TERRI'S TRAVELS: Birthday Beach Day

Sunday morning~

I had kind of tossed around the idea of going to Commons Beach in Tahoe City for a free yoga class, but after yesterday's crazy mountain biking, I just slept in. And when I finally opened my eyes, it was to this view:

The sky lights and giant windows in the cabin are just amazing! I literally took those pictures while laying down in my bed.

It didn't take long for the birthday calls, texts, and Facebook messages to start popping up on my phone. My favorite was this one, though:

FaceTiming with Hunter! He kept screaming, "Hoppy Birday Tee Tee!" while shoveling in spoon fulls of his Rice Kirspies. It was the cutest. thing. ever.

Once we got up and moving, I went straight for the presents! I still had two more to go and had been waiting all weekend for this day to come so I could rip them open!

One was a reusable grocery bag. Shannon always gives me a hard time about wasting so much plastic by using the bags at Wal-Mart or wherever, so this was fitting. Also, she thought the bag itself was a map of the world, but turns out only the little outside pouch was - not the bag itself. She was quite disappointed and wanted to take it back, but I still like it!

My next present was the big one - and I had no idea what it was even after I tore off the paper and saw "Crabtree & Evelyn" on the giant tin box. (Shannon was surprised I hadn't ever heard of them...) Inside was an array of little bottles of wonderfully smelling hand lotions -- perfect for throwing in your car, in your purse, or in your desk at work. Such a sweet gift!

After all the presents, we had some breakfast -- back in my favorite spot on the deck. Shannon insisted on birthday pancakes to go along with my smoothie, and I didn't argue!

We decided to head down to Incline Village's private beach for the day, rather than paying to go to the crowded Sand Harbor beach. So we changed in to our suits, packed our bags, and stopped by Railey's to grab some lunch for the beach.

Birthday lunch: cold pasta salad and sushi

The parking lot was full by the time we finally got down there (after making a trip back to the house for my book!), but lucky for us, I brought my handicap pass. Shannon was embarrassed to use it and told me to make sure I limped when I walked, ha. Like I needed any help with that after that bike ride the day before!

Incline beach is always so much less crowded than the neighboring Kings Beach, and it's just nicer. I guess that's what "private" will get you! We scoped out our options and found a perfect spot right by the water to plop down our chairs and bags.

I loved soaking up the sun while enjoying the view and my sushi!

Shannon eventually made me get in the water...which I did NOT enjoy. I might have been being slightly dramatic, but it felt like I was getting in a bucket of ice! It was miserable and I had goosebumps! She recommended buying a full body wet suit for next weekend...because I have to wakeboard!

I eventually realized I was getting a little too much sun, so we put up the fancy umbrella for some shade, and I got out my book to read.

I was just enjoying the relaxing day when Shannon said, "Hey, I think you need to go try to stand up paddle now." I didn't argue at all -- since I had been talking about it all weekend - and marched right over to the rental deck on the beach and paid for 30 minutes.

It was a little harder than I thought, definitely an arm and ab workout, and maybe not quite as much fun as I had built it up to be in my head, but I still enjoyed it! I basically had time to go a few hundred feet and back before I was done.

By then, it was time to head back up to the house to clean up, pack up and get over the mountain to the airport!

We were actually a couple of minutes early for once, and at the airport, I realized I enjoyed all that sun jut a little too much. Oops!

My flight was a little delayed out of Reno, which made the connection in Vegas super tight. I literally walked off my plane in Vegas, down two gates, and right back on for the flight to KC. So much for a bathroom break and some food! At least I had a couple of movies downloaded on my iPad to kill the flight time.

Leaving Reno (left) and leaving Vegas (right):

My mom picked me up right on time (at almost 1am) and when I got home, I had a surprise waiting for me on my bed. Kelli and Hadley had come down that evening and put balloons all over and a sweet little note!

Yay for birthdays and sweet family members -- and double yay for birthday trips!