the mountain. It was SUPER sweet.....almost like they remember those days they spend playing together when I used to babysit Charlie. Oh how we miss that sweet girl!!!













Kellyn giving Charlie a "ride" while we prepare lunch. (sigh) Just wait until Kaitlin enters the mix. WATCH OUT!!










After our park time, we headed back for lunch. I was expecting a little sandwich/chip lunch, but oh no......it was full on gourmet food. Roasted squash, sweet potatoes and parsnips matched with a pecan loaf with mushroom gravy and the measly little pasta salad I brought. And the table was set like it was Thanksgiving all over again!!! So wonderful!


After lunch, we headed down to the media room and that's where the craziness began. Rick brought out the Nintendo Wii and our inner kid just came flying out.


Cheryl and Russ jammed out with fierce competition to Guitar Hero. They made it look easy! Jim and I gave it a shot, thinking THAT doesn't look to bad! Eeks......the crowd on the video game were actually "booing" our characters because we stank that bad. Not a good ego booster! :-)






After we embarrassed ourselves enough with the guitars.....Rick pulled out all the tricks and loaded up the Dance Dance Revolution game. Don't know if you've ever seen this or not, but it's a big square pad (they had 2 so you could compete) and you have to dance to the beat of the given song, landing your feet on designated areas of the pad. Sounds easy, right? Well, let me just say......it's NOT!! Cheryl and I decided to have a "Cheryl Off" and once again, she made it look easy! I was sweating before it was all over with.



Jim and Cheree showing off their disco moves. What you CAN'T see is Kellyn dancing her own moves directly in front of them. She had SUCH a blast!!








On that note.....we said our sad goodbye's and headed back down the mountain to get the girls in bed. Needless to say, they were passed out before we got out of their driveways. That's a good sign of a successful day! It was SOOOO much fun getting to hang out with you all, we can't wait until next time!!! :-)