LAKE TAHOE - PART II

The second half of our Lake Tahoe trip obviously involved a lot more playing in snow. Macintosh absolutely loved spending every day just wandering around in the snow. Its definitely harder work than you'd expect clambering around in deep snow but it was so much fun. 

One thing Andrew and I had been so excited to do was to cook a traditional Christmas dinner for our friends. We had already cooked one on Christmas day, but making one for a larger number is much better. We didn't manage to snap any photos of the dinner, other than one right at the beginning because we were all too busy munching away! 

New years eve was going to be the highlight of the week for me as we were going to attempt to ski for the first time. Andrew, Nicole and I had signed up for a half day of ski lessons. Nicole had done it a long time ago, but Andrew and I were novices. I was super excited prancing around in all my snow gear and the first half of the lesson went really well. I didn't really fall over but Andrew did. I was beginning to feel confident. Then we went onto the slopes. It all changed. 

Our instructor was a bit of a wally and I didn't really get on with him. He kept pushing me to go further or faster than I felt comfortable and I just kept crashing out. Andrew was maddeningly good (as always). He was trying to help out a little bit but I just couldn't seem to stop crashing. Then on the final slope of the morning I got my revenge, albeit accidentally. I was skiing down the slope, as instructed, and ended up heading straight for him. He didn't hear me coming and I couldn't stop quickly enough so I took him out! Was not so amusing at the time as he landed awkwardly on my knee but Andrew and Nicole were rather pleased I did it. 

The afternoon however was better. I managed to stay upright and skied a fair bit. It was possibly made better by the fact that Andrew kept falling over on the last slope of the day. It may have made me feel a little more excited. But here are the few snaps we got. The last one is us at the end of the day feeling cold but happy with ourselves. 

We celebrated after skiing with a meal out and then some rather exhausted partying back at the cabin. The dogs, who had spent all day in the cabin just chilling out pretty much looked how we felt!

But we pressed on, played some games, watched Jools Holland (via the wonders of the internet and delayed tv) and rang in the new year pretty much as we crawled into our beds! 

Some of us partied harder than others! 

One New Year's Day our final lot of friends arrived having had an awful journey saga. They had tried to fly across the country to Lake Tahoe several times but due to a variety of insane issues they didn't make it until the penultimate day. As we waited to hear whether they had finally made it Andrew and I took a walk and spotted a guy being pulled along on his snow board by his dog. Obviously that got us thinking and we tried to get Macintosh to pull us on a sledge. The affect was no where near as cool. 

The final day at the cabin was a sad affair. We absolutely loved our winter wonderland, but we took one last stroll and play in the snow and then packed up to go home. Poor old Macintosh refused to get in the car, I think he wanted to stay forever. He is definitely a cabin sort of dog. But I think we've decided that a snow trip is needed at least once more this year!

H

LAKE TAHOE - PART I

Excuse the lateness of this post. Other things have taken precedent!

Over Christmas and New Year Andrew and I took the opportunity to head up to Lake Tahoe for a winter holiday with some friends. Lake Tahoe is half in California and half in Nevada so we managed to tick off another state during the trip, which is always a bonus.

We rented a cabin which from the photos looked idyllic and did not disappoint when we arrived there. It was set back slightly into the woods and surrounded by snow. There were giant icicles hanging off the side of it and it just look picturesque. The amazing thing about it was that the backyard was sloped which made it perfect for sledging!

The first thing we did when we arrive was obviously to start building some runs. Andrew and Christian naturally took the engineering role and started building. Poor old Penny was still a little unsure of the snow at this point, which was natural as it was the size of her. However Macintosh was fully embracing it and spent the entire time exploring. 

Macintosh quickly discovered that running down the sled run ahead of the person on the sledge was rather exhilarating and began to do it quite often. Thankfully he is a rather speedy dog so there were no collisions! We spent ages the first couple of days just enjoying the snow out the back. I don't remember when I last saw snow that deep.  

