With the depressingly low snow amounts this season in Tahoe, it was time to hit the road!
We jumped a plane (or two) to Jackson Hole, WY!
Landing in a winter wonderland.
Van, Eytan & Eva arrived just hours earlier!
Dinner at El Abuelito.
Eva and Kenzo were so happy to be reunited!
And so were we!
GIANT margaritas to start our holiday off right!
And ice cream to start their holiday off right.
Buddies!
First morning out under blue skies!
The kids ski school at Jackson Hole is AMAZING.
For one, the lower lessons use the snowmobile with a trailer...so much more fun than a regular old chairlift!
Secondly, the terrain was perfect for our kids, with long runs and fun trails through the woods. Not steep, giving the little skiers plenty of room to build their confidence and work on skills other than survival.
And the instructors - what a great group of people. It takes a special person to work with these little skiers. I was overly impressed!
Zander and Eva getting ready to zip up the hill.
Eva had a private lesson one day, as did Kenzo. The ski school wasn't overly busy, so we all really benefitted from the one-on-one attention!
Tired little skiers after a big first day.
Dinner at Elenanor's - a bar behind a liquor store!
The kids were more than welcome there, and they had a great time cracking peanuts and pushing all the shells onto the floor.
All smiles after another successful day of ski school!
Good thing their program ended at 3:00pm...we were all pooped and ready to be done!
Hugs for mommy!
Hot tub after skiing.
Don't think this innocence will last much longer!
Day off our skis to enjoy the town.
Great elk arches on each corner of the town square.
Brrrrrrrr!
Running around burning off some breakfast.
We spent three nights in a hotel room before moving into our condo for more space.
Eva and Kenzo loved waking up and watching TV in bed!
Elk spotting!
We went to the Elk Refuge, a huge area designated for the preservation of these animals during the winter months. There are thousands of elk that visit the refuge every year.
A large buck just chillin' for the cameras.
A lot of low-grade sparring going on.
Pretty cool to see these animals up close from the horse-drawn wagon.
A peek of the Tetons from our condo.
Excited for another day of ski school!
We got to keep their gear in cubbies at the Kids Ranch, which was so helpful with the morning prep.
Kenzo and Eva really felt like this was THEIR place!
A civilized lunch at the Four Seasons!
The baby terrain park was just right for Kenzo - what a little ripper!
Eva and Kenzo shared a room in the condo - what a great "sleepover" they had!
Breakfast at beautiful Hayden's Post.
The breakfast service was so terrible, we got treated to a dinner a few nights later.
This day was so cold, we cancelled ski school and went to visit the National Museum of Wildlife Art, right across from the Elk Refuge.
MOOSE!
Great totem pole in the museum lobby.
Of course, this beautiful museum had a great kids' section!
Kenzo found the bat costume right away.
iPad game where you can put different heads on your body.
Love anything to do with an iPad!
Eric and Eytan did a little research and found us a place to see...
A MOOSE!
Just relaxing by the river, laying down, not caring about the attention.
Keeping a healthy distance away.
We kept the car doors open in case the moose decided he was tired of us watching him.
A bit hard to make out in the photo, but we had a great view!
A local taxi driver said it was probably a 3-5 year old male that had just shed his antlers.
The beautiful Tetons.
Makes the mountains in Tahoe look like molehills.
Explaining his ski school report card - so cute!
Top of the tram - top of the world!
Elevation 10,450
And delicious, fresh, warm waffles to welcome hungry skiers!
We took a day to ski with the kiddies - such fun to see the great improvements over the past days in ski school.
Then we all rode up the gondola for lunch with the daddy's and Chris!
The daddy's took the kiddos after lunch, and the girls made our way down the hill.
Van, Julie & Annette.
Apres ski at the Four Seasons!
A boot of beer for Chris!
Champagne for us!
You can see, they didn't have a ton of snow, but it was still so much better than our Tahoe snowpack.
Our fancy dinner out, courtesy of the lousy breakfast service a few days earlier.
Chris and Annette.
Eric and Eytan.
Van and me.
Yes, it does look like we ate and drank a lot, I realize this.
I only report the facts.
Some other random images in no particular order...
Oh shoot, we're eating again!
A dusting of fresh snow!
Love the Kids' Ranch!
Looked like we were skiing off the edge of the world...
Go Van!
Eric said Kenzo needed to use the bathroom at Chris' cabin. Not ON Chris' cabin!
And a bit more skiing - with fancy tricks!
Snow angel!
It's sad how snow deprived this kid has been.
"Skiing when snow is falling down!"
Private lesson with Zander on our last day.
We drove out to see a herd of Bighorn Sheep in Jackson Hole, but they didn't get close to the car.
At least we had a close sighting at the Reno Airport when we finally got home!
We sure had a great time in WY with our friends and are sad to be home.
I know, Tahoe is not an awful place to come home to, but vacation time, especially in awesome Jackson Hole, was so sweet.
