Happy Birthday, Dad-Pop!

Sorry this post is so late to go up... but I think that means you can celebrate your birthday again tomorrow.

The great debate

Several years ago we went to Mammoth with the great Megan and Lars (we also went snow camping that trip, but that's a whole different story), and ever since I have been fairly well indoctrinated with the opinion that Mammoth has the best skiing in California. Steve grew up skiing at Mammoth, and as a native southern Californian, he is biased to Mammoth as well. Like many things, there is a deep rift somewhere between NorCal and SoCal on this subject, and our NorCal friends have always told us there is no way Mammoth could be better. So, we had to find out for ourselves (well, actually we didn't have time to make the trip to Mammoth but we'll say we were trying to get our own data).

At the last minute (after my poor mother's house flooded so she couldn't make the trip to stay with Grace), the Greats, my Aunt Kristie and Uncle Hilary, came to the rescue, and Steve and I were able to get away for two of the three days we had planned to ski. THANK YOU, HILARY AND KRISTIE!

We drove up to South Lake Tahoe on Friday afternoon, getting there in time to check out Heavenly Village and have dinner. We stayed at the most fantastically campy place; our studio room had a murphy bed and breakfast of lots of donuts and hardboiled eggs, but it was right across the street from the Heavenly gondola. Saturday morning we slept in (till 7:40! first time in 20 months and 2 weeks for me, but who's counting?) and still loaded the gondola an hour later.

We were amazed by the view when we got to the peak. We had two days of spring skiing weather - gorgeous sun, blue skies with incredible views of the lake, and relatively warm weather. However, there hadn't been any snow in several weeks, so there was a lot of ice and "packed powder" (aka, more ice). The resort straddles the California/Nevada border so it was wild to ski back and forth between the two - the signs actually say "to California" or "to Nevada" and people have definite opinions about which state has the better terrain/snow/weather.

Despite the iffy snow conditions, we had a blast. We managed to find some good snow, worked on our technique and came away very sore (did I mention the last time we skied was 3 years ago?). After two days of skiing, no schedules, adult conversation and lots of sleep, here's the verdict:

Overall, Mammoth. I think we preferred the terrain there and it had the best snow I have ever skied (and yes, I know I have to concede that there are many other places at Tahoe). Nevertheless, given Tahoe's proximity to SF and how hard it is to get to Mammoth, I see its appeal. It definitely wins on feasibility. And scenery.

All in all, we had a great time and are trying to figure out if we can go back this season. We also love our new helmets (how times have changed! Everyone wears helmets now, not just 8 year old boys). I am thinking I should replace the goggles I've had since I was 10.

The rest of the pictures are here.

Grace had a wonderful weekend, too. When we called to check in, she was always laughing in the background. She might have been laughing because she slept until 8AM for her dear great aunt and uncle. Another giant thank you to the fabulous Greats!

A baby go?

Here's Grace at Lacy Park last March.

1o months old

And here she is last weekend in the same place.

20 months old

Looks like our baby is a little girl.

LaLa land

We took a quick trip to San Marino, extending the long weekend a bit to spend time with Nana. It ended up being a very low key trip - lots of trips to the park, hotel pool, eating, visiting Great, Great Aunt Florence, checking out the Pasadena children's museum, and enjoying a bit of summer in January. The weather was in the low 80s every day and we were happy to trade the fog and drear we've had lately for some good old, So Cal sunshine. We also drove up to Chantry Flats, the site of many of Steve's younger-year escapades, and had an impressive view of the entire LA basin. It's amazing how brown it was compared to Nor Cal since it was as green as we've ever seen it. Oh, my southern Cali ambivalence lives on.

Grace was a great traveler - she was quite fascinated by the "ah-planes". She got her own seat with her new harness. But she was begging to get out of her seat right about the time we landed, but we're having scary flash-forwards for our cross-country trip in May. She loved chasing Nana's poor cats, or discussing the cat's location repeatedly, saying "a kitty go?" This is her new phrase, replacing where with "a" and asking about everyone and everything all the time.

Grace had a wonderful time visiting Great Great Aunt Florence. She just turned 95 and is quite sharp and totally hilarious. For instance, her room in her assisted living center is next to the electrical closet so she says they put her "next to the electric chair." She also has lots of chocolate - I would say she and Grace are on the same wavelength on that one.

I didn't take many pictures, and really wish I had a few of Grace "swimming" because she's so scrumptiously cute in her little bathing suit, but here are a couple of highlights. And more here.

Here she invented a game of patting the clay bunny and then pulling her hand away quickly, yelling "aaaah!" and giggling uproariously. And then getting her parents to do it. Over and over and over.

