Blog | Tahoe!
We had a FANTASTIC trip to Tahoe. We started our trip with a ridiculously early flight. Brianna was such a trooper.
She was soooo excited to fly on an airplane that she did not sleep the entire first leg of the trip (unfortunate since it was the longer leg and since she had an entire seat to herself). But she was so good – the people around us all complimented her on her excellent behavior. She had a brief problem with her ears, but thankfully she is old enough to say “ear hurts” and we told her how to fix it. No more problems after that!
We first flew into Denver and then on to Reno, where we picked up a gynormous car (a Yukon) so that we would have 4-wheel drive in Tahoe. While we were driving to Tahoe I saw what looked to me like practically vertical ski slopes in the distance – you could not pay me enough money to try to ski down those particular slopes!
My friend Tracy (known her since Jr. High) invited us out to her family home in Tahoe. This is the view from the windows in the back of their home – AMAZING!
We were not there long, so we generally tried to stay on Eastern time as much as possible, which meant we were up early enough for this gorgeous sunrise.
The first day, Jason hit the slopes while Brianna and I hung out with Tracy and her boys (Charlie and Geordie). We went to a local park to have some fun sledding down the snowy hill.
The second day, we all went to Northstar to show Brianna the skiers and snowboarders and the general skiing environment. You had to take a gondola up the mountain a bit to get to the ski lifts. Brianna LOVED the gondola. We must have ridden it 20 times – she talked non-stop about “more gondola” so she could see the “mountain far away.” Here are a few pics from our gondola and mountain experience.
Are we there yet??
First gondola ride.
Hanging out with Daddy.
Posing with Mommy with the half-pipe in the background.
Playing with Mommy in the snow.
She was having so much fun, she started clapping.
That afternoon, we went back with Tracy and the boys while Daddy skied. We had fun walking around the neighborhood – Brianna was especially fascinated with the icicles that formed on the snow banks. I would break them off and she would smash them on the pavement and then giggle. 
The third day we let Daddy ski some more while we hung out with Tracy and the boys again. Since the afternoon was supposed to be rainy, we decided to head back to the park in the morning for more sledding on the fresh snow. Little did we know we would get to experience a mini “blizzard”!
We were only supposed to get a few inches overnight, but I think in total we got between 8 and 12 inches (and a “few” in the 30 minutes or so we were at the park). Still, Brianna and Charlie had fun – eating the snow, watching us sink knee and hip deep into the snow, and generally watching the spectacle.
Hmmm…not sure I really want to sled right now…
Mmmmm…snow…
This stuff is COLD!
After a while, enough was enough, so we headed back to the house to warm up and have a snack. Isn’t she adorable in her borrowed ski pants and my hat??
We left on Thursday. But before we left, we took a couple of pictures with our friends – Tracy is holding her two boys (Charlie is 30 months and Geordie is 6 months) and Bear is sitting next to Brianna. Bear is the sweetest most child-friendly dog I have ever met! As you might imagine, it took a few takes to get everyone to smile and look at the camera…
the “candid” shot…
yay – everyone is smiling!
My beautiful friend Tracy
Then we headed to the airport. On the way we saw Brianna’s “mountain far away” up close – this was the mountain she was so fascinated with while riding the gondola. I wasn’t able to get a picture while riding the gondola b/c I waited too long and the clouds obscured the view.
We gave Brianna’s new friend Anais a ride to the airport (she is Tracy’s au pair from Paris) – Brianna had lots of fun playing with Anais and learning a few words in French.
Then it was time to go – here is a picture of Brianna and Jason standing in front of the airplane we are about to board.
Bye-Bye Tahoe!
