Labor Day Weekend

For Americans Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer, and the return to schools for the kids, a long weekend, an outdoor barbeque, and the coming of autumn. For the Chiu family, Labor day was a family outing to Lake Tahoe.

The weekend started as an early departure from work for myself and Lars. We met my parents and Michaela at our home around 2:30pm From there we drove up in our minivan to Marie and Michael's house in San Leandro, where we dropped off Michaela, who made the trip up to Tahoe with mom and dad in their car. Traffic was busy but not too bad for a long holiday weekend.

On the way we stopped by and saw Su fen, Annette, Amelia and Daniel at their home near Sacramento. It was a just a pit stop, so we only saw them briefly, before continuing on our trip. Our car arrived just after Marie and Michael's at Caesar's in South Lake Tahoe, Friday evening.

My dad checked us all in, we got to enjoy the casino floor the first night. The next morning, we met Marie, Michael and Michaela in Heavenly Village. With Lars and myself, we took the gondola up to the top of Heavenly, with a beautiful view down to Lake Tahoe. The weather was perfect, staying in the 60s and 70s (meanwhile the San Jose area was having a heat wave hitting almost a 100 degrees Fahrenheit each day). Unfortunately we didn't convince my mom and dad to take the ride up (my mom didn't think the gondola looked very safe, but I think it'd be the rocking motion of the gondola that high up in the air that would bother her the most).

Saturday evening, courtesy of the Caesars, Lars, Michael, Marie and I got to attend an Olivia Newton-John concert, while grandma and grandpa baby sat Michaela. Olivia was looking extremely good, and was a wonderful performer, being interactive with the crowd. She received a standing ovation at the end of the concert.

On Sunday, we spent a leisurely day shopping before heading off to the Labor Day beach party on Lake Tahoe. Marie, Michael, Michaela, Lars and I boarded the shuttle bus to the beach on Lake Tahoe, where there was a barbeque feast followed by fireworks over Lake Tahoe. I'll post some pictures from the weekend today, and you'll get to see some of the fireworks too!

Lars and I left Tahoe early on Monday, leaving my parents with Marie, Michael and Michaela to enjoy a little more of Tahoe, before their departure. Traffic coming back was a little worse, as it seemed everyone was trying to make it back to the South Bay early. By the time my parents left Tahoe (around 4pm), traffic had cleared considerably.

Everyone was back to the South Bay by 9pm that evening. A nice way to end the summer.