Date Night and Camping at Eagle Lake

On July 29, the Children's Miracle Network sponsored a fundraiser to benefit Renown Children's Hospital. If you ate at Claim Jumpers Restaurant that night, a percentage of the bill was donated to the fundraiser. We with a few of our friends, decided to have a wonderful dinner while raising money for a great cause. Following dinner, we all headed down to the Aces ball park to watch a little baseball. We had a great night out with our friends and they even caught 2 foul balls! Our seats were fantastic as we were sitting just behind the visiting team's dugout on first base. We love going to baseball games!

The next day, July 30, to round out July and bring us into August, we took our now annual camping trip to Eagle Lake, CA with the Baerwaldts. We look forward to this camping trip. We love the site and the weather is always fantastic! The above picture is "tent city!"

While Erin and I sat up camp, the boys went off to gather firewood for us all. They did a pretty good job and got enough to give us some nice fires.

The above picture is Erin and I with our "camping cups." Every year that we camp we use these cups and write the year, location and some special phrase that represents that particular trip.

Here we are relaxing around the campsite while Halo always tries to sneak something away from us!

The mornings can be kind of chilly up there so campfires, hoodies, hats, hot coffee and puppy snugglings are a must! It doesn't take long for the day to warm up though and before long you don't even need all those things!

Last year the boys had a jet ski to keep them entertained. This year they decided to try their hands at fishing. The fishing wasn't that great this year. They were told by locals that in August/end of July you really need a boat to go out on the water to catch anything good.

Above is this year's group picture. We took it on our second night camping. Sometimes we forget how nice it can be to just sit back and relax.

It's also nice to sometimes just be really silly! The above picture and following three pictures are just that: us being silly!

Erin being silly

Us trying to take a break from being silly and take a nice picture

Dwayne being silly

The weekend always goes by so fast and before long it's time to pack up and head back home. Here is the Macie tent and family!

Here is the Baerwaldt tent and the Baerwaldts!

If we could all find the time to go I'm sure we would go more than once a year. Since it proves to be impossible sometimes to get us all on the same days away from work we will have to keep looking forward to our Annual Camping trips!

Here are Erin and I before we left the campgrounds.

Halo is not the best camper. He doesn't really like camping at all. He couldn't wait until we were going home!

This is his new spot when we travel. He's up high where he can see it all and he was very happy we were heading home!

Virginia City

Throughout the summer we have been trying to squeeze in fun days with our friends the Baerwaldts, Dan and Erin.


On one summer day we spent the morning walking around Virginia City. You can't visit Virginia City and leave without getting an old time photo taken. We did two group shots. The top one was our silly pose and the second one was our serious pose.

While we waited for our photos to be ready, we walked around and looked in the stores. We visited with the town's folk and were invited to a good old fashioned gun fight. We passed. We did however partake in the delicious fudge and old fashioned candies.

All along the boardwalk paths there are fun little photo opportunities. Here we are on camels!

Here are Dan and Erin on the camel!

After we had spent enough time checking everything out and had picked up our photos, we continued on to Lake Tahoe. We spent the rest of the day on the beach and splashing around in the lake. We stopped on the way and picked up lunch and snacks. Overall it was a laid back afternoon and just an enjoyable time spent with some of our closest friends. It's hard to believe how fast summer is flying by!

Family Date Night

It's always fun to get together and have some fun with the family!


One Sunday night we did just that. We met with Auntie Buttons, Katana, cousin Jordan, Mom and John at Applebees in Reno for a Family Date Night.

We all enjoyed a nice dinner together complete with dessert.

We sat at big group table in the back of the restaurant.

Katana wasn't very hungry so she had a cookie sundae.

After dinner we headed over to Sparks and took a ride on the go-karts.

Katana rode with me since she wasn't big enough to drive her own car yet.

You can sort of see Dwayne in this picture. He went flying by like a true speed racer!

Up next was mini-golf!

Katana had never mini-golfed before but she was sure to get a pink ball!

It was lot of fun and there was a lot laughing.

I helped Katana learn how to hit her ball.

Dwayne golfing

John golfing

Me golfing

Auntie golfing

Mommy taking her turn

Katana got a hole in one!

Then I got a hole in one!

Dwayne, waiting for his turn.

Mommy got a hole in one too!

Taking a little break for a photo together

Up next, Auntie got a hole in one too! We are on a roll!

Then guess what! Jordan got one too! Man we are awesome golfers! :)

Mom and John at the golf center

Another fun date night! Sadly, Dwayne and John did not get a hole in one. Bummer guys. Although it was hot, it was a good night. We all had a blast and it is always nice to get together and hang out with the family.

Navy Weekend

Every year, the Navy Reserve Center Dwayne drills at has a weekend called "Returning Warriors" weekend. It is a family weekend with food and activities.

There was gladiator style jousting.

Sumo wrestling suits

Dwayne the sumo wrestler!

Let the battle begin

Go Dwayne! Throw that other sumo wrestler!

There was also Volleyball.

It was kind of like watching that scene from Top Gun, but different. It was a fun day. It is always nice to see everyone with their families. We always have a good time at this event and look forward to next year's.