Last day in Lake Tahoe! & Happy Birthday Mandy!!

This morning we all got up very early and headed out for some snowmobiling. It was lots of fun and unbelievably beautiful. We went by bus up onto the mountain to Hope Valley. Thomas rode with me, holding onto my back. Grace rode in front of Scott and Robyn and Kevin rode together. It was a 2 hour trail ride. It was actually more difficult to drive than I thought. It was fun, but exhausting. We did however get some great pictures... After the snowmobile trip Scott and Grace headed up to the mountain for her to try skiing one more time. Thomas made a really nice big brother decision and gave up skiing today so that Dad could just take Grace and teach her to ski. I took him and Mandy and we went to pick up Mandy's birthday cake and get some souvenirs. After everyone came back to the house, we ordered pizza and had birthday cake!
We've had a really fun, great time here in Tahoe and are a little sad to be going home tomorrow!
Blessings,

Leslie

Today Robyn and I decided to give it another try. Kevin went up at 9 this morning, but Scott, Robyn, Thomas and I joined him around noon. Since Kevin was already on the slopes Scott was responsible for helping all 3 of us into our ski boots. Needless to say he was a little annoyed with us!

We headed part way up the mountain to a part called Snow Beach. They had a bar/snack hut and lots of picnic tables. We grabbed a table and made that our home base for the day. We all came and went from there. I have to say it was really a lot of fun. It had one run that Robyn and I were ok with doing. As the day progressed we got better and better until the last run we were zipping down the hill. Actually we were going so fast it was easier to just go with it than try to stop or slow down and risk falling on our butts...but hey we ended the day on a high note! Of course as much as I improved today, on that last run, I was still trying to maneuver my way down the steep slope from the chair lift and Thomas was already at the bottom!

Robyn needed a bit of pull from Kevin!

Look Nick! I'm skiing down not walking down!!!

While we all were having fun on the mountain, Grace and Mandy had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa. They all had lunch and went to the park. The girls had a fantastic time!

Tomorrow Robyn, Kevin, Scott, Thomas, Grace and I have a 9 am reservation to go snowmobiling. After that we are taking Thomas and Grace back up to go skiing one last time. Grace says she wants to try one more time before we head home. Afterwards we are celebrating Mandy's birthday!!!

Blessings,

Leslie

To each his own...

This morning we all divided up and did our own thing for the day. I took Scott, Kevin and Thomas up to the ski resort and they spent the entire day on the slopes. I think they all had a really good time skiing together. Thomas has learned to ski on his rear end, or "butt ski" as he calls it. He squats down and on his butt and skis down the hill and at the bottom stands up and keeps skiing. Scott said he got really confident today, even jumping every now and then.They had lund at the top of the mountain. Scott took the above picture to commemorate his $12 hamburger and the amazing view.

After they all got home Scott got in the hot tub. Thomas was playing around the edge when Scott pulled him in fully clothed!Robyn and I were both pretty stiff from our wonderful day skiing so we decided to stay off the slopes for today. We took the girls souvenir shopping and to lunch. Sue and Allan headed out about the same time the guys did. They went to the Hyatt and had a massage and spent the day exploring Tahoe. We met up with them for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. This was Thomas' choice because Kevin told him they had a bunch of Elvis stuff there. He really liked Elvis's karate uniform they had hanging on the wall.

I think we are going to wait until noon tomorrow to head up to the slopes. Robyn and I are going to give it another go tomorrow! I'll let you know how that works out!

Blessings,

Leslie

First day of skiing...

This morning we all got up and headed to the ski area around 9:00. After much painful walking in those awful ski boots, we found the area for our lessons. Thomas, Grace, Robyn and I had a private ski lesson. Grace lasted about 20 minutes before she got frustrated took off her skis and stomped off. Scott took her back to the house where she slept for about 4 hours and woke up with a fever of 103. We think it's strep throat, but she's on an antibiotic now and is already more herself than she was earlier in the day. We did manage to at least get a picture or two of her before she quit!So, Thomas, Robyn and I spent the next hour or so on the bunny slopes practicing our technique. Then "Bob" our instructor tells us we are ready for the lift and the blue beginner slope. It was here that I got a little too interested in watching Thomas fly past me down the mountain, fall, hop up and continuing speeding to the bottom that I managed to get my skis crossed and go flying into a snow drift. Luckily one ski fell off in the process so I managed to get myself up of my own volition. We all make it down and "Bob" immediatly gets us back on the lift to go up a second time. This time Robyn falls, Thomas falls, I managed to stay up this time, but had several dicey moments of sheer terror. Finally at the bottom Thomas has a complete break down flings off his skis and goes stomping off. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out how to get out of the damn things so I can chase after him. At this point it's about noon and our lesson still has an hour to go. We decided we'd had enough, thanked "Bob" and headed for lunch. To be honest Robyn and I were thankful that it was Thomas who had the breakdown because we weren't far behind him!
After lunch, Robyn and I head back to the house. Scott, Kevin and Thomas stayed and skiied for awhile. Robyn and I headed into town to buy t-shirts. Oh..I forgot to mention that it is unseasonably warm here. This morning we all bundled up like we were headed up Everest and as soon as we actually hit the snow, we were shedding layers as fast as we could get them off. We were burning up while we were skiing. Ya'll probably think I'm joking, but seriously I saw one girl skiing in a midriff shirt and ski pants and one guy in UT shorts. Below is a picture from the information notebook in our rental house. It's instructions on what to do if we should encounter a bear. We aren't allowed to put the trash at the curb because of the bears either. Comforting.

Scott enjoying the hot tub.

Another amazing view of Lake Tahoe.

Tomorrow the guys are all going skiing. Since Grace is sick, I've selflessly volunteered to stay at home with her and, to my great dissappointment, won't get to ski. Darn.

Blessings,

Leslie

Lake Tahoe!

Actually.."Traveling to Lake Tahoe" would be a better title for today's blog. We left Dallas at 10:15 this morning. We flew Southwest and thanks to the repeal of the Wright Amendment, did not have to stop and change planes. However, our plane did stop in San Antonion and Las Vegas before continuing on to Reno. You can't get off the plane at those places and Southwest doesn't serve food, so needless to say we were all starving when we landed. So, we stopped at McDonalds and had a picnic in baggage claim while we waited for Enterprise to buy an Expedition and get it to the airport. No, I'm not joking. Mandy did great on the plane, as did Thomas and Grace. Mandy laughed her head off during takeoff and landing (all 6 times) and slept most of the way from San Antonio to Las Vegas. She also watched Dora on my "Hipod."

Anyway, we are here, in "Heavenly" California. And from what I've see so far it is pretty heavenly. The lake is definately like no lake I've ever seen before. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow. We've rented a house, a very nice house, it's huge. They came to the house to fit us for our ski boots so we're all ready. Well, I'm not particularly excited about the whole skiing thing. Tomorrow Thomas, Grace, Robyn and I are taking a ski lesson in the morning at 9 am, a little early for vacation in my opinion. I'll let you know how that goes.

Blessings,

Leslie