Tahoe Day 2

The best way to describe our second day in Tahoe was relaxing. We started the day being lazy, breakfast in the room ( I brought lots of room food) and playing with some toys. It was still snowing pretty hard and really cold outside, so we weren't in a hurry to get out of our warm toasty room.

We finally worked up the energy it takes to get everyone in their snow gear and head out. There was a gondola from the Ritz to the Northstar ski village.  We needed to find the kids better snow gloves and an ear warmer for Young...it was REALLY cold...like 17 degrees cold! The kids loved the gondola ride.  So pretty riding down the mountain, but you can see how hard it was still snowing.

The instant we hit the snow the kids wanted to start playing.  It was so deep, it was comical just watching them try to walk in it.

Cameron had been saying the whole way up to Tahoe that she wanted to make a snow angle.  We found a patch of undisturbed snow and let her go at it.  I think she made about 20 angles and loved every minute of it.

Northstar was really empty.  The snow was so perfect for skiing, everyone was up on the mountain.  I had hopes of ice skating with the kids but the rink wasn't open because it was snowing so hard.  They couldn't keep the ice clear.  So we just played in the snow a little, made snow balls, ate some lunch and then headed back to the hotel to build a snow man.

See how deep it was??  So much fun making snowballs, digging caves, and just trying to walk in 3 feet snow!

The snow was way too powdery to build a snow man.  Young and the kids got one big ball made after about an hour, but that was about as far as they could get.  There were a few other families out trying the same thing, all coming to the same conclusion...it just wasn't snowman making snow.

We came in to take a little afternoon break, warm up, snack on the leftover fruit from the kids unfinished dinner the night before and watch a little cable TV!  (we love hotels because of the cable) Then we took part in the afternoon arts and crafts provided by the hotel.  They made Christmas ornaments!

By the time we were done with the craft we could see them setting up for afternoon s'mores! After a few toasted marshmallows, Timo and Young headed back out to play while Cameron just wanted to hang in the hotel looking out at all the snow.

The tub in our bathroom was HUGE!  Good thing I brought goggles!  The kids played in the tub for almost an hour after dinner.  Then a special gift from the hotel was delivered...Yum!  A great ending to a great day in the snow!

I do have to say, I forgot the little things that are sorta a drag about staying in a hotel room as opposed to a rental house...mainly the sleeping.  It was taking a while to get the kids settled down at night to sleep.  And being a light sleeper, I was waking up several times a night at every noise they made in their sleep.  It wasn't the most sleepful vacation we've ever had...one of the most relaxing but not the best sleep.  But I did like the trade off of someone cleaning our room and making our beds every morning :)

Christmas Day--Tahoe!

After enjoying our Christmas morning, the children were so excited to see snow, they sprang into action to get ready and loaded up so we could get on the road. We allowed them to take a few of their new Christmas gifts with us so it wouldn't be like leaving all that fun behind.  We didn't know how long the trip would take so we put the DVD players in the car in preparation for a long journey.  The kids got a few new DVDs for Christmas, Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Tinkerbell Secret Wing Fairy.  Can you say hours of quiet???  So nice to just have quiet to talk to my husband and finish a conversation.  It had started raining by the time we hit Sacramento and thank goodness McDonald's was open on Christmas Day.  We did a quick pit stop and got back on the road, knowing the rain we were in meant snow falling just an hour away.

And we were right!  Around our 3 hour mark we hit the snow and stopped traffic.  They were stopping everyone one making sure you had chains on your tires or 4wheel drive.  We sat in traffic a while...but it was so fun seeing snow, we didn't even really mind.  I had hoped the kids would nap on the way up but as you can see...the snow was way too distracting to thinking of sleeping.

MVI 9089 from Sara ko on Vimeo.

Then we ran into this...a total white out!  Young was driving so slow and so careful.  We were all praying in the car for safe travels.   Timo and Cameron were totally occupied watching the snow that they sat so quiet, which allowed Young to concentrate on driving.  After an hour of driving in worsening conditions,  I started wondering if they should be closing the road. We later found out they did close it just after we passed the check point.  We were some of the last cars they let go through.  The Lord's hand was on us in so many ways...allowing us to get on the road early,  for protection while driving and keeping us from having to sit in traffic for hours until the road opened again.

Finally, after 5 hours (a normal 3 1/2hour drive) we made it to North Tahoe!  We were able to use some of Young hotel points to get a few night at the Ritz Carlton.  The first thing we did when we pulled up to the hotel was thank Jesus for watching over us!  We parked the car and didn't use it again until we left.

Our room wasn't quite ready when we got there so we headed out to the snow to kill some time.  About 2 minutes into play I realized we really needed the snow clothes but the bellman had taken them to put in our room.  We caused quite a ruckus in the lobby searching for our luggage and changing into our snow boots, hats and gloves but it was worth it!  This was one of those times you truly just enjoy watching your children delight in the simple things.  They were so happy to be in the snow.  But it was snowing really hard and super windy, it was difficult to stay out for long periods of time...the kids didn't seem to mind, but I did.

We got our luggage up and settled into our room, warmed up a little and then headed back out for the 4:00 s'mores they had everyday at the outdoor fire pit!  Again, it was snowing so hard, we didn't stay out long.  The resort got about 2 feet of snow the day before and added another 17 inches Christmas Day!

We had a 6pm reservation in the restaurant for Christmas Dinner which was so lovely.   They even made apple and peanut butter appetizers for the Timo and Cameron!  Unfortunately dinner didn't last long...our children had come to the end of their day about mid way through dinner.  A big morning, long long drive and afternoon snow play had taken it's toll on our troopers.  Cameron almost fell asleep in my lap. Luckily our room was just upstairs!  I took the kids up while Young finished eating and brought my dinner up for me to finish later.  A very eventful day came to a perfect end sitting in front of the fire, two sleeping children, quiet time with my husband as snow fell outside...we were counting our blessings.

Christmas Morning!

We had plans to leave later on Christmas Day for a family trip to Tahoe, but with a storm on it's way, we were advised to get on the road and there earlier rather than later. Having said all that, our Christmas morning started early and "wrapped" up early so we could get on the road. Honestly, the kids really didn't have a problem ripping through their packages at lightning speed!  Santa came and unloaded his sack, bring dearly wanted gifts and a few unexpected surprises!

The headlamps were an instant hit...and continue to be.  The children like to "read" in bed at night sometimes so I thought the headlamps would be useful instead of leaving a light on for them.  Bingo!

Cameron's favorites from the morning...Batman and her cheetah.  The cheetah has become her side-kick now...goes everywhere with us.

Timo's highlights...his bow and arrow and remote control helicopter.

Cameron giving her daddy the Christmas gift she picked out for him.  He loves the Star Wars pancake molds. (we looked for superheros but only found Star Wars)

Just a few other pics from our morning... excitement, gratefulness, silliness and just pure joy of being together and sharing Christmas together.  I love the magical time of Christmas with Timo and Cameron!

 We took our time, enjoyed the gifts we received, realized the how much we've been blessed throughout the year had a few moments to recognize the birth of our Savior as the greatest gift given to us.