Just for the White Stuff

For the first time in two years we made it to Lake Tahoe for our annual sledding trip, however this one was marked with some drama from the get-go.  We knew there was going to be a storm, and so I left work early and we kept Drew out of school so we could try and make it before the fast approaching storm.

I suppose I should back up a bit further - the drama started earlier in the week when my car got locked in the garage - no electricity and so I couldn't open the garage door.  Of course we did have the service door blocked by storage - which is our fault.  But because it was locked in the garage all week, we couldn't get the new tires put on the car, and we had to take Dave's car.  Only trouble with that plan is the chains we own are for my car not Dave's meaning he needed to go buy chains for his car.  He picked up actual chains, not the cables...

So while we're getting hit with some much needed rain as we get into the foothills we were looking good until we hit Twin Bridges.  Suddenly it turned quickly to snow and despite the fact all reports stated no chains necessary, we had to put them on the car right then and there.  Thinking we could attach the chains, we got out there in the slush and cold putting them on without assistance.  Mistake number one.  We started driving off and then BAM - we heard the chains fall of not one but both tires!  One of them did such a number it broke the car!  Dave borrowed a crowbar from someone and fixed it, but oops.  Needless to say we paid for them to put the chains on the car - and the chains were broken, but they figured it would get us up and into South Lake Tahoe.

We then went on and made the best of the trip.  On Saturday morning while it was raining in Lake Tahoe, it was snowing up at our "sledding hill".  Which was a relief, since we anticipated there would be very little "white stuff" up there.

Drew tried to catch snowflakes...

And he was rather daring, wanting to go as high up the hill as we would let him.  Both Dave and I stopped sledding, the ground was hard - I hurt myself, and Dave broke his sled.

So while the boys were doing some runs, I built a snowman...

Like father like son, they had to make the crazy face...

After the final run, Drew wanted to "play tombstone".  Goofy kid.

We had a picnic lunch under some trees, hoping to get a break from the now rain - however the wind kicked up bad and we finished our lunch in the dry warm car. 

Later that night we made our way to Pizza Hut where they serve cheap beers and decent pizza.
 

We went back to the room and checked out the next morning.  Normally we'd get one final run in at the "sledding hill", but we decided to just hit the road since we knew we were going to have a problem with the chains... and boy were we right.

We stopped in Meyers to pay them to put the chains on, and the first guy laughed at us and said you're too much a liability - go up the road to the other guys for help.  So we did and they told us they will get us down the summit, but these chains were D.O.N.E.  Turns out he had to make a few links and crimp them closed.  We realized this as we tried to get the chains off, and had to pay to have someone cut off one of the chains.

So all of our money spent this trip went to buy the chains, pay to have them put on twice, and taken off once.  Dave swore off trips to Tahoe without a rental car with snow tires.  Between the storm in New York and this one in Tahoe, there's no doubt in anyone's mind we won't be moving to anywhere where this is a seasonal occurrence. 

Thrill Seeking on the New York Mountaintop

While in New York and I was bedridden courtesy some version of the flu, Drew, Grandma, Grandpa, Dave and Brianna went up to West Mountain to do some tubing.  Drew thought it was fantastic!

I don't have much to offer since I wasn't there, but the boys are still talking about how fun it was so I guess it was a blast!

They would go up on a "line" and then Drew would get to the top and down he'd go! I guess he did several runs, he was afraid at first then wanted to go up higher and higher!

Here are a couple of videos:

One Run



And another run from higher up!

A Heavenly Weekend

Yes I've bored inundated you with a ton of snowy pictures from our one weekend in the snow.  You Midwesterners and East Coasters are probably rolling your eyes at this point wondering what the fuss is all about - because you can look out your window and see all of this white stuff I'm getting all excited about.  Meanwhile I'm sticking my tongue out at you because we're back to the Bay Area where temperatures are back in the 60s and even 70s.

So to wrap-up our fun in the snow we ventured to the Heavenly Village which is on the State line of California and Nevada.  The Village is on the California side.  We visited the Dr. Seuss exhibit at the art gallery we've gone to since coming up to Tahoe for the winter.  Cheap entertainment for a four year old - that is if you call reminding that 4 year old not to touch any artwork, to stop running, to stay with you, to stop touching things... entertaining.

After hitting up Starbucks for some warm liquids we walked over to the Village where Drew was mesmerized by the fountain that had frozen.

He seriously stared at the thing for about 30 minutes from various angles. 

This entire time Dave sat under the gondola puffing on a pipe - watching the Happy Hour goers at Fire and Ice.

I bet he was wondering if we could ditch the kid for a bit to join the Happy Hour crowd.

Instead afterward we found Pizza Hut and discovered they were one of 3 in the country that had a full bar - so we enjoyed $2 drafts while we waited for dinner!  Thankfully it was within walking distance to our hotel if needed.  We're holding onto that nugget for future reference!

We had an amazing weekend and we were all exhausted when we got home.  Hopefully next year we will have a better winter and can get up there more than once.

