Sugar Pine Park

John and I haven't done much hiking since the kids were born, and when he said he wanted to go on a "hike" one morning I genuinely thought he meant a walk around the neighborhood.

 Turns out he had something a lot more adventurous in mind, and I'm glad he did.

 No neighborhood walk can compare to this.

And our little/big girl loved exploring on her own at Sugar Pine Park.

 Her whole life, Orelia has always wanted to be with us or at the very least with friends, but she has been seeking independence a lot more lately.  She finds exploring more fun without an adult tagging along.

 I'm not sure exactly how much beauty she can really appreciate yet, but she loves to look around and see what is there, even if she isn't seeking out beauty in the same way an adult would.  Here she is mesmerized by a school of minnows.

 Bennett quite liked the state park too, but he needed a lot more uppies and encouragement to get form Point A to Point B.

 I bought Orelia some "athletic clothes" for her sports camp coming up this summer, and she's been loving wearing them for our adventures in Lake Tahoe.  Girl has always loved dressing the part.

 She doesn't need any more encouragement to seek out adventure, but apparently dressing in skorts and rainbow sneakers makes it all the more fun.

 After our lakeside walk, we wandered up to the gazebo for a snack.

 My kids have been loving bags of Cheetos and Doritos this vacation, and will be sorely disappointed when this multi-pack is only left with Sour Cream and Onion Lays.

What good is a vacation without some junk food?

 We had plans for a different hike this morning to see a castle, but much to our dismay (especially Orelia's), the parking lot was full and we were left with nothing to do.

 Since Uncle Bobby and Grandma hadn't seen Sugar Pine yet, we took our tiara-clad girl and the rest of the family back to our new favorite hike.

 Bennett had even more fun this time because there were more adults to allow him to stay back and just sit in the dirt and play with trucks.

This kid is loving  exploring every nook and cranny of Tahoe dirt.

 A few minutes into our second trip to the park Orelia changed out of her "princess" dress and into her "adventure clothes."  A tiara and a big smile suit her.

 She seems to have grown up so much this summer already, and she's not even five yet.

 She is climbing every surface and jumping off everything imaginable.

 The only thing that seems to stop this girl is when something spills on her outfit.  Ha.  Luckily I always keep a spare.

 She climbed on this rock and asked me to take some photos of her, while she essentially showed her fiercest poses.

 She is running everywhere these days, and it's such a relief knowing she can mostly stay safe when she does run off.  Unlike Bennett, who would jump off a dock if we aren't looking, Orelia knows her limitations and will usually only go one small step beyond them.  :)

 Sugar Pine Park also houses the Ehrman Mansion, which Orelia was sad we couldn't explore inside (since we weren't willing to wait for the guided tour).  I'm not sure she quite understands you can't lay in all the beds and touch all the things inside a house like this.

 All disappointments are easily healed with ice cream, though.

And luckily Sugar Pine Park comes with its own purveyor of sugar.