Playing at the park. She ran around climbing and sliding and swinging and yelling for over an hour. Constant motion. She repeatedly fell over or faceplanted in the bark, or ran into adults' legs, but with every crash she popped right back up and ran on, as if it hadn't happened. It was kind of hilarious. Eventually we had to drag her out because it was getting dark and all the responsible parents were putting sweatshirts on their kids and rounding them up for dinner.

Loving the climbing wall at Kidspace.

Getting soaked with the water toys. How fun is it to fill a bucket and then tip it onto your dress?

The chance to "ride a cycle" as she proclaimed while were on the little track dovetailed nicely with Grace's recent obsession with helmets (ski helmets in particular, but helmets generally will do).

Christmas!

A final update on the holiday shenanigans... it is only the Epiphany (12th day of Christmas) today so I'm just being true to the holiday. The day before Pete and Andrea left, my mom (GoGo) arrived, followed by Mark and Lindee (Bucket and Linneee) the next day. They explored the city while we had to work, and then on Christmas Eve we headed to Muir Woods to do the Ben Johnson/Dipsea trail loop. There had been so much rain during the previous days that our route was closed, but Grace learned to climb through a maze of branches of a downed tree, and we ended up with gorgeous views of the ocean and the Marin Headlands. Here's the gang - my instruction to "be festive" led M & L to do reindeer antlers. Of course.

After a quick trip to a (packed!) In-n-Out (apparently a Christmas Eve lunch tradition in Marin?) we headed home for some relaxing and cooking. We went to the children's service at church and Grace was soooooo tired that she fell asleep about 30 seconds into the ride over and stayed asleep until about halfway through mass. She woke up delighted by the music and walked over to a baby in the next pew and said "hi baby." She was a party animal, staying up to open her Christmas Eve pajamas and books.

And then, Christmas morning she got the hang of the present thing. At first she needed a little encouraging, but once she figured it out, she would yell "Pezzants!" and tear into them. She particularly loved her broom set (I guess her obsession with the broom is not that unique since they sell them at toystores; we're hoping now that she won't try to wrestle the broom away from us yelling "miii! booom!" whenever we try to sweep). She also loves her dolls and feeding them and her many new books, and her shopping cart and stroller. Grace pushes the babies and Elmo around the apartment, then prepares fancy concoctions from her groceries to feed them.

A broom of one's own.

Opeh, opeh!

A bottle for New Baby.

Books! Elmo!

After breakfast and gifts, we went to Pleasanton to join/crash the extended family Christmas. More "pezzants!" including a stroller for Baby, lots of games and good food, a puppy for Grace to play with, and plenty of family members to boss around. Grace went through a few days of telling everyone where to sit (dee-dow!) and getting very upset if we sat in the wrong places, which she made very clear by trying to push us out of the chairs and screaming hysterically. Sometimes it was a little tough to figure out what she wanted when she screamed "dee-dow!" but then cried when you did. Sigh. One year olds are not rational, but they are very cute, and we're hoping the obsession with chairs and sitting down has perhaps passed or lost its intensity.

Meeting Bode the puppy.

A stroller for Baby!

Pass the Gracie.

The fun continued on Boxing Day with a giant family lunch and walking tour of the city. We started near Market, went through Chinatown (along with a funeral procession that included a brass band) and North Beach, then along the waterfront over to Ghiradelli Square. Such a good time with a wonderful family. We are incredibly blessed.

We finished with GIANT ice cream sundaes and a street car trip back. We then enjoyed game night at home with Bucket and Linneee before they headed back to Seattle the next day, but we got a few more days with GoGo. It was such a treat having them all here. Grace regularly asks for all of them, often pointing to the computer to ask to skype with them. Hands down one of the best thing about moving to SF has been how much more we have been able to see our families. We really had wonderful Christmas celebrations. It was so fun to see how much Grace enjoyed the holiday since last year she just sort of stared and played with ribbon. All the Christmas-related pictures are here.

Union Square.

Strolling.

Part of the crew near Ghiradelli Square with Angel Island in the distance.

Street Car.

I don't really have pictures from the rest of the week, but 2010 definitely ended better than it had started. Steve was on call for 72 hours straight, but at least none of us were ER patients. His call was brutal, and he was on for NYE, but Jess and Geoff came to celebrate with me. Sadly, I took no pictures of our fabulous feast of crab risotto, chocolate cake and champagne, but it was terrific to see them and so fun to toast the new year - a big one for them with their wedding coming up!

I'll wrap this up, finally. I knew if I didn't try to write about it all in one post it would be forever before I finished. I don't know if I will manage a 2010 review this year, but I do hope to at least hit some highlights and reflect on how much has happened as well as think about some resolutions. And, Grace is more and more hilarious by the day so I need to note what she's been up to before I forget. She's growing so quickly.

Happy New Year!