The Seventh Annual Gillette-Prentice-Feffer Get-together

For quite a few years now, starting with before Annaliese was even born, we've been getting together with our friends to go camping. Over the years, it's changed a bit and instead of camping, we've stayed at one another's houses or rented a house together. Last year, only the guys got together to watch the eclipse in Yellowstone. 

This year, we rented a house in South Lake Tahoe and met up for a few days. Between the three families, we had 6 adults and 9 kids (between the ages of 6 1/2 years old and 6 months!) It's always amazing how we can all be under one roof and have so much fun together! Jenn put together a menu that accommodated our various food allergies, the guys did most of the cooking and it was a team effort to keep the dishes washed and the kids entertained!

We left home early Wednesday morning and made it through Seattle without any problems. In fact the whole day was pretty easy driving. We made it to Klamath Falls, OR and decided to spend the night there. We found a hotel, went for a swim and were all in bed by 8:00!

Ready for breakfast at McDonalds

Lunchtime at a park somewhere along the way

Thursday morning we hopped back in the car and made it to Tahoe; we pulled into the driveway of our house about 2 minutes after the Feffer's arrived! While the house said it slept 12, it didn't really accommodate 12 people in any other way. (Think table seating for 6, smallest dishwasher I've ever seen, and small living room.) There was a foosball table upstairs so the kids spent the majority of the time we were at the house playing that! Jenn and Russ arrived around 9:30 Thursday evening so we spent most of Thursday just catching up with the Feffers and trying to get our kids to go to sleep!

Friday we headed to Pope Beach and spent our day by the lake. The kids played in the sand, the adults did some swimming, and we enjoyed the sunshine.

Brooks and Eden

Holden, Annaliese, Haleigh, Josephine, and Eleia

Russ' parents were also camping near Tahoe for their annual memorial hike that they do for Russ' brother. Part of the reason we chose to come to this area was so that we could participate in the hike they do. Friday evening we went out to the campground where they were staying for dinner. The campground host was great and gave all of the kids glowsticks, which they loved! There were lots of rocks to climb and space to go exploring at the campsite. The kids loved it!

Malachi

"Friendship bracelets"

Saturday morning, the guys headed off to the hike with Annaliese, Holden, Josephine, and Eleia. They went on a 5 mile hike to Showers Lake. From what we were told, the kids all did amazing and everyone was very impressed with them!

Josephine and Annaliese

Holden, Annaliese, Josephine, Eleia

While they were off hiking, the ladies took the little kids to a local park. We spent some time playing on the playground and then went on a little 'hike' along the river. 

Brooks and Haleigh

Eden, Brooks, and Haleigh

We headed back to our house for afternoon naps and the guys and big kids came home late afternoon. After a quick dip in the hot tub and showers, we headed back to the campground for dinner (and more glow sticks!)

Sunday morning we had to head home. After breakfast, we cleaned up a bit, ate some popsicles and hopped in the car. 

Our drive was just over 14 hours; we had a lot more traffic on our way home but the kids did amazingly well. They did a lot of coloring, we listened to a few books on tape, several Adventures in Odyssey cassettes (yep, my van has a cassette player in it!) and ate lots of snacks. 

Ice cream stop!