Snowy trip to Tahoe

We got some fresh snow during our visit.  It was very lovely. 

And Mousse absolutely loved playing in it.  

The kids helped dig out my car and I had to document it. 

 

Ski weekend

Everyone enjoyed a sunny weekend in the mountains.  

 

Epic amount of snow!

Between Leo's broken arm and the crazy weather, we haven't been able to go up to the cabin much. It's been a historic winter throughout California and the Tahoe area has received an immense amount of snow.  Our neighbor sent us some photos of our little cabin buried in snow, but this weekend was our first chance to see it for ourselves.  Even though we knew it was fine (our rental management company has been out there several times to check on it) there was a particular sense of relief to see it still standing.  We arrived late on Friday night, so it was dark but we could still tell there was a massive snow pack.  

Saturday morning, Tom and Serafina headed out to ski.  A few hours later I took Mousse out for a walk and fully assessed just how much snow was all around our house and neighborhood.  

In most places the snow was triple or more overhead.  

When Tom and Serafina got home from skiing, she called me from the driveway.  I thought she needed help carrying stuff inside, but instead she wanted me to find her.  It took me a second, but there she was, on our second story roof. 

Of course Mousse had to climb up and join her.  

 

Snowy February

We went up to the cabin twice this month.  The first weekend in February the house was almost buried in snow.  On Saturday, we had beautiful weather and everyone had a good time skiing.  Mousse and I took a very long walk that day.  

On Sunday, it was snowing and only Tom went out to ski.  The kids and I worked on packing up the house so we could head home once Tom was home.  Well, the weather and the Highway Patrol had a different idea.  After it took Tom over an hour of harrowing driving to get home from the ski spot (our house is only 10 minutes away under good conditions), they ended up closing the highway.  Oh boy. I was pretty stressed about the situation, but Mousse was not. 

We ordered a pizza and hoped that by the time we were done eating the road would open back up since it stopped snowing.  And that's exactly what happened.  Of course, the driving was extremely slow and a bit slippery, so we got home very late. 

We headed back up to the cabin for Presidents Day weekend.  There had been lots of travel warnings because it was expected that a lot of people would be traveling to the area because of the record snow fall.  We waited until pretty late Friday night and got there with no issues.  Saturday and Sunday the skiers couldn't ski without extra costs because of the type of season pass they have, so we did other mountain things like take Mousse for walks and stroll around the adorable town of Truckee.  

Here's Mousse loving every minute of being in the snow, including on the beach at Donner Lake. 

Tom and Mousse taking in the view of Donner Creek running into the lake. 

 Here's a video of Serafina skiing on Monday. 

Unfortunately, Leo fell that afternoon and they ended their ski day a little early.  I picked them up, and Leo seemed fine.  He was hurting on Tuesday so he didn't ski, but Tom and Serafina did.  They wrapped up early again and we got on the road right as the snow was starting to fall.  We got home with no issues and I'm very glad we got out of the area when we did because they have had some extreme weather these last couple days with more to come! 

Winter Break cabin visit

We headed up to the mountains on Tuesday the 27th.  It was pretty easy to get there and we were happy to have some time at the cabin since we had to miss a visit earlier in December because of weather.  On Wednesday, the weather was clear but cold.  The skiers headed out to ski.  

Here's Leo's selfie.

Here's Serafina's...

I took Mousse for a snowy walk, which he loved, of course. 

It snowed over night so we woke up to fresh snow on Thursday.  They didn't end up going skiing because of the temperamental weather, so Tom joined us on our walk, which was combined with a game of fetch. 

We drove home on Friday in a storm.  It wasn't all that great and it took us a while to get home.  It's good that our dry state of California is getting so much precipitation, but I have a feeling it will impact our trips this season. 

 

Snowy Spring Break and Happy Easter

Last week the kids had spring break.  Before everyone dispersed to different vacation destinations, Serafina and Mia celebrated Purple's birthday at his house.  

Here they are with Mia holding the puppy Purple's family was pet sitting. 

It was warm enough for the kids to go in their pool.  

They often act too cool so I was happy to see these pictures of them being silly and having fun. 

Wednesday night we headed up to the lake house.  During the drive up, a storm rolled in. Thursday morning we woke up to fresh snow.  It snowed all day.   

Mousse was happy with the snow but it was chilly.  Apparently the fresh snow made for a fun, but slightly challenging day of skiing.  Of course, no one took a single picture or video. 

Friday, the sun came out in our neighborhood, so Mousse and I made sure to get out and enjoy it.  

Snow zoomies are the best zoomies!  Mousse loves the snow. 

Tom and the kids headed to Palisades Tahoe (forming known as Squaw Valley) to ski with our old housemates.  I told them to take some pictures to document this fun day of skiing with friends.  I chatted with Tom at lunchtime and reminded him of my photo request.  And guess what?  They didn't take a single stinking picture.  Anyway, they had a fun time even thought the skiing conditions weren't great. 
Saturday, the weather wasn't great, and everyone was a bit sore and tired from skiing so we headed home in the afternoon.  

We were home for Easter on Sunday.  Nana came over to hang out with us during the day.  I didn't take any pictures, except of Mousse with his brand new duck toy that he got in his Easter basket. 

 

Early April Tahoe visit

We spent the weekend at the lake house.  It was beautiful weather, but that also means the snow is quickly disappearing.  It was nice to be back at the house, even though some of the kitchen stuff had been moved to new and interesting places by various renters or maybe the cleaning ladies. 

