A little family get-a-way

There is nothing like a little family get-a-way to check out some new scenery and make some memories together.  The kids were out of school and we surprised them with a little 24 hours of fun and headed to Carson City, Nevada.  It was a gorgeous drive past one of our favorite spots on the planet, the North Shore of Lake Tahoe.  We stopped at a local taco shop, the Big Burrito, for dinner and then headed to take advantage of our free Marriott night.  The kids love going to a hotel and swimming in the pool, jumping on the beds (gasp), getting donuts for breakfast and my personal favorite...piling on the beds together to watch a movie with popcorn.  It was perfect!!

The next morning we explored Carson City a little bit including walking around the Nevada State Capitol.   It is a beautiful building, built from the local quarry and the second oldest capitol building, west of the Mississippi, built in 1870.  

After doing some research we decided to try our snow shoes out at Donner Lake.
We love this area and hiked here last year in January, but there wasn't any snow.
 The weather was perfect and we left our big coats in the car. 

It warmed up so much that the kids even tied their jackets around our waist.
What a beautiful February day!!

Here we all are, trekking along.  It was gorgeous!

Even Matthew did awesome!!  Of course, half the fun is going off the trail and exploring in the trees.

I sure love these girls, always up for anything!!

We saw a few snowmen along the way, but loved this darling snow DOG!

Katelyn posing with that beautiful smile!!

 For sure the highlight of the day, for Andrew was the snow ball fight after our picnic lunch.