Winter in Yosemite

 

MLK weekend we went back to where it all started - Yosemite. This was our first winter trip and we enjoyed sledding and ice skating. After an easy mid-day drive up, we checked in to the Ahwahnee hotel, a beautiful almost 100 year old hotel right in the valley. It was a real treat to stay there. 

The dress code for the dining room was not in effect. 

This photo is a selfie looking up in the elevator. What a ceiling!

Saturday morning we let the kids sleep in and we walked to Yosemite falls. 

On the walk there we walked by some housing for staff, human and equine. 

The western ranch scene with half-dome in the background caught my eye. 

Back at the hotel we rousted the kids and walked to Curry Village. 

Snow angels in front of half dome

Walking to ice skating rink in Curry Village. 

Selfie with Half Dome.

Famil photo with Half-Dome. There was a fire and s'mores at the ice skating rink. 

Elsa skated gracefully. 

The men, not so much.

Snowballs were thrown. It was a good day. 

Sunday I went out to photograph the sunrise. There a little pink but it was distant and the clouds over Half Dome didn't get more colorful than this.

We walked to Mirror lake and brought the sleds.

There were rock climbers on the cliffs. 

I had my telephoto.

And my wide angle.

In the summer time trips to Mirror lake we would climb that rock and jump in the water. 

Now the kids played with the ice and were kind enough to pose for photos.

Then we went sledding. 

And took more photos.

The sunset was pretty.

On our way out we took the kids to see Yosemite falls.

My, how they've grown since 2013: 

Winter Break Fun!

We had a wonderful series of adventures this Winter Break.  To start the holiday season, on the 23rd we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Arne's family.  It was a rainy day at the aquarium, but we were still able to have a lot of fun.

After the aquarium, we headed over to Asilomar, a favorite spot for us to stay at in Pacific Grove.  It was great to go with the cousins and explore the ocean and watch the sunset at Asilomar beach.

In the morning we had some more beach time before heading home and then to Berkeley for Christmas Eve. 

It was a good Christmas eve dinner with the Stokstad family before heading to sleep to get ready for Christmas Morning. Christmas morning was fun, with the kids all in matching PJs once again. This year, there were even PJs for the parents generation.

The kids enjoyed opening presents with their cousins in Berkeley before we headed to Millbrae for more presents and time with the Nisewaner family.  

Earlier in the month the kids got to decorate the tree with decorations from my childhood, which is always a nice afternoon.

Then we headed home for some much needed sleep before our early morning drive to Tahoe.  The drive started off fine on Sunday, with two sleeping kids.

But the roads were closed, so we had to turn around in Pollock Pines and we headed to Sacramento.  We met up with the cousins at the Railroad Museum. 

We found a hotel and ended up spending the night in Sacramento.  This one night extended to two as the roads remained closed, so for the second day we explored the Sacramento Zoo.

It was nice spending a few nights with a view of our state capitol. 

We then headed up again on Tuesday to Tahoe, and after a 13 hour journey, where 20 miles an hour felt really fast, because at one point it took 5 hours to go 2 miles, we made it to the Lodge at Squaw Creek. 

We then had 3 great days of skiing with the Stokstad family.  The first day was all powder, with some snow and no groomed runs. 

That night we joined the rest of the group at their rental house for a family dinner.

Elsa spent the night with her cousins and then Thursday they got up early to ski. Liam, Arne and I headed out and met up with them for more ski fun time.

That night we hung out at the hot tub at our resort, which was a super fun and super snowy adventure.

We had one final morning of great skiing, before we headed home, which only took 4 hours!

What a great Winter Break and Merry Christmas!