Dave and Mickie came up with Nik, Courtney, and Maddie late Friday evening, April 14. We had some good times zooming around the lake in the ski boat, and the kids played in the new five yards of sand we had delivered on Saturday. But mostly it rained while Dave and Mickie were here so there was lots of taped movie watching. I worked on the Web pages for our recent visit with the Watsons in Cupertino.

The kids stayed with Mary and me for the week after Dave and Mickie headed home and back to work. The weather continued cold and sometimes rainy but by Tuesday Mary and I were tired of telling the kids that they should wait for the predicted fair weather before they got completely into the water with their bathing suits. So, while I sat on the beach patio all bundled up in long sleeved shirt and sweatshirt, Nik, Courtney and Maddie were bobbing around on tube floaters off the beach.

As the week wore on Nik was jumping off the dock into the deep water. However, it didn't take much of this before he was shivering cold. He'd come up on the patio to wrap a towel around him. Then I'd take a thick blanket and wrap him again. Still, he sat there shivering. Courtney was doing much the same but didn't jump off the dock. Maddie had more sense and spent her time hopping around the beach and in the shallow water, never getting more than her legs wet.

Barbara, Andy, and Nadia arrived late Friday evening, April 21. It was great to see them and have them help care for the kids. Mary was getting pretty tired because I was in too much pain with my left ankle to be of much help with the kids.

A few weeks back Mary had sent off to the U. S. Forrest Service to get maps and information on hikes in the Tahoe National Forest. One map was of the Rock Creek Nature Trail, about six miles up route 20 toward Donner. Saturday morning seven of us (all save Nadia) climbed into our Explorer and were on our way to this beautiful hike. Click over to Rock Creek Nature Trail to see the hike. At the bottom of that page is a link to jump back to this spot to continue with Easter Sunday.