Lake Tahoe

The week before Christmas the whole McWilliams clan drove to Tahoe to spend a few days.  The snow was unbelievable (we got 8 FEET while we were there!)  I had never been during the winter and to see the beauty of it all was incredible!  The first 2 days it rained alot while snowing gobs so we didn't venture out much.  We stayed indoors in the ginormous house we rented- thank you Al and Janis!!!  Lots of games and lots of videos and lots of watching snow plows made for fun days.  

The third day we were there it just plain dumped snow!  We did manage to get out for a few hours though.  A sleigh ride was number one on our list!  "Dashing through the snow- on a one horse open sleigh..." took on a whole new meaning for us :)  We had a ball!  After that, the ski resort had opened the gondola and so up we went!  Not to ski but just for a fun ride and for some hot chocolate at the very top.  Jake LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Mark got to ski one day and I chose to stay at home in front of the fire instead of battling high winds and snow and frigid temps.  The mountain ended up closing early because of the wind.  Mark and I have never skied together and I was really looking forward to finally being able to ski with him.  I was a little disappointed that I didn't go but hearing him talk about how rough it was at the top made me realize that I made the right choice :)  Next time!

The next day we decided to take a drive around the lake.  It was still snowing and truly gorgeous.  We woke up the fifth day to the bluest sky and sunshine!  Too bad we were packing up to go home otherwise it would have been the perfect day to just play outside.

In my mind I had all these great pictures that I wanted to capture during the week.  I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen.  Whoever said that going to the snow with 2 small kids is a vacation doesn't know what he is talking about!  Here we have 2 kids still completely dependent on us to put on their snow boots, jackets, hats, and mittens (trying to explain how to keep their thumb apart while putting them on was near impossible- I just had to laugh to keep my sanity!).  Then you basically have to take everything off to put them in their carseats only to put everything back on when you get out of the car.  Made me break into a sweat every time!  The absolute LAST thing going through my mind was to grab my camera.  But we have a few great pictures and I have about a thousand in my mind :)

Here are a few-

It was a great trip and I can't wait for next year!

ok, so it really wasn't a "one horse" but a "two horse open sleigh"

on the gondola

I bet Pierce climbed the stairs about a thousand times a day!

Jake played pool with his uncle Ben

The McWilliams- so blessed to have been married into this family!

Back row: Ben (brother #2), David (brother #3), Jake, Mark, Al (dad), Scott (brother-in-law)

Front Row: Tatiana (married to Ben), Janis (mom), me, Pierce, Mary Katherine (sister)

The most beautiful day!

(This was the view from our deck- really the first day we could see the lake.  The snow was so thick that we couldn't see it most days)