Ski Week

Ski week - what a fantastic holiday.  In the Marriott household, it is right up there with Christmas!  This trip we headed up to Tahoe with 2 other families - the Chungs and the Yensons.  We have been friends with these families since our kids attended preschool together.  It was so nice to have a reunion with our favorite families in our favorite places.

Meet the Kiddos - Helen, Jayden, Curtis, Peyton:

Striking GQ pose - a la kid-style

We skied the first couple of days.  On day 3, we decided to change it up a bit
(an adult excuse to rest our weary bones).

A Geo-caching we will go

Anyone know the way?

Never fear, smart phones to the rescue!
(Don't know why, but this cracks me up)

Once we got our bearings, we were off to treasure hunt...trudging through the snowy forest, we came to a river that we had to cross.  The parents surveyed the situation.  The river was mostly iced over and covered with snow (the key word being mostly).  There were patches of holes where you could see and hear the river stream running.  So Chris blazed the trail, testing the ground, breaking through at some points and then altering his path - laying down branches as he went to act like a bridge for added support.  Once the path was laid, we carefully shuttled the kids across with specific instructions of where to step and where not to step.  Everyone got across without incident. 

River Crossing

Once we reached the other side, we found the exact location of the GPS coordinates (plus or minus 6 meters).  Did we mention we were also buried ankle deep in snow?  For some reason, we forgot to factor in the snow when we decided to treasure hunt.  So now, we were in the middle of nowhere with 4 very anxious kids and 4 even more anxious adults (we hyped up this treasure hunt so much we were scared the kids would riot if we left empty handed).  At this moment I regretted not bringing a secret "back-up" treasure for the kids to find.  Randomly digging in a 12 meter radius was starting to get old.  Just then, I looked up and saw a huge tree stump.  Being a seasoned Geo-Cacher - I followed my gut instinct and started digging around.  Did I mention I have a terrible sense of direction and usually have trouble locating the phone in my purse, especially when it is ringing?

At that exact same time, Chris was able to get a hint for the Geo-cache - the word, "stump".  With renewed and focused vigor we all dug around the holes and crevices of the stump.  We dug around for a bit but realized that the treasure could be buried anywhere.  We were just about to give up and head back, when I decided to give it one last try.  I was kicking the snow with my boot to clear it away when suddenly - "thunk".  I had kicked something.  I started to clear the snow - and eureka, the top of a red ammunition box peeked out.  I yelled out, "I found it!  I found it!".  I think I was just excited as the kids were.  A few seconds I was being mauled by the kids vying for the best digging spot.

 

Geo-cache Booty

Thankfully, all the kids are mature enough to be convinced that they do not need to take any souvenirs from our "treasure" (A.K.A "junk").  I did make a mental note to myself to start our own Geo-cache so that I could also rid ourselves of junk from home that Jayden will not allow me to throw away.  Instead of an ammo box, I will probably need a treasure chest or one of those pod storage containers.  It crosses my mind that perhaps this was the true origin of the game?  The brainchild of a creative parent whose child was a sentimental-hoarder?  

The kids and adults all sign the log as proof we had found it.

So, we crossed the river for the first time without incident.  However, on the way back across, I, was not as lucky.  Although Chris likes to claim that it was not the lack of luck but lack of listening and following instructions that was my demise.  I liked to think that I sacrificed myself to provide a good example of what not to do for the children.  Well, whatever it was -just call me Ms.Wetfoot : )

Once we were all across, some of us with wetter feet than others, it was time for a victory snow-ball fight celebration.  Kids (yes, this includes Chris) against the adults.  It was all great fun...until I cranked Peyton in the neck with a snow-ball.  Oddly, he was not consoled by the fact I was actually aiming for Chris.   

Once we got home, we took the kids tobogganing.  We could not find a steep enough hill, so the parents acted as gravity, pulling the sleds down the hill (I was oddly reminded of the sport curling, using kids instead of rocks).