Apparently, no one takes pictures while they're skiing, but I do take pictures of the dog when we walk about the neighborhood.  How can I resist?  He's so handsome. 

 

 There is one video of Leo going off a jump.  He said it was "spooky" because there was only a small strip of snow on the rock. 

Boys' Ski Weekend

Because Serafina's dance showcase got shifted to this past weekend, the boys had to go to Tahoe without us and adjust the days so that they could be home in time to attend the performance.  Tom had the smart idea to invite his friend Rich and his boys.  This is the same crew Tom and Leo backpacked with in September. 

Rich's boys are homeschooled so they had the flexiblity to ski on Friday and Saturday.  Apparently Friday wasn't the best weather but they all made the best of it.  The boys don't always use their birth names, but their chosen names start with the same letters so their parents often just call them by the first initial.  I'll do the same here.  

This is E and Leo on the lift. 

Tom getting in on the picture. 

The whole crew. 

Leo and E again.  E doesn't have a ton of snowboarding experience, but he's got a whole lot of guts, so he was willing to go on big runs with Tom and Leo and figure out how to get himself down the mountain despite lacking skills.  Both Tom and Leo were really impressed with his bravery and fortitude.  Rich and J skied together on some more mellow runs.  

The house accommodated them all really well and it sounds like they had a great trip.  It was so nice their friends were able to join them because it made Serafina and I feel less guilty for not going. 

 

Back-to-back Tahoe weekends

We don't usually do back-to-back Tahoe weekends, but because of Serafina's dance schedule, it made the most sense for us.  Unfortunately, there hasn't been any new snowfall, but there is a lot of snow pack.  The clear weather makes for easy driving and beautiful sunshine for taking Mousse out for walks.  

Here he is ready to head out in his little sweater.  He doesn't like putting his legs in so he ended up shaking it off after about half a block.  

Fortunately, since he's off-leash when we are in the neighborhood, he's running around so much that he doesn't get cold.  

When we are out, I stroll (carefully because of ice) down the street and Mousse runs back and forth checking out every house and jumping on every snowbank.  

Here he is in front of the Moose crossing sign.  

Mousse loves the snow even if he isn't very graceful in it. 

The kids and Tom had fun skiing, but there was a serious lack of pictures, except for this selfie from Serafina. 

Tom took this video of Serafina shredding it up. 

 

Merry Christmas!

 We had our traditional Christmas Eve with my mom and lots of seafood for dinner.  Tom branched out and made calamari.  I missed the calamari course because I was on the phone with my cousin Dillon, but that's okay because I don't eat fish or squid.  I didn't take any pictures while my mom was here, but after she went home, we made our annual butter cookies for Santa. 

Serafina doing some decorating. 

Leo decorating. 

Here's the end result. 

I found a picture from the first time we made these cookies in 2012.  Look at those little goobers!  So small and cute. 

I didn't take any pictures of the kids opening presents on Christmas morning, only Mousse with his Baby Yoda toy from Tracy and Maya.  Ha!  I guess that's the new era we live in. 

He was so happy. 

I made them pose for a picture after dinner though.  Serafina has on her new Christmas pajama pants and new slippers. 

I told Leo to give me a good smile and this is what I got. 

New ornaments!  Beautiful Santa Mermaid from Sheila. 

See's Candies centennial ornament from Santa. 

There were renters at our house that were supposed to leave on Christmas morning.  On Christmas Eve, there was a power outage that impacted the entire Donner Lake neighborhood.  The power came back on around 5pm and the renters were gone.  I guess they didn't want to be stuck there in the dark, even though the heat is gas.  It turned out that they were smart to leave when they did because the highway closed early Christmas morning and it still hasn't re-opened.  We were supposed to get a new group of renters today, but they probably can't get there with the highway closed.  So much snow fell that when we checked the cameras this afternoon (after another outage), the snow pile in front of the house was almost to the roof!  

Winter Wonderland Weekend

We headed up to our little lake place for the weekend and it had transformed in to a winter wonderland.  

The view from the driveway. 

Lots of snow on our place. 

On Saturday, Tom and the kids headed out for their first ski day since February 2020. 

They were excited.  Serafina was a bit nervous and Tom was feeling cautious since he had his knee repaired (again) this past September. 

While they were away, I got busy on a long to-do list to get the house "guest ready".  I took time out for a long walk with the dog.  

Here's a beautiful view of snowy Maple Street from the end of our driveway. 

I made Mousse put on his little sweater.  Full disclosure, he's not a fan and I could only get him to put one leg through. 

Handsome boy in the snow. 

He absolutely loves the snow.  

He jumped up on the snow berms and jumped all around in the deep snow. 

A view of Donner Lake from the bridge down the street from our house. 

Serafina took some selfies during their ski day. 

They skied on Sunday too.  I took the dog for a walk and then I had to go to town to run errands.  Mousse was home alone at the lake house for the first time and he did great.  I picked up the tired skiers in the afternoon and we came home to a planned power outage.  The most recent storm caused a lot of damage, and crews were working hard to repair damaged power lines.  The outage wrapped up earlier than planned and we were happy about that.  

Monday Tom had to work and we still had lots to do at the house, so they didn't ski.  We packed up our personal items and cleaned most of the day, but we had time to walk the dog.  It was glorious out so I made the kids come with me. 

Here's silly goose Mousse having a blast with snowballs on our walk. 

We drove home Monday night, and our first renters are due to arrive Wednesday! We hope they like the place.