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.