The lake itself is stunning. Its nestled in the Sierra Nevada and its actually the biggest alpine lake in the whole of North America. I was struggling to capture the sheer size of the lake and its beauty, but we did manage to have a wander around by it one day. We captured some sweet couple shots of us and Nicole and Christian. The dogs mostly behaved for the photos. 

Obviously with such a large lake just sitting there you had to make snowballs and see who could through them the furthest. That's just a must! 

The first half of the holiday finished up with the arrival of our next set of friends and more time just messing around in the snow and playing games. One game we played, that I was rubbish at, but enjoyed playing was called Suspend. It's basically a balancing game that you take in turns playing. I was so rubbish at it because I struggle to grasp the basics of physics but it was fun to play.

So there we go, there's the first half of Lake Tahoe. Hopefully it won't take me too long to put up part two!
H

CHRISTMAS DAY

Last year Christmas day was rather quiet and strange as it was our first one in California away from all the family. This time round we were somewhat prepared for the silence and the less busy day and so we actually really enjoyed our day. 

We had all the usual Christmas traditions; stockings, present opening, a HUGE Christmas dinner, a walk after lunch, some games and of course the Queen's speech. We did manage to Skype a lot of family which was great fun too. Here are a few snaps from our Christmas day!

It definitely was a good Christmas day, especially as we ate SO much! I was practically in a coma by the end of the day. Why is Christmas food just so good?! Its not fair.

H 

ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

It's Christmas!! 

To be fair the Christmas excitement has been filling our household since early November, perhaps even October for some of us. We had watched some Christmas movies and Michael Bublé was already playing. But as soon as thanksgiving was over we went straight to hunt for our tree and yes it is another huge one.

We managed to get another 9 foot tree, although I suspect its a little bit taller than that. Andrew is very pleased with himself as it was one of the biggest trees there. We did look at another tree but when the guy held it up it was just too large. It would have filled our living room.

Putting the tree up in our house is always fun. Poor old Macintosh always gets a bit scared and worried. He doesn't like this giant green thing that's invading his space. The size of the tree means I always end up standing on something trying to help balance it and keep it straight whilst Andrew's fixing it into the base. Eventually its done and then suddenly Macintosh remembers he likes giant green trees. They provide him with an additional water bowl and he can also crawl around underneath it whilst it strokes his back. Silly dog!

So anyway, we kept the cardboard houses Andrew made last year and just added some new pieces that we bought. I tried to keep the natural look going with lots of natural textures and red and white as accent colours. Its not quite Pinterest worthy but I love it.

Coming in through the front door, the first thing you'll see is our wreath. Its the same twig wreath that I just keep adapting to fit the occasion. So far its been completely worth its money! 

There is our giant tree. Complete with crooked top section and Macintosh asleep on "his" sofa. The tree rather dominates the room but it makes the place feel Christmassy quite easily!

The stockings are pinned up on the sideboard in the absence of a fireplace. (Macintosh has his by his bed!) The advent candle is on the sideboard too so we remember to burn it. We also got this amazing red and white patterned candle on sale last year and I've been waiting excitedly to burn it ever since. The logs were scrounged from the desert around us and hauled back by Macintosh and Andrew after their long walks. 

The other sides and surfaces have little touches of Christmas, from garlands to cardboard houses or other bits. It helps spread the Christmas feeling around the room. Our open plan living space can feel quite large so with a giant tree and lots of Christmas bits scattered around it makes it feel cosier. 

But the dinning table is my favourite part by far. On one of Andrew's walks he found a long log that he adapted into this amazing centrepiece for the dining table. 

That bit might actually be Pinterest worthy as I stole the idea from there in the first place. Andrew drilled some holes in the logs for the candles and voila a centrepiece. Can't wait to start eating meals at the big table. 

So there you have it, our Christmas decor for 2015. As many of you won't get to see us over the holiday season I hope you can picture us having Christmas over here a bit more now. 
H