Frolicking in the Snow

Did I mention I took ton of pictures during last weekend's Tahoe trip?  Yep, here are some of the other highlights of our fun in the snow...

Our obligatory family photo from Day 2.

I know I mentioned somewhere that all Drew wanted to do was throw snowballs... the same was true on the second day as well.

I was even a target!  I had to take shelter in the trees...

My face in this one cracks me up.  Apparently I got really into pummeling Drew with snowballs...

But he forgave me :)

So after I was soaked (he nailed a few snowballs down my shirt) he turned the tides on Daddy!

That would be Drew's stunts... jumping off of rocks while throwing snowballs at Daddy.  He would jump and then roll in the snow.  That child was soaked when it came time to pack it up and head home.

OK are you bored with our one weekend in the snow?  Tomorrow I'll share our final pictures from other things we did around Tahoe - at least those that were caught on camera (we left the boozing off camera).

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

Yesterday I mentioned all the fun we had in the snow during this past weekend's trip to Lake Tahoe - where they had 18" of new snow that week.  It made for perfect sledding conditions!

The first several runs we all tried to go down together - each of us on our own sleds.  It's really hard to go down that big of a hill holding onto Drew.  So after a few runs that first day I let Dave and Drew make the trek to the "top" and come down.

Here is a little video of Dave and Drew on one of their runs... it's from my cell phone so it's not super great quality, but is the easiest to upload.



Of course I did go down a few times with Drew as well...

See holding onto a sled while going down yourself tends to lead to some crazy stunts - like the backward 4 year old.

At a certain point you give up holding on... like this one here with Dave and Drew.

After so many runs, Drew's no dummy - he doesn't want to walk up the hill anymore.  Or am I the dummy for dragging him??

Coming down is sure a lot more fun than going up!

I love this one of Drew carrying his own slide up the hill (I was up there waiting for him - he wanted to go down head first by himself so I remained at the top of the hill).

But Daddy's brave enough to go down on his stomach flying like Superman with Drew (it was really icy and bumpy that second day - I wasn't feeling that dare devil-ish)

I had so many more pictures of sledding, but I think you get the idea... it was fun and what goes up must come down.

Back from the Tundra

We are back from the frozen tundra - otherwise known as Lake Tahoe.  We picked an awesome weekend to head up there, that's for sure.  For those who haven't followed the Northern California winter weather reports... we really haven't had a winter so to speak.  Thankfully the Tahoe area was hit with a foot and a half of snow last week, so conditions were perfect - even if the weather hit 50-degrees during the day.

Yes you midwesterners/East Coasters - we have to drive to find real winter weather.  That we don't have to plow/shovel I might add.

Since I took something like 260 pictures I expect to "spam" you with all the fun we had this weekend over the next couple of days. 

We drove up Friday afternoon and arrived around dinnertime - only we weren't hungry yet.  So after checking into the hotel and relaxing a bit (it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our place) Drew and I took a walk to scope out our food options.  We settled on a pub that offered 20% off our bill thanks to our room card - that included the bar drinks.  And since we walked there (about 1/2 a mile from the hotel) we could indulge a bit.

Saturday morning is when the real fun started - we hit the snow!  We venture over to Nevada and Highway 29/Hwy 50 where there is an awesome sledding hill - and it's free!

Today's post will show some of the fun we had in the snow that first day.  We spent about 3 hours at the sledding hill that day.  All Drew wanted to do was throw snowballs like on the movie Elf.

See all the snowballs he collected?

Of course Mom and Dad had to pose him for a few cool photos before he got too tired from sledding - and therefore an uncooperative subject...

After doing some sledding (I'll share our sledding escapades tomorrow) we built a snowman.  Here's Drew with his pal Punchy.  Notice Punchy appears to be a Dodger fan?

And here was all that was left of Punchy the next day when we came back.  Drew thinks an animal - likely a rabbit - came and ate Punchy's nose.

 

Did I mention that all Drew wanted to do this weekend was throw snowballs?

And a picture of the sweethearts while Drew knocked himself out throwing all the snowballs he wanted.

We had a wonderful time that first day and even had several sledding runs in before it got too crowded.  People in this area don't know proper sledding etiquette so it's kind of a pain to dodge the adults not to mention the kids who can't put the sledding brakes on.  Tomorrow I'll share our plethora of sledding pictures - and even a video!

Let's Go Sledding!

Sunday was a MUCH better day to go sledding.  So after packing up at the motel, we loaded up and headed back over to Nevada to our beloved sledding slope.

Since the family photo the day before was such a fiasco - I wanted to grab one at the beginning of our trip.

Drew was patient enough for one take, and then it was time to get a few runs in!

Here's a video of Daddy & Drew sledding...

Drew was happy being the line leader and getting the farthest down the hill.

After getting enough sled runs in, we decided to play in the snow for a bit before heading home - and I mean home.

Then the boys decided to throw snowballs at the photographer - me.  Drew thought it was pretty funny when he nailed me.