Tubing

Sleigh Ride in Tahoe

One of the highlights of our South Lake Tahoe visit was the sleigh ride we took.  We enjoyed a one hour tour through the forest on a homemade sleigh pulled by two beautiful horses.  The kids consumed hot chocolate before departing and then blankets were piled high to keep the cold out.  The weather was in the forties or higher, making for a comfortable outing.

The sleigh pulled two families.  The other family was from Danville also.  Not sure if it a small world, or just that everyone in Danville does the same thing.  (We've met neighbors in the grocery store in Mauii.)

The driver / owner of the business was lamenting that over the past 15 years or so Tahoe was getting warmer and warmer.  There used to be snow all the time from after Thanksgiving until well into the Spring.  Often times there are now green Christmas's and if there is snow, it is often washed away with a good rain.  He's stopped advertising the business as  snow is not always guaranteed.  Maybe Tahoe will be the next Hawaii!

Hanging Out at Patrick's Place

We had a great New Years.  We were invited to spend a couple of days with Patrick Good, a friend of ours and a co-worker of Dianne's that we met in Germany.  Patrick has since resettled in Texas. A few years ago, he and his brother purchased a home in South Lake Tahoe.  We were invited up to spend some time around New Years.

I'm not sure Patrick was totally up to having our entire family, but he was a great sport and never complained.  Next time if the invitation is adults only, we will completely understand.

Conner and Parker had a great time.  This was Parker's first visit to the snow.  We had the obligatory snow angel, snow man, and snow ball fight after we first arrived.  Parker and Conner both bonded with Patrick very quickly and the three of them seemed to enjoy the Nintendo Wii games we brought up to play as well as the Nintendo DS systems the boys have.  As you can tell from the picture, Patrick seemed to learn a lot about DS playing, and was given plenty of unsolicited advice on how to improve his game.

We rang in the New Year, New York time, and when Conner collapsed on the sofa just after 10:00 pm, we all headed off to bed.

The weather was awesome; cold in the evenings, but quite warm during the day.

Other notable events, covered in  later posts, include the tubing rides and the sleigh ride.

We ducked out of town Friday morning, just before a huge snow storm hit and headed back to the Bay area.

Saturday afternoon we picked up Kira at the airport, back from her London trip.  She has promised a few (censored) stories and pictures.

Bew arrived back on Sunday from Arizona.  It was a long drive and the weather was not as warm as she wanted.

For now, back to school and on with the routine

Endurance Nation and the 5k Run at Lake Merrit

I've been running a little more lately and getting faster a long the way; not as fast as Gerry, but faster none the less!

I managed to get in a couple of runs while we were in South Lake Tahoe.  It has probably been 25 years since I ran in the snow and cold.  I don't miss it at all.  It was well below freezing and the roads were covered in ice.  I spent the entire run looking down for good pavement and hoping I wouldn't fall and break a bone or two.  With old age approaching (or so I've heard) the healing process is not something I would be looking forward too.

On a warmer and more fun note, a bunch of people I train with entered a 5K run on the weekend.  The run around Lake Merrit in Oakland was part of a monthly run program that that hosted these races every year since 1975 or so. This was my first outing.

Some of my triathlon friends have joined a training program called Endurance Nation, which is an online training program for Ironman type athletes.  Over the holiday season they hosted a running challenge that gave points for running everyday over the Christmas Holidays.  Points were also awarded for running in the cold, running fast and a few other oddball categories.  Additional points were awarded for great pictures and videos. In an all out effort to win, John Stark in our group (the EN Norcal group) made a great  video you can see here: Lake Merrit 5K Run

Our team finished third overall.  I ran a 19:00 5K, the fastest in many years, good for 4th place overall (1 second behind a 14 year old I couldn't catch) and 1st in my age group.  Next year, we recruit Gerry as an honorary member.

Valerie and Hobbs Say "Happy Holidays!"

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had a very nice Christmas this year, and it was made extra special due to the addition to our family. Baby Hobbs, ne James M. Lowson IV, is now known as Jack (or Jack Jack to some) and is 6 months old. If you were to see the pictures of Jack in the pool with his Dad, you'd agree that we should have called him Casper (after the white ghost). Jescie is 2 1/2 years old.

We spent Christmas Eve at Kramer's (where the Seabees made a special Santa appearance), Christmas evening at the Australian compound, and New Year's Eve over at Waterfront Villa with about 8 to 10 of our friends. Otherwise, we've just been laying low, and enjoying our lives.

I have attached a few pictures, and will try to send a few more. Each email with 3-4 pictures attached generally takes over an hour for me to upload and send, and the emails often fail due to drops in the service, so please be patient.

More pictures to come!

I'm putting Jescie down for a nap (which is taking quite a long time). More later! Valerie.

Chef Conner

Conner loves the Food Network on TV. He's been talking about taking up cooking for a while and I think he is about to take the plunge a little more seriously.

Grandma bought him an official "chef" jacket for Christmas. The jacket has his name embroidered on it and the title "sous chef" below. He loves it. Also on the Christmas list was a cookbook for kids. Today we tasted his first master piece; Monkey Bread.

In case you are wondering, it's Pillsbury dough broken into small pieces, rolled in cinnamon and lots of sugar, and then dropped into a baking pan. After drizzling a pound or two of butter and more sugar over the dough, it was time to cook.

As you can tell from the picture, the cooking was a hit.

Next up on the agenda? Cake decorating with Kira this summer