 Curtis

 Kids bonspiel action shot

Curtis getting air (love his cute little giggles)

Sledding blooper reel (makes me laugh everytime)

The things we do for our children - Go Nelson!
(He almost bites it at the end - just shows his dedication as a parent; fully vested)

Of course my "Big Kid" needed to try it out too:

After the kids curling, the adults invented more games:  snow-bowling - with the kids acting as the pins and throwing snow-balling range (like a shooting range) with, you guessed it, our kids as the targets.

Love this picture - good strategy!

Great fun.  Should be a contender for new Olympic sport.  During one of the rounds, Chris hit Jayden in the groin with a snow-ball.  Jayden doubles over and whimpers, "Ouch, my testicles, ohh, you hit me in the testicles"!  Jayden's girl friend, Helen, exclaims with wide eyes and in a protective stance, "Don't hit me in the testicles!"  We thought we'd pee ourselves laughing!

We had such a great time skiing with everyone and decided that this will be the first annual - with many more to come.  All the kids did great.  Jayden skied black runs for the first time (as did mama - woot!).  Jayden's friend Helen skied with us, she may be a beginner but forget telling her that!  She zoomed down the mountain in a streak of pink and had no trouble keeping up in speed - and she did it all in snow-plow stance (my legs are burning just thinking of it!).    

This past week, Mother Nature was kind enough to lay down a fresh coat of powder in Tahoe.  Maybe we need to make our annual trip into a bi-annual trip (...or even better bi-weekly).  Shout out to our ski-homies, thanks for making our trip so much fun.  Cannot wait to do it again!

Chris, Judy, Irene, Nelson, and Warren

 

 Who loves skiing?

Chillin' Tahoe Style

warm drinks, warm hearts

Majestic mountains of Tahoe

 Ba and Jay

 Chillaxin' at the Village

 Chris enjoying his Bloody Mary Meal;
with shrimp, olives, horseradish, green bean, celery, and it did not scrimp on spice either

While we were in Tahoe we were lucky enough to meet up with Jayden's friends; Stella and Alaya & their families.  It was nice to catch up for both kids and adults alike.  The kids were giddy to be with one another - there were lots of stories, jokes, and laughter (I guess the same as the adults, except we did less crawling around on our hands and knees - chasing one another).  It was so nice to see J.J. with his ol'buddies.  We miss everyone at YCIS (Jayden's former school).  It is endearing to know that he has made friends for life : )

 Alaya, Jayden, Adrien, and Stella:

Merry Christmas from the top of the World...

Feliz navidad from the slopes of Tahoe!

For the holidays our family decided to go to snow and so to Lake Tahoe we go!  

Well, no one told us that Jack Frost had apparently gone on vacation - there was no snow to be found in Lake Tahoe (unheard of - especially for late December).  At least the spring-like conditions made the usually treacherous drive very safe and enjoyable but grew our skepticism about our skiing holiday.  Plan B - a hiking Christmas holiday?  

Luckily, Northstar ski resort had heard our cries for a white Christmas and made enough man-made snow to fulfill our holiday plans.  It was great, normally Christmas gets very busy at Northstar but I guess the "no-snow" was a deterrent for many as we felt like we had the hill to ourselves.

 

Proof that my husband only has eyes (in this case - goggles) for me!

(This also highlights the shenanigans I have to pull to get myself in our "family pictures" - sad but true.  Being the photographer of the family seems to showcase Chris as "father of the year" and then myself as the "absentee mother".  Every once in a while I have to remind everyone of the woman behind the camera and the blog - "here I am!".)

My Stylish lil'Snow-Bunny:

Mental preparation for skiing a difficult run

On Christmas Day, J.J. was in ski school, so I had a date with my sweetie-pie husband.  It was great day, we spent a lot of quality time exploring the slopes together and even more quality time experiencing drinks at Zephyr Lodge ; ) 

I had a wonderful ski-date with my husby and Jayden had a fantastic time with his ski group.  How do we know that J.J. had a fun time?  Besides Jayden debriefing us at pickup - talking a mile a minute about his "totally awesome day", Chris and I took some time to spy on him and snap some pics and vids.  Click on the picture below to watch some video of J-Surveillance:

Hoping your Christmas was as fun as ours!