Tahoe Family Reunion

Okay, like I had previously mentioned, Jason's mom's side of the family gets together every 2 years. This year, we all met up at Lake Tahoe. The family rented a facility that allowed each of our families to have a room, but we were all close together and were able to spend time in the main lodge. The drive from Fresno to Tahoe took about 5 hours, and our kids did incredibly well! We were shocked! It was definitely a good start to our time there. With so many details, here are the main details from each day.

Day One

After greeting everyone, we quickly ate pizza and headed out to South Lake Tahoe's All-Comers Meet. Jason had researched beforehand and discovered that he could run in a meet at the reunion. From what I've been told, the family used to gather quite frequently to go watch Jason run track meets when he was in high school. It was fun for them to see him run again. Jason ran in the 100 m and won with a time of 11.44 seconds, as well as in the 200 m, which he won with a time of 23.40 seconds. Not only that, he didn't get hurt!!! That is significant, considering his goal to run in the National All-Comers Meet in Sacramento in July. The meet had kid races, and we entered Jeremy in the 50 m and 25 m races. Watching him was a blast! He was the youngest runner- we really didn't expect for him to actually stay in his lane, much less finish, but he did great! Jason's cousins signed up at the last minute to run in other races, too, and so we cheered them on. It was a fantastic evening!

The Penner cheering section


Jason's 100 m race

Jason's 200 m race


Jeremy's 25 m race

Day Two
Unfortunately, it was a rainy, windy day! It was a nice excuse to stay inside and play cards and board games. We got to introduce Ticket to Ride and it became a reunion favorite! It took Grace no time at all to bond with Jason's cousins, Brian and Tara, and their dog, Tika. Every time we wondered where Grace was, we only had to look for either them or the dog. It was so sweet!
Day Three
We headed to the beach! Some cousins found a less known beach near a dog park and we pretty much got the beach to ourselves. The kids splashed in the water, rode kayaks, and played in the sand. We were pretty tired by the end of the day, and this day was significant in that it was also when a lot of family members started getting sick! The stomach flu got passed around to many family members during our time at Tahoe! That didn't stop us from having Game Night! We had a lot of commotion during Perpetual Commotion, Mexican Train, and 13, to name a few...
Day Four
No one really wanted to do anything because people were sick... A group of us decided to take a hike. We drove up to Inspiration Point (overlooking Emerald Bay) and hiked to Cascade Falls. The trail consisted of many rocks and boulders but it was the perfect-sized hike for our group that consisted of a lot of kids (including Jeremy). Jeremy made it the entire way without us having to carry him. At the falls, we sat in the shade and had a snack before heading back. Later that evening, Jason and his cousins had a good time of reminiscing about their childhoods. We got a chance to see the movie, The Blind Side, since a group of us hadn't seen it yet. Day Five
Jason went golfing with his uncle and Brian, so I went with his other cousins and their kids to Pope Beach. It was another relaxing day. Later that night, since it was our last evening together, we let the kids have a slumber party in the main lodge. They got to eat popsicles and popcorn in their sleeping bags, and then watched movies. The ulterior motive was so that Jason and his cousins could go out. We went to The Brewery- it was such fun to hang out together.
Day Six
Our final day! It consisted mostly of packing and cleaning, saying our good byes... Considerations are already being made for the next family reunion in 2012! Can't wait!