Stop 2: Lake Tahoe

Snow bunny! Her first snow angel. Grandpa and a paper plate--life doesn't get much better than this! What to order, what to order. At Omi's birthday dinner.

Is that a wine cork in her mouth? At the birthday dinner.

Christmas Eve with Omi.

Opening gifts with Daddy.

I probably posted too many photos for a single post, but I couldn't stop once I got started! Early on the morning of December 20th, we packed up and once again fumbled through airport check-in and security, this time out of San Jose. On our short flight to Reno/Lake Tahoe, Charlotte fussed the WHOLE time. As Chris summed up, “Only Charlotte could make a 30-minute flight seem long.” Chris’s parents greeted us in Reno, and with a very, very packed SUV, we drove up the mountain to Lake Tahoe. We had gotten lucky with weather—lots of snow had dumped on the mountain (clearing right before the morning of our flight—woohoo!), and the drive up was spectacularly beautiful. Branches drooped oh so heavily with snow—a sight that I’ve loved since I was a little girl. The Hofmanns own a cozy house in Incline Village, near the lake. Growing up, Chris spent many Christmases at Lake Tahoe, and he was very anxious to share his love of the Tahoe Christmas with his little girl. When we arrived, we saw the Christmas tree was already up and stockings were hung along the mantle. And snow covered everything outside.

After a nice long nap to sweeten her up, Charlotte had her first interaction with snow. (Sure, she faced record-breaking snow as a newborn last winter, but obviously she had not yet touched the chilly stuff.) We bundled her up in her snowsuit, plopped her into a sled, and Chris towed her around. She loved it! That rosy-cheeked face lit up with glee, and it was so stinkin’ adorable to watch. In the days that followed, we did a lot (a lot) of laying around, eating, and playing with a particularly cute 11-month-old who wanted to climb on everything. I mean, everything. Charlotte’s omi loved on her and made up for not having seen her since July, and she basked in the center of attention. Meanwhile, Charlotte flirted with her grandpa, shooting him coy smiles and mimicking him every time he cleared his throat with by issuing a fake cough (followed by a sly little smile). On December 21st, we celebrated Chris’s mom’s 70th birthday—quite the milestone. A bunch of her friends joined us for cocktails and a festive dinner out a nearby hotel restaurant that had a giant roaring fire right smack in the middle of the dining room. It was very Tahoe-y. Charlotte even behaved for the big outing—thank goodness. Rolls to teethe on helped. One day Chris, Charlotte, and I drove up to Northstar to check out the redone ski village there—yuppie paradise, in other words. The drive up (over?) was, of course, stunning, especially with the lake so unbelievably blue. At Northstar, we had Irish coffees while I accidentally sat in an ice-cold puddle. Whoops. We also drove up to see the palatial new Ritz-Carlton, which (in my humble opinion) seemed way over done and far too remote to attract enough tourists to keep it afloat, especially in summer months. But what do I know? Still, it was extremely impressive and very pretty. Finally, Christmas Eve—my favorite day of the year—arrived. Like my family, the Hofmanns celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. During that day, Chris’s parents sweetly watched Charlotte while we went to gamble (how festive, no?). Alas, we couldn’t find video black jack nor table black jack for under $10 a hand (we’re very cheap gamblers) at the Hyatt, so after blowing $20 at the slots, we went to a rather sleazy saloon filled with foul-mouthed drunkards. The bartender himself was three sheets to the wind, but I liked him. And what did we find there? Why, video black jack! A Christmas miracle! So, at 25 cents per hand and a Sam Adams (“You must be from the East Coast, because nobody else ever orders that beer,” the bartender told me), I was a happy girl. Chris even won a whopping $7, but the bartender was so sloshed that he could only count to six. And, it being Christmas and all, Chris let it slide. Back at home, Charlotte opened a couple gifts before dinner. Then we enjoyed an amazing rib eye roast, which Chris’s dad had slowly cooked for hours. Seriously, it was amazing. And the gravy (I’m a huge fan of gravy) was perfection. It seemed only right to include Charlotte in the Christmas Eve dinner, so she happily joined us as well. After dinner, we had a lovely, leisurely evening opening gifts. Charlotte received her very first pair of shoes—a gift from her omi and grandpa. I can’t believe we’re soon going to have a walker on our hands! Too soon (again), it was time to pack up and prepare for flight #3 to Seattle. The Christmas morning pack-up was a bit chaotic, despite my efforts to be annoying organized. Eventually we made it out the door, and once again we were on our way!