Tahoe Blizzard Vacation

For kids who had never seen snow, this sure was a way to introduce them.

We arrived at Lake Tahoe amidst blizzard warnings, but when we got there it wasn't snowing and we were thrilled the drive wasn't treacherous.

Orelia was dying to give the snow a try, so while Bennett went down for a nap everyone went outside to test it out (even Harper).

 Our girl has always loved adventure, so we suspected she would take to sledding.

 And we were right.

I hadn't predicted how much she would LOVE eating snow, however.  

 It's possible that eating snow was her favorite thing of the whole trip!

 We warned her before the vacation that she would need to wear - God forbid - PANTS in the snow.  So she asked if she could bring a skirt to wear on top, and we agreed.  Trust me, she wore a snow skirt every single time she went outside.  She's nothing if not consistent.

Now I said that the blizzard hadn't yet started when we arrived, but THIS is what the house looked like pre-blizzard.  They already had pleeeeeeeeeeenty of snow.

 The first day we were maybe playing on 3 feet of packed snow in the yard.

 At that point it was definitely the most snow I had ever seen or experienced in my whole life.

 We woke Bennett up from his nap and he was none too excited about the requirement of gloves to go in the snow.  Whoops - forgot to prep him on that.

 We spent the weekend with our close friends and their family.  Orelia had an amazing time playing and snuggling with her buddy all weekend, and they loved building a snowman together.

 Harper's best friends were there too (the dogs, not the snowman).

 Orelia and I went to play on the super snowy balcony that first day, and it's a good thing we did since later it would snow so much more we wouldn't even be able to open the sliding door to get onto the balcony.

It was really fun to play with my girl in the snow all weekend.  

 In the snow there are no distractions - just the snow and your imagination to keep you busy.

 Orelia loved eating plain snow, but she also enjoyed a snow cone with chocolate one evening too.  (The second night we just gave her plain snow and a spoon and she devoured three bowls - ha!)

 After a lot of preparation, Bennett now understood he had to wear gloves/mittens in order to go out in the snow.

 True to form, Bennett wanted to do a lot of scooping and dumping with his construction trucks.

 When the snow got too cold, we brought a little bit inside and let Bennett scoop and dump from the warmth of the house.

 The front "yard" had been transformed into a snow valley.  After an entire winter of plowing the driveway, there were gigantic 8-foot mounds on either side of the driveway.  The good news was, the kids and dogs could easily walk on the plowed driveway and still play in the snow.

 This was Harper's first visit to the snow, and she had a great time too.

 She missed out on her usual long walks with Mommy, but got lots of freedom to run around and romp.

 Orelia made herself at home by making a snow chair in the side of one of the snow heaps.

 Look at those snowy paws!

 The front yard/driveway was a lot easier for Bennett to navigate, since the snow was literally taller than him in the backyard, especially after the blizzard hit.

 What they warned would be 24 hours of blizzard conditions essentially turned into 48 hours of blizzard.

 While we were in Tahoe we got maybe 3-4 feet of snow.

 When I was growing up in Virginia we would rejoice at 3-4 INCHES of snow.

 Having a few feet of snow on top of plenty of other snow was a whole new kind of winter I have never experienced.

We were essentially snowed into our house for the weekend, but we were lucky enough to have power, water, and great company.

 These pictures are taken after Orelia was literally thrown into the pile of snow (akin to how a kid is tossed into a pool).

 I know I will always remember this amazing snow-filled weekend, and I think Orelia will too.

 Bennett likely won't remember much about the trip, but he has been fondly telling everyone about the snow plows he saw.

 Poor kid was really too little to even walk in the snow in the backyard unassisted because he would literally just keep sinking.

 Orelia is just enough older and taller to be able to forge a path through several feet of sinking fresh snow.

To have this weekend be your first real experience with snow - I can't even imagine what that must be like for Orelia.  

She literally thinks snow is some sort of Calvin and Hobbes comic filled with fluffy cotton candy snow.  (Bennett just thinks snow is cold.)  Who knows when we will see the snow again, but until then, my kids will imagine every snowfall is a blizzard and that every blizzard is magical.