Cousins!

As you may know, one of the biggest reasons we try to visit San Francisco at least once, and if we can, twice a year, is to spend time with our first cousins, all three of whom live there - Keira, Juno and Zachary. Our current trip has been extra special because we've been getting to spend extra time with our cousins at Yee-Ma's ski house in Lake Tahoe.

We've all been having a great time, just hanging out together...

Eating together...

Getting rides together...

Having treats together...

(Hey, is frozen yogurt a good idea in freezing temperatures?)

Watching a bit of YouTube together...

Ice skating together...

(OK, OK, Keira and Juno are the only ones who have gone for the ice skating so far, but Jasper and I were with them in spirit - while our bodies were comfortably ensconced by the nearby toasty fire pits...)

Even baby Zachary enjoyed getting in on some of the action...

Whew, it's been a lot of cousin time, and sometimes two brothers just need a little time to themselves...

Not to mention me needing a little relaxation time to myself...

(Me and BB the bear, that is...)

Snowball Fight!

As you may have seen from Juno's blog, we got a lot of snow here in Tahoe in the last day or so. Sadly, Keira and Zachary had to leave today, leaving just me, Jasper and Juno behind to play in the snow. First, Jasper tried to go sledding but the snow wasn't slippery enough.

Then he tried making a snow angel. With all the snow, he almost disappeared!

Juno decided to go exploring and climbed up a hill. Once she got up to the top, she realized that she couldn't get down. Stuck.

So, Yee-Ma had to climb up and rescue her.

I spent most of my time perfecting my snowball making technique with a cool contraption that I found in Yee-Ma's house.

Three little kids + lots of snow = SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!

Afterwards, we headed down to the fire pits to roast some marshmallows. YUMMY. I love marshmallows.

The End.

A Day in the Snow

After spending the week in San Francisco, we decided to make the trip up to Lake Tahoe to partake in some wintertime activities. It's been a while since I last was in Tahoe and I don't think that Everett has ever been here. This time, it was going to be a big cousin adventure - me, Keira, Juno, Everett and Zachary all under one roof. But, the main reason we made the trip to Tahoe was so that I could have my first ski lesson! Mommy has been talking about skiing...a lot and I could tell that she really wanted me to try. Then I saw that Juno has started to learn to ski and I got curious. Keira and I made a pack and decided to take a lesson together. We met our instructor Marcel and headed to mid-mountain on the gondola.

At mid-mountain, we put on our skis and started to get used to the funny things on our feet. There's a special place for kids and adults who are just learning to ski with a magic carpet that brings you up a little hill.

Keira and I took turns learning how to make french fries and pizza wedges with our skis.

After we practiced a couple of times, Marcel thought that we were ready to get on the chair lift and go down our first real run.

Once we came down, guess who we ran into? Juno! She was at mid-mountain for her ski lesson.

Meanwhile, Everett was getting a little jealous watching all of us ski. He wanted to get in on the fun too!

So after lunch and naps, we decided to go out and ski all together! First, we had to get all of our gear together. Everyone had to carry their own gear - even Everett!

While we managed to get everything downstairs, it was a long walk for us little people and our gear to the ski slope. Good thing we found a wagon to help us along. Everyone on board!

We found a nice little slope that would accomodate all five of us.

Wheeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know that you are wondering where are the videos of us skiing. Check Juno's blog.

Oakland Zoo

Thursday we went to the zoo. See?

Cooking with Everett

Since Yee-Ma and Juno are letting us stay at their house for a couple of days, I decided that I would cook dinner for them as a way to say thank you. So, I donned my toque and cooking medal and got to work!