"Slippin' and Slidin'" on Frozen Lakes with Ava

Ava and I are all alone up in Tahoe for a few days after DeDe, Anja, and Linda returned to the bay area after Christmas. Anja is still a bit young to spend too much time in the dry higher altitude air, so she's going back home to warmer climes while Ava and I spend more time in the snow. We started our activities by hiking the Lam Watah Historic Trail through Rabe Meadows and down to Nevada Beach, where Ava has been many times. We've almost always cycled there in the past, and it was nice to try a new route through the meadow and light forest. At one point Ava started talking about the "Dancing Trees" ahead and I wasn't sure what she meant and thought she was getting a bit delirious due to lack of a nap. Later that night when she pulled out the iPad I saw the dancing trees she was talking about in an episode of Dora the Explorer. Early in the hike there was a frozen lake. Ava was timid at first but eventually took a few steps out with me onto the lake, which I caught on the video linked below.

Our next day together was spent at the Carson City Children's Museum. On the way back to the cabin, Ava and I parked at Spooner Summit to make a quick loop around Spooner Lake. Last year, I did the loop around Spooner Lake with cross country skis dragging Ava behind me in a sled. This year, there was not enough snow for that so we walked around the lake in our normal shoes. On a few occasions Ava would slip and slide on the ice while I held her hand so she never actually fell but got to slide quite a bit.

By the way, Ava's general idea of a hike when we don't have the hiking backpack is for me carry her around and actually run or skip down the trail. Or, in her words : "No, only I want you to pick me up. Now run, daddy, run." Unfortunately for my back, it was starting to get dark fast when we were still a mile out from the trailhead, so I had to indulge her a bit in that.

More pictures, videos, and GPS tracks linked below..

Spooner Lake Loop

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Nevada

Lam Watah Historic Trail to Nevada Beach

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Lake Tahoe, California

Christmas in Lake Tahoe!

For the third consecutive year we spent the Christmas holiday in South Lake Tahoe. By this time last year, there was a deep base layer of snow all around the lake and some of the Tahoe ski resorts had received more snow than any other place in the country, but this year there is no snow at all at lake-level.

Still, the locals know how to adapt. The Borges Family Slegh Rides used their huge Belgian Draft Horses to pull carriages on the roads past the Casinos of Stateline, Nevada down to the lake and back. Last year Ava was too scared to pet the horses. This year, she did so, but Anja was even more eager as is generally her temperament.

On Christmas day we had 6 females and me in the house as both grandmothers and Aunt Lacey were able to join us in Tahoe. I spent most of the time decorating the christmas tree, cooking, and other manly activities. Ava and Anja came down Christmas morning and rushed over to their stockings. They made out like bandits with Toy Story, Dora the Explorer, and Mickey Mouse themed toys. They also had a large pedal car to share and have done surprisingly well at taking turns riding it around the house. Ava told santa (at the Stanford Shopping Center) that she wanted a kitty for Christmas, and has been extremely pleased with her very life-like toy cat that purrs, licks itself, blinks its eyes, and rolls over. I try to sneak over and turn the cat off when we leave but she caught me once and said "Don't hurt my kitty, daddy!". She also took issue and corrected me by saying "he IS a real kitty" when we told a waitress about what Ava got for Christmas. Both girls continue to enjoy lots of new foods with roast duck on Christmas and bison burgers on Boxing Day.

On Boxing Day, we took the Gondola at Heavenly Ski Resort up the mountain to get to an elevation where there is sufficient snow to let the girls run around a bit and play. Grams called Ava a little snowbunny after she demonstrated her enthusiasm for snowplay to which she replied "But I'm not a bunny!". Ava is not yet tall enough for tubing, and not yet old enough for downhill ski lessons, but I'll take her up sledding and cross-country skiing later this winter.

Fall Photos from Daycare: Anja

Anja joined her older sister full-time at daycare earlier this fall and the transition has been great for all involved. For a while we were taking her to two separate daycares on different days while we waited for a full-time space to open up, and one positive outcome from that experience is the useful basis of comparison it provided. The low teacher/student ratios at her current day care are really great for providing more direct interaction. The teachers are great at vocalizing everything they do throughout the day and her vocabulary has markedly started to develop this fall. They also take the kids to the dance and art studios several times a week, and occasionally during fire drills or other events Anja has the chance to run into her big sister and her friends from the young preschool classes.

Thanksgiving in Hawaii (Part 3)

Ava and I went on a couple of other hikes while we were in Hawaii. One of the better ones was the trip to Kekaha Kai State Park. This is accessible via an unpaved path over a lava flow for 1.5 miles that is only advisable for 4wd vehicles. Luckily, Ava didn't rat me out when I returned our small 2 wheel-drive economy car at the airport.

Thanksgiving in Hawaii, Part 2 (Dolphins and Hiking!)

The morning after our Thanksgiving dinner, we took Ava for a Dolphin Experience. She may look completely terrified throughout the ordeal, but those cries of "no, no" are just her way of expressing how excited she is. At least now that it is over she likes to watch this video and talk about the dolphin.



After the traumatic dolphin experience, we went hiking in Pololu Valley with grams. We saw some wild donkeys in the distance, and avoided a number of washed up Portuguese Man o' Wars on the beach.


Ava is getting a bit heavy for the hiking backpack, but some things haven't changed. Her favorite game in the water is little changed since her first trip to the islands.

After the valley we had a nice late lunch and then visited a few more state beaches before ending the day at a Macadamia Nut factory where Ava discovered peanut brittle for the first time.

Thanksgiving in Hawaii, Part 1

We're a bit spoiled about the weather in California. As soon as it starts to rain and the temperatures start to get below 70 F (20 C) for long, we seek an escape to warmer climes. Given the difficulties of layovers with young children this means we seek out destinations we can fly to directly from the bay area, which usually means Hawaii. This year we decided to try the Big Island to meet up with our friends Gerry and Andreea.

We flew into Kona and stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. The girls loved the resort, and Ava liked getting out and going on several hikes with me, but unfortunately Anja and DeDe were fighting a cold for part of our stay. Grandmom flew out later and joined us for Thanksgiving dinner with Andreea and Gerry at the Hilton.

Ava is quite the seasoned traveller at this point as she knows all the drills of modern air travel:

• She asks if she can take her shoes off when we get near the front of the security screening line as she knows they require this for x-ray screening (even though at some airports they let kids keep their shoes on).


• She knows that she needs to have her seatbelt on for takeoff and landing, and does not protest much when we explain that she needs to turn off the iPad and other portable electronic devices during this time.


• She expects apple juice and a snack.


• She understands that "we going fast" on take-off, and can point out cars and houses as we start to descend for landing.

She stays pretty occupied in her own seat by eating, sleeping, drawing, playing with her "magna-tiles", and mostly playing with her tablet computer to watch animated films such as Toy Story, and animated cartoons such as Diego and Dora the Explorer.

Anja doesn't quite have the same grasp of what is going on, and is getting to be too old for travel as a lap child, but still she handles the flights remarkably well.

Halloween 2011

We had a great time last month trick-or-treating with the girls around the neighborhood again. As with last year we also visited the Googleween festivities at my work with the girls in costume. It's been a month so I'm having trouble remembering what all we did that night. Luckily, Ava is sitting here with me way past her bedtime as I type this.

She says "we got candies", "we did get to go get some more candies", "only I got three", "and they were yummy". Couldn't have said it better myself. Pictures below.