So he we are, back in Tahoe for the holidays. When we arrived, there wasn't much new snow -- which made for a great drive there (no white out conditions on a crowded, slick roadway) and lame snowman making conditions. The snow was just too drive and had the consistency of sugar. So instead of making snowpeople, we ended up making snocanos. The condo did have a sled in the garage so the girls took that out for a test drive. Nice! Parker, however, was too busy eating snow to bother sledding. Excuse me. What we call "eating snow" is what Parker called "eating snowman". Hmmmm. That just doesn't sound too civilized.
The grandparents were with us (my mom and Chris' parents) and the graciously offered to watch the kids, which gave the parents a chance to hit the slopes. Now I've had more miserable days on the slopes but this trying it's best to get there. It was cold, windy, and icy. As I mention earlier, no new snow so each fall potentially could end your day...and that was just on the bunny slope. However, after the men folk took off for larger, steeper slides, my sis and I proved that we're tuff enuf and went up (and down) a few more times. Joanie even took the hill solo! Like any good snowbunny, though, we ended the day in the bar soothing our bumps and warming our toes with hot toddies.
What a difference a day makes! Sunny. Bright. We all headed up the mountain, this time so the kids could get some sledding in. The snow...much better than the stuff outside the condo...taste wise (because, of course Parker had to again "eat snowman") and building wise, allowing the kids to work on a better snowman.
Of course, we did spend all day making snowmen. The kids had real business to tend to...SLEDDING! Parker, however, was having none of it. Oh well. The girls, however, did awesome. Forward and backward, they kicked butt! And what did Parker do while the girls were tripping the ice fantastic? Nap on Daddy's stomach. Cozy huh?
Let the Christmas festivities begin!
On the Saturday before, we headed over to Thommy & Geoffrey's place for a delicious holiday brunch, brought to us by the other Chef-Boy-Ardee in my life...Geof. Parker also got to check out Thommy's Christmas Express that circled their tree. And we opened gifts, of course. Chris got the ''The Dangerous Book for Boys'' and Geof and Thommy got the equally ''dangerous'' ''Space Academy, The Complete Series'' and ''Beverly Hills 90210, Season 2'', respectively.
The next day, the party moved to Tehachapi. Unfortunately, not all of the Trillos has arrived yet but, since we were heading up north the next day, the kids got to open some of their presents...TWO DAYS EARLY! WEEE! Parker opened a Hot Wheels race track set and didn't open the box as he discovered that running your car over the picture of the track was just as fun. (No worries, he would find out the truth when we finally assembled the track a couple of days later in Tahoe.)
On Christmas Eve, we made our way to the Bay Area, first stopping as my sister Susie's place so even more cousins could collide. The newest one, Susie's little baby, Brian, brought the number to a round six. Of course, getting all six in one picture proved to be tricky. In the end, the best I could get was one which featured half of Parker's face, right up front on the left. You can't even see Jason's face...but, they're all in the picture so that's got to count for something.
By the way, regarding the huge Hot Wheels bandage on Parker's head, have no fear, he didn't injure himself. He was just feeling a bit grumpy on the way up (it's a lot of traveling even for big kids like me and Chris) so I slapped an obnoxious bandage on his forehead. He loved it. But that meant I couldn't remove it for the rest of the night.
Christmas morning...FINALLY! Luxi was up first to check out all that Santa has left for them. Begrudgingly, Niko and Parker woke up (with encouragement from Joanie). But once all the kids woke up, it became a madhouse. Thank goodness we were at Joanie's. There was chocolate to be had, tea parties, doll play, gun play, and of course a bunch of absolutely loud drumming. Holy crap! Parker loved it. And again, thank goodness we were at Joanie's. What a way to rock out the old year.
That said, WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!
PLEASE NOTE: Chris will kill anyone who buys Parker drums for his birthday.
    | There ain't no party like my Nana's tea par-tay! --Flight of the Conchords So we had our annual office party today. Ah...good times. With the whole company gathered together in Tomorrowland (our largest conference room), the IT group once again demonstrated that oil does not mix with water when they, as usual, clustered together at one table. On the bright side, we proved that, yes, these tables can accommodate up to 12 people. The big winners of the mystery gift give away -- Ravi with the iPod Shuffle and Aimee with the emergency light (which was exactly what she wanted). |
  | So, for my birthday we headed over to Chevys for a fiesta filled with friends, food, and fun. YUM! To all those who attended -- Matt, BC, Maria, Geoffrey, Thommy, Parker, Aimee, Jan, Eric, Fred, & Kitty -- thanks for coming and making my birthday extra special. You only turn 38 once and I'm glad you were able to share in the experience. Too bad no sombreros were involved. But the event did come with a mariachis! |
Here's Parker's latest obsession that's driving me crazy...but in a good way, I guess.
Every morning now, I lure Parker out of bed by letting him watch the episode of Wow Wow Wubbzy that I have tivo'd. This allows me to almost effortlessly change and dress him as he's mesmerized by the television. Of course, since I currently only have one episode recorded, that also means I've started my day off with this video every single morning for the last week.
I guess it's time for me to record a new epiosde of Wow Wow Wubbzy.
That's Kooky!
This is a picture of the Los Angeles basin. The cloud cover lays over the city like an ocean of cotton, shielding the city from the beautiful blue skies.
I took this on my way to work, off of Angeles Crest Highway.
