Aranas Clan: Why is it called Labor Day when you don't work?

So this Labor Day the Clan took a mini-vacation up to Grandma's vacation house in S. Lake Tahoe. That house has been a vacation hot spot for our family for years. Being close to the lake, it makes a great summer getaway and during the winter, the snow is the main attraction.

Friday afternoon we piled into the truck and headed up there. Arriving some time in the early evening, the kids managed to make the most of the last drops of light from the day, playing in the backyard which happens to be the National Forest.

Early next morning, we attended First Saturday mass at St. Teresa's. The rest of the day was spent at Richardson's Beach, one of our favorite spots since it comes with a dock to jump off, a volleyball court, nice bathrooms and cool shade. Being Labor Day weekend, it was a bit too crowded for our tastes but what could you expect? Little Man and Angel, having perfected their swimming abilities this summer, nerved themselves up and took a plunge off the end of the dock with Edna and Dad.

Running on water!!!!

Meanwhile, Coco entertained herself by building sand castles and jumping over the waves.

Meemz alternated between wading and typing out an essay. Yes, even on vacation she still had homework. She also took eating and art to a new level with her strangely awesome apple.

Twitter (typing out jare-jare-binx takes a while so he now has a new name) declined from swimming but didn't object to getting a little wet. He splashed around in the waves and chased any unfortunate water fowl that came near him.

Mom was photographer for the day and whiled away the hours taking pictures of her kids.

Next day, we went to a Traditional Latin mass in Nevada. Dad decided that since we were in Nevada we might as well see what we could. What we saw was this: a view of Carson City and Reno reduced to the size of postage stamps. Having heard about Virginia City, supposedly a big tourist attraction, Dad took us up and down winding roads through the mountains. All the boys having a lovely fear of heights, our car trip sounded something like this, "MOM! It's so creepy." "Dad, let's go back down!" "Don't look. It's so high!! I'm freaked out!" Although it probably didn't help, we stopped at a nice promontory over-looking the valley.

Twitter holds on for dear life. It was scary for him but at least he went up. He relaxed after a little but was much happier once we got back down.

A lovely view

Dad pretends to enjoy the view but gets too nervous watching the kids leaning over the edge and heads back down.

Virginia City was not quite what we expected. It was a small town primarily devoted to old west themed boutiques, gift shops and restaurants. However, we did get to visit the oldest church in Nevada and its museum. St. Mary's in the Mountains was built in the late 1800's and has gone through a series of renovations and restorations. The museum, attached to the church, held interesting artifacts such as the old vestments, tabernacles, paintings and books used throughout the church's history.

Monstrance

A painting of Our Lady and St. Anne

First Holy Communion Certificate

Vestments worn by the priests

The church itself was beautiful: tall stained-glass windows, lovely statues, and a beautiful altar. The kids were most interested in the stall doors on every pew and took great pleasure in swinging them open and shut.

After leaving behind St. Mary's, we took a food detour through Carson city then headed back home. We didn't stay there for long though. Instead, we took a short hike through the woods to play in a river. It was lots of fun splashing about in the freezing snow-melt water, skipping rocks and looking for the seemingly non-existent fish.

Coco gets the royal treatment and catches a ride across the river in the arms of Meemz.

Little Man goes looking for fish but is disappointed. He does find a clam though which brings back the smiles.

Last year, Twitter noticed a golf ball under the water in the middle of the river. He had made several attempts to retrieve it but it was too deep. He'd have to go under to get it and that didn't quite agree with him. This year though, he toughed it up and took the plunge, coming up victorious. Hail, the conquering hero!