Tahoe Holiday

We got to spend a delicious day in Tahoe with our friends Chris and Christine Hanson, and their friends.  It was magical partly because of the snow.  It. Was. Perfect.  Not for skiing, but for everything else.  It was that ideal mixture of dry and fluffy but just warm enough to be as malleable as clay of the gods.  It was the kind of snow that is deeply satisfying to your kids, both inner and extant.

We left Davis a bit late (after gymnastics, you see) and with traffic, snow, putting on and driving with chains, and more snow and more traffic, it was more than 3 hours before we arrived.  The awesome part was that Liam was a total trouper throughout the whole ride.  Not only did he not complain, but self entertained, and allowing us to talk to each other the way other adults do.  It was great:

When we arrived there was already two and half feet on the ground, and the place looked marvelous:

We spent that afternoon and evening rollicking in the snow and digging paths, building chutes, forts, and snow people.  Chris helped me build an awesome snow arch that stood a magnificent 6 feet:

We went to sleep nice and tired, and got up the next day to find that another foot and a half had fallen overnight.  This was my trail from a morning venture to the car for the camera.

Again, we played in the snow, and friends played with Liam.  The snow made it easy to get that two-year old excitement about the world.  Chris and Luna played with him in the early morning

Then Ilyse and Liam played doggies, and took turns feeding each other snow:

Then, all-of-a-sudden, we had to go home.   But what a holiday.

Santa in Solano Park

We set up our 3rd family Christmas tree on Friday night.  It might be the first one Liam remembers.  Or not.  It's a tall and spindly thing, and we keep it in a pressure cooker.  Just our style.  That night we also went to the Solano Park community center for a Christmas dinner, at which Liam met Santa.

Here, Santa responds to Liam's probing questions regarding the stability of a mass of toys upon an airborne sleigh undergoing certain amounts of angular momentum.  I didn't really follow the conversation, it got too technical.

Eventually I decide to take a picture as I imagine any good dad should.  But neither Liam nore Santa are keen on the idea of being documented as having met.  Perhaps it's because of the previous discussions and trade secrets, but I can only guess.

Gymnastics