little boxes with silver trinkets

Throughout our marriage Mr. Rogers has used these little boxes to mark special moments in our lives together.  Over the course of ten years I've gathered a small army of these boxes...not to mention the silver trinkets inside but I still remember what each one celebrated.  Some of the trinkets have little engravings to help me remember, like "Jack," "Lincoln," or "Magdalena"....those are some of my favorites.

The only gift really on my mind this summer was a bike, not diamonds but a bike, but Mr. Rogers snuck in another one of those little boxes with a small silver trinket in it to remind me that I have so much more....

WASABI Roasted Seaweed Snack

Jack loves them.  Maggie loves them.  I love them.

Sometimes they make you breathe fire from your nose.  Sometimes.  That's our favorite part!

Donner Lake, Squaw Valley and North Lake Tahoe!

As a little fourth grader I was captivated by my first taste of California history.  It's kind of weird because  history was never my "favorite" subject but I always loved looking at pictures and plotting the day that I would visit the places I saw in my textbooks.  Not surprising, since fourth grade I've had a long mental list of places to visit in California but DANG, it's a big state!  Thankfully, I've been able to successfully brainwash Mr. Rogers to go on these crazy California adventures with me.  For our 10th anniversary this summer we headed to Squaw Valley, home of the 1968 Winter Olympics, outside of North Lake Tahoe.  Simply enchanting but to get there one must crest the Sierra Nevadas by driving over Donner Pass, just over 7,000 feet.  It was just below the crest at Truckee lake, now Donner Lake, that the ill-fated Donner Party was caught by an early storm and subsequent storms making it impossible for the entire party to crest the Sierra Nevadas in 1846, a couple years previous to the Gold Rush.  Running out of supplies they resolved to cannibalizing their dead in order to save their families until a rescue party arrived.  As I type this I realize how disturbingly unromantic this might be for most women to visit on their 10th wedding anniversary but this followed with a performance of Twelfth Night at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival was right up my alley!  Not to mention I had some tasty meat that night....no, just kidding!  Although only steps away from some of the infamous cabins Mr. Rogers was not harmed taking these photos....mentally traumatized, perhaps!

Mostly we just wanted to be nestled in the mountains, be away from the kiddos, and ride our bikes for our anniversary.  It was awesome!  We went spelunking around Donner Lake, rode our bikes from Squaw Valley to Tahoe City and around the shores of North Lake Tahoe, and then relished in relaxation at the resort we indulged in for our tenth!  The whole area is charming, peaceful, and a wonderful place to enjoy nature.  

Of course, it's wonderful when it is just us but those crazy kids always sneak there way into our thoughts.  Soon we were plotting all the places we were going to take the kids to when we came back.  It was so kid friendly and full of fantastic paved bike trails edging the Truckee River, which was slow and shallow enough for even Maggie to wade in without fear of being swept down river.  We've been looking for an excuse to get back up there and I kicked myself today when I saw this Donner Lake Run because we would have totally done it if Labor Day Weekend wasn't two days away. This line alone makes it worth running a 6K at 6,000 feet!

You won't starve though, as a complimentary full catered breakfast is served after the event right on the scenic point.  -Donner Lake Run

Plus they have a kids 1K run...awww, would have been so fun!  Kicking, kicking, kicking myself!