Happy birthday, Oscar!

Oscar is 14 years old today! He has been the sweetest, most mellow dog and we've been very lucky to have him in our lives. This was also a great excuse for a cupcake, candles and a song from Kenzo! We love you, old dog! 

Sunny & warm February?!

A busy February, but hardly any new snow.

The days have been sunny & gorgeous, which is not what we want!

Kenzo mixing up some pancake batter one morning...
  

He's also enjoying the left over Weet-bix from Australia!

Haircut boy!

A visit to the ice castle at Squaw Valley. 

A huge playground with ramps, slides & steps...pretty cool! 

Ha ha, no pun intended!

Yep, sunglasses. 

Towing himself up the side of the castle. We spent over an hour playing outside.

               Action shot in front of our house. DRY pavement - what's up with that?!

Aussie Invasion

Friends Van, Eytan & Eva (16 months) arrived last week from Australia! 

Eva and Kenzo were so happy to see each other in person - Skype just wasn't enough any longer for these two!

This was the afternoon of their arrival - poor Eva is looking a bit worn out after the travel days!

Kitty & Monkey, aka Eva & Kenzo, ready for bed.

Showing Eva the snowy world of Tahoe!

                                               A little sledding in our backyard!

Me and Van skiing, well, riding on the Funitel. 

We had gorgeous blue skies and warm temps, which is the opposite of what we wanted: SNOW!!!

The buddies enjoying a little snack...

Another sunny day, which was perfect for Eva's first day on skis! 

Eva's first run with Auntie Julie!

                                            Shredding Subway at Alpine Meadows!

One of many dinner gatherings with different groups of  friends! 

Hmm, we seem to be very good at eating and drinking...

At Alpine Meadows.

The buddies had a great time while...

Enjoying their time in the van...

And helping out with laundry...

 And watching "Curious George"...

And having dinner...

And doing errands through town...

More playing in the yard...

Exploring the park playground...
 

And playing the piano at Melanie & Neil's house... 

Besties at Alpine Meadows for another beautiful day!

Van treated herself to all the good tourist treats!

And you can't resist a little something for the mini cutie!

We had a fabulous time with our friends - the time went by too quickly. It's times like these that make our lives so rich and worthwhile.

Hello 2013!

We have kicked off 2013 with a bang...and lots of visitors and adventures!
 
On New Year's Eve, we played in the snow with our neighbors & their guests. 

Kenzo and Pressley enjoying some outside fun.  

The adults had cocktails in the afternoon, knowing we probably wouldn't make it to see midnight!   

Dinner at our house upon arrival after a Tsuruta/Iguchi road trip from LA.

Eric, Jordan, Julie, York, Lindsey, Caylee, Kelsey, Gabriel, Sophia & Kenzo - a packed house!

Me and my little ripper on the chair.

Gorgeous sunny blue skies at Alpine Meadows! 

On the magic carpet all by himself.

Please note the perfect stance. So proud.

A little hot chocolate break...
 












Taking down the GIANT Christmas tree, limb by limb.

Kenzo had a great time helping saw the branches. Safety first - hard hat ON!

A visit from our favorite Santa Cruz blondies!

Michelle, Ava & Maggie came up for a great winter visit.

Jammie time - Kenzo, Maggie (almost 6) and Ava (8 1/2).

We hit up Alpine Meadows three times and, needless to say, made these beach babies into mountain mammas!

The girls were in ski school one afternoon. Their "group" lesson for just Ava & Maggie - score!

Me and Michelle enjoying an afternoon of catching up and crusing the empty slopes - heavenly!!

 

One last ski session with all the wee ones. 

They are so dang cute all bundled up. And good thing because it was COLD!












  

Kenzo is progressing so quickly! We try to keep each session short and sweet, leaving him wanting more. So far so good. Oh, and we carry lots of M&M's to keep spirits up too!

 

   
 

    

Good bye 2012!

We wrapped up 2012 with a fun weekend. It's been a long week of work for me at the mountain, but it's been good. Daddy & Kenzo have been keeping busy together too.

We went to Willy's 3rd birthday party, which was so much fun - the boys all love playing with each other. 

Kenzo looks just a little excited for his snowman cupcake!

Chase and his daddy, Kenny!

Willy, Chase & Kenzo peeking out the window at the loader.

After a week of snow and cloudy skies, it was great to see the sunshine! 

We ventured out for a few runs at Alpine Meadows. This is day six for Kenzo.

Yep. Skiing on his own.

Super proud of our little ripper!

Gotta take a hot chocolate break at Treats after all that skiing!

And a short clip from today's big accomplishment! 

Happy New Year - wishing everyone the best for 2013!

 

    

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve we ventured out to the torchlight parade at Squaw! It was a gorgeous, clear night to watch everyone skiing down with flares. 

Christmas morning! 

Opening presents, big breakfast, back to more presents...phew!

It wasn't easy tearing Kenzo away from his new Christmas toys, but we made it to Alpine for a few runs.

Me and my little ripper!

Daddy and Kenzo!

And we got to see Santa! What a warm welcome he gave Kenzo...along with a candy cane, of course.

It sounds like he's whining, but he's actually laughing in this clip. He's made big improvements in such a short time already! 

 

Happy Hanukkah

We had a great evening at the Sonka home on Friday, complete with lighting of the menorah and gifts for the boys!

Noah and Kenzo in their jammies, but still fired up and having a blast together!

Noah & Matt, Kenzo & Eric.

Thanks for a super fun & yummy evening!