Goodbye to 2012 in Tahoe

Our time in Tahoe was also filled with lots of snow play and relaxing. 

 

 The sled runners

 

 

Hot Chocolate

 

Happy 2013!

End of the ski season

We enjoyed a last weekend in Tahoe, marking our last up there for this ski/snowboard season. 

The weekend started off with beautiful, spring-like weather conditions.  We spent the day sledding, playing outside, and enjoying lunch around the fire pit....

Ringing the lunch bell

Luke with Cosmo

Mia with Brooklyn

Playing with the dogs (notice how Brooklyn is just laying in the snow ... this is her absolute FAVORITE thing to do and she never gets cold, even after HOURS ... crazy!)

Throwing snow for the dogs

Lunching in the sun

Shoveling out the fire pit

Sledding with Uncle Todd on his crazy sled run with the big jump

...only to be met the following day with a huge snow storm!

Luke and Uncle Todd braving the storm for some serious snow play

Mia watches the boys from the safety of the back porch

Coming in to warm up

BFFs:  Cosmo and Brooklyn after a long day of playing in the snow


Our final day ended with perfect conditions, so Luke got up on the mountain to take his final lesson this year with Jay.

Ski Bum

I honestly have a hard time believing when I look at these pictures that that is MY child, and that he is big enough to even walk, much less SKI.

That aside, Luke had his first ski experience last weekend and he did amazingly well. He had said on multiple occasions that he wanted to ski, but when the time actually came he was hesitant. He looked less than thrilled and nearly cried when we were suiting him up in the helmet and boots, but after a little brownie he was feeling much better.

Getting his skis fitted to his boots

The Gondola ride was pretty exciting for Luke. He had a ton of questions about how it worked, how it would stop, where we would get off, and if Daddy would be there when we arrived at the mid mountain.

Of course, Daddy was there and he and Luke shared some snacks, a drink, some live music, and a bit of warmth around the fire pit before heading out.

Mia loved bopping around to the music also!

My parents met Jay the ski instructor on the chair lift recently, so once we knew when we would be giving it a try with Luke (we decided to wait for the right weather so that Luke enjoyed his first day on the slopes), we gave him a call. They ended up doing a 2 hour lesson with just Luke, Michael, and Jay. This also allowed Michael to gain a few tips on how to help Luke learn to ski going forward.

Luke meets Jay

Starting by pushing along with only one ski on

Learning to lean forward in the boot

Coming down on his own!

Jay gives Luke a "lift" to save some of his energy - climbing up the hill on that little carpet in skis is hard work for a 3 year old!

Mia loving being out and watching her brother - such the life of the party!

As Luke, Michael, and Jay were working on some skills on the little hill with the carpet, I turned to say goodbye to Mia and my parents who were heading down for a nap. When I turned back I couldn't find Luke anywhere on the little ski school slope. Finally I called Michael on his cell to find out where they had gone...and he tells me that they took the chair lift up and that they would be back down in just a few minutes. I couldn't believe it when I looked up the mountain and saw my little guy just skiing down on his own!

They took the lift up a few more times and came down the same run. Michael said that Luke did great and that on one of the runs, he didn't even fall. Honestly, kids learn so much easier than adults. I mean, who learns to ski in less than 2 hours?!

Luke was thrilled with his accomplishment and had a great first experience. Jay was great and we will most definitely be going back this season so that Luke can get another ski day in with Daddy and Jay.

Proud Mommy with her little ski bum

We heart Tahoe!

We just returned from yet another fantastic Tahoe weekend. Fun was had by everyone - skiing for Daddy, a few hours of snowboarding for Mommy, frolicking in the snow for Brooklyn, cuddle time for Mia, another dinner out at our favorite sushi place and Luke ... well, here are a few pictures:

Picnicking with Day outside - they set up a little table in the snow after some fun snow-play time

Gambling with Paw on his slot machines

Hanging out in the snow with Brooklyn (she and Luke share a love for all things SNOW)

Luke also enjoyed another round of "cave sleeping" (sleeping in a sleeping bag on the heated floor of Day and Paw's closet), and built an awesome fort inside out of blankets, which he spent quite a lot of time in.

Mia was a star traveler. We stopped once on the way up to console her, and not at all on the ride home - she slept the entire way!

All in all, a fabulous weekend (minus the "vase incident," which I won't blog about here, but we can talk about in person ... let's just say that toddler and fancy vase do NOT go well together - thankfully the toddler "won" in this instance!).