First time I've been able to get on the computer, and this will be short. Ellen and I stayed over in Sacramento, then arrived in Lake Tahoe yesterday at noon. The house Mike rented is gorgeous, very large, with three fireplaces, made mostly of wood and stone, beautifully furnished in the craftsman style, and with all kinds of luxury touches. The setting is, of course, overwhelming, considering the tons of snow, the mountains, and the trees.
Had a terrific time yesterday making cookies, then making pretend cookies as decorations for the Christmas tree, then decorating the tree--all with the active participation of Mike, Paula, Vickie, and Vivian, and the interested gaze of one-year-old Violet.
Today, we all went into town--Truckee, that is--and roamed the shops. It's something like a New Hope North, with lots of little cutesy merchandise, in this case, heavily north woods/timber wolf type. Came home for lunch--Paula made pizza NOT from a box--and we then went to Squaw Valley for a dog sled ride.
Ye-s-s, a dog sled ride. Mike conceived the notion that it would be fun and we went along. We left Violet with nanny Vickie--it's good to have a nanny--and took Vivian. Unfortunately, the dogs were already booked, so we couldn't go. However, there was a skating rink there, under the towering mountains and huge pines--and Mike took Vivi ice skating there.
Now, this five-year-old had never been on ice skates before and wow, is she a natural. She fell down a lot, of course, but she persisted and made it across and around the rink innumerable times. It was fun for the rest of us, too, watching them and taking pictures.
Tomorrow, all seven of us will go to the same place for a horse-drawn sleigh ride on Christmas Eve!