Long Tahoe weekend with special guests

The kids had Thursday and Friday off from school for Professional Development Days.  That means the teachers have to work, but we don't so we headed to Tahoe.  Since our friends also had the days off, we made it a big trip with our friends the Smiths staying at our house and the Gradwohl family staying with Bobby and Aida at their Tahoe house.  

We drove up late Wednesday night and Thursday the Smiths headed to Sugarbowl early for lessons for the girls and their dad.  Their mom, Lizzy, hadn't skied in a while but was eager to get out on the mountain.  When I arrived, I strapped on her two-month-old daughter Halle and got to the business of babysitting.  I was kind of surprised to be in charge of a tiny human again.   

I took her on a walk to see my favorite house.  

 Meanwhile on the mountain, Lizzy was busy taking lots of selfies with my skiers.

She also got some nice shots of my crew.  

When everyone came in for lunch, the baby was still sleeping so I just kept on wearing her.  

Even on the gondola to fetch the lunch bag.  

After lunch, Serafina headed out with Emma who was fresh off her first lesson and eager to test out her new skills.  

Lizzy liked skiing with the big girls.  

 Not sure why Serafina did this in the lift line.

 Happy Leo.

 It was a beautiful spring day at Sugarbowl.  Here's Lane, Serafina, Emma and Leo.

Serafina and Emma on the gondola to go home.  

 Once back at the house, Emma, Serafina and Lane explored the backyard.  They were still outside playing when the Gradwohls arrived.  They all got to have some fun in the snow before coming inside for dinner.

 I made a big tray of ziti the day before and just baked it up at the Tahoe house.  Kristi brought an impressive candy-topped cookie dessert.  The kids weren't allowed to have a piece until they smiled for the camera.  Here's Leo, Lane, Sidney, Emma, Sunny and Serafina.

 Before bedtime, the Gradwohls headed to the Matinpours' house.  We met up with them at Alpine Meadows the next day.  The Gradwohl girls did a morning lesson.  We got another lovely sunny day.

 Here's Ana, Serafina and Emma.

 After the lesson, Serafina wanted to ski with Sunny.

 Ricky took his girls plus Serafina and Emma to the magic carpet.

 It's been a long time since Serafina was on a magic carpet.

 As the day wrapped up, Leo took a turn as babysitter.  He took his job very seriously and he did great.

Here's Aida's husband Bobby.  He and Aida very graciously hosted everyone at their house for dinner Friday night.  Earlier in the day he had a terrible crash while skiing and had to go home.  We weren't sure if they would be up for having us over, but Aida assured us we could come and have taco night as we had planned.  Bobby was clearly in pain, but he put on a happy face.  The next morning, Aida took him to the doctor at the Squaw medical center.  Turns out he broke six ribs and they were very concerned about internal bleeding.  He was transferred to the Truckee hospital and spent the night for monitoring.  Does look like a guy with six broken ribs?  He made this weekend even more unforgettable and solidified his position as the toughest guy I know.  

 Here's Tom keeping Bobby company in the living room.  He also visited Bobby twice in the hospital because Tom is a good friend.

 Here are all the adults - left to right: Kristi, Bobby, Aida, Ricky, Tom, me, Lizzy and Jeremy.

And the kids: Navid, Leo, Sunny, Lane, Serafina, Emma, baby Halle, Sidney and Ana.  

 That night, Serafina's eyes were bloodshot.  I figured she was tired and hoped it was nothing.  She woke up the next morning with her eyes looking even worse, her face puffy and suffering from a pretty bad cough/cold.  When we arrived at Alpine, I was tempted to take her back home but she insisted on skiing with Emma.

Here's Emma, Lane and Serafina out on the snow.  

I headed off to Squaw to check on Bobby (he was seeing the doctor at this point and didn't have the diagnosis yet) and take a yoga class.  Lizzy was still doing an awesome job of taking pictures of everyone.  

When I got back to Alpine, this is how Lane was spending her afternoon.  Poor kid was worn out from skiing and fun.  She stayed like that for a long time.  

 Serafina and Emma spent all day riding a beginner lift together without a grown up.  They were very responsible about looking out for each other and checking in.  They were also very proud of themselves.

Eventually everyone came in to wrap up the day.  Here's Tom with all the Smith girls and his kids.

 The Gradwohls spent the day tubing and watching the Matinpour kids while Aida dealt with her broken husband.  They headed home Saturday afternoon and the Matinpours spent the evening at the hospital.  We went to downtown Truckee.  Here are the kids hanging out in town.

 We had dinner at our favorite pizza spot.  I like how this picture looks like Jeremy and Tom just adopted a baby together.

 All and all, it was a fun weekend.  Serafina is still under the weather, and Tom and I are exhausted.  The Smiths and Gradwohls had a fun time in Tahoe and appreciated the guidance we could provide from all our experience.

Engineering workshop and pub crawl

Yesterday Tom took Serafina to a Lego Engineering workshop for girls at Microsoft.  There were a few other girls there from her school and she liked it.  Here's a little video of the robot rabbit she made.  

Later in the evening, our house was the third stop on a four-house "pub crawl".  We served corned beef, cole slaw, Irish beer and this green melon martini.  The food went over well and so did the drink.  Party goers bought tickets to the party during the PTA's silent auction to help raise funds for the school.  

 This is at the last stop - me, Lizzy, Aida and Kristi.  We are missing Lina who moved back to Australia in December.

 Today we had beautiful weather.  We went on a bike ride and then later we walked to the park to fly a kite.

Leo's class sings too

Monday Leo went on another field trip.  I didn't join this one but a parent sent me this picture.  He looks pretty happy.  He had a haircut the day before.  

Yesterday, his class performed the songs they learned in music class just like Serafina's class did last week.  

They even sang the same songs as Serafina's class.  

 Leo came up to the board to draw a sixteenth note.

 Today Serafina wore her Bat Girl headband to school.  She found this at Target on clearance for $2 and how could I say no.

Serafina singing in class

Serafina's class wrapped up their singing lessons today with a little performance for the parents.  I feel like my kids always worry I won't show because when I do show they have an expression of joy and relief.  Like this...

The kids stood up to stretch and prepare to sing.  

 I pretty quickly realized that Serafina is significantly taller than her classmates.  So much in fact, it looks like she wandered into the wrong class from one of the upper grades.

The nice thing about her being so tall is that she is easy to spot in these videos.

History Park field trip

Leo's class visited the History Park in San Jose today.  He actually went as a second grader last year, but since he is in the 2nd/3rd combo class, he visited again with the second graders.  The park has historical buildings and replicates life in Santa Clara County over 100 years ago.  

The kids took the bus to get there.  I didn't take the bus but my friend Aida did and she sent me some pictures.  

Leo and Ethan. 

The kids visited a school room.  

I came to the field trip late after helping in Serafina's class.  They were doing some outside chores.  

 Leo correctly identified the out house.  They all took turns beating the rug.

Then we headed into this lovely preserved home. 

 Trying out a hand mixer.

 Sewing.

 Ironing.

 After lunch the kids played in the grass.  Leo put his hand on a plant that caused him to break out in hives.  He was pretty alarmed, but fortunately I was there to calm him down and the hives disappeared pretty quickly.  We headed out to explore the park and the kids had paper and pencils to sketch.  Here's Leo and Solomon working on their drawings.

 He drew the covered wagon.

 There were six boys in our group but only three would stand still for a picture.

 It was a neat place but not the most exciting field trip, especially for a repeat visit.  Next week the third graders are going to the science institute but I'm not joining them for that one.

 Serafina celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday at school and came home with this cute hat.