This is what I meant by snowy....

Somewhere around the California side of the mountain, near Canyon. 

15F, 2-3 ft of snow, 20 yds visibility, and heavy wind, maybe 35mph.

Playing in the Snow Pix

If you click on the photo above, you can see a range of pictures from the girls' Christmas adventures in the mountains.  It was near the storm's peak when most of these were taken.

Mush!

The kids got their sleds out and played in the snow which has been coming down very heavily.  I was up on the mountain which had very severe conditions.  Visibility was about 15 feet and temperatures were under 20 degrees and of course -- lots of heavy snow.  I actually got disoriented on some trails which I thought I knew pretty well but ... when everything is white it's hard to tell where you are.  Sometimes it's hard to tell which way is even down.

Winter sleigh ride!

So it's too windy to ski today so we took the girls on a sleigh ride (which was also very windy).  The horses were Belgian Draft Horse which weigh 2000 pounds each.  Unfortunately one of our cars has stopped working so we have to figure out why.  We will probably have to stay here an extra day since the highways are closed. They are expecting 3 to 5 feet of snow and winds up to 100 miles an hour at the top of the ridges.

It is good to be inside a nice warm house right now!

New ski suits

The girls got to play in the snow today in their new ski suits.  We tried ten (!) different rental shops but were not able to find ski boots that fit their small feet (yet).  So instead they played and ran around while I skied  the Nevada side of the mountain.  They love riding the gondola while wearing their new ski passes.

Putting up the Christmas Tree

Today was the first day of Advent, so we put up the Christmas tree, lit our candles, and wrangled all the accouterments out of the attic.  The girls munched on JoJo cookies, spilled their hot cocoa, and broke one glass ornament (each!) during the process.  The cats were torn between playing with the paper and Styrofoam scrunchies, or snoozing by the fireplace.

It's been raining for 3 days, and that seems to have caused problems with our exterior lights timer, so those have stopped working, with rather poor timing.  I've been preparing for months for an exam (taken yesterday) so today was the first family quality time in a while.

I took a few pictures with the Canon, and if you click on the picture above you can see them.

Diwali Pix

Click on the pictures to see some Diwali slides.

Fairytale Town

The kids went to Fairytale town yesterday.  These pictures are from J's new phone, which automatically pushes the pictures into Picasa.  I still have to go in manually to post them to the blog, but it saves a step of loading with the SD card.  However, that means we lose the Picasa post production cleanup process, which does help a little.

Click on the above to see the slideshow.  They kids are off to ride the train today, on their way to the library.

Napa Run

Announcing baby girl (meow) Ruishi

This adorable kitten was abandoned by her mom in our garage last Sunday night. She is about a month old and weighs less than a pound! We weren't expecting a kitten but the girls are very excited to have their own pet. M is very good with her and is like a little mother to her. I likes to play for a few minutes and then wants to do something else. 

The kitty's mom is Siamese and the vet said her father must have been Himalayan,so we gave her the name Ruishi which is the snow tiger of Tibet. We can't wait for you to meet her.

M making Pizza

This might take a little while to download, as its 5 megs.

Pumpkin Patch!

The girls had their annual trip to the pumpkin patch with their Nonny, and came home with lots of pumpkins and face paintings.  They have been chattering about and looking forward to this trip all week.  Click on the above to see a slide show.

San Francisco Playground & Zoo Pictures

We took the kids to San Francisco to see their Uncle and (now) Aunt(s).  They had a nice day playing in the park on one day, clambering all over the jungle gym.  That evening, they joined us for a big persons dinner at the fancy place - Terzo.  Then the next day, we went to the SF Zoo, where we saw lots of animals.  I'd never seen a bald eagle up close - amazing and beautiful creatures.  Not that I'd want for a pet though.

Click on the above to see the slide show.

Beating the heat in Gaga's pool

The kids are playing in their grand dad's pool, as they enjoy a long Indian summer that has extended into October.

 

Lots of excitement and parties yesterday, with no nap (!), so today is relaxing in the pool, and getting ready for Disneyland tomorrow.

 

 

Painting on the Porch

Paintbrushes, poster paper, and fresh cans of paint...

Click on the above to see, plus our thieving squirrel.

Tough Mudder Race

My sister, after running the Tough Mudder race, which is a marathon plus an obstacle course combined.

 

 

Our family gets bigger...

After my brother's wedding, and combining Maaria's clan with ours.

Click on the above for a slideshow.

All Dressed up for a Party

At my brothers reception in Chicago....

Wishing well

Throwing coins into the wishing well....

Chopsticks!

 

Chopsticks!

Tomatoes!

Summer in Sacramento means tomatoes -- these are cherries that were broiled and tossed with some spinach, rigatoni, and fresh mozarella!  Thanks

Helping Hand!

"Be careful"

"Ok, but hold my hand"

Beach Pictures

The kids had a fun time at the beach, and we took a few pictures.  Click above to see the slideshow.

At the seashore

We are at the seashore  -- girls have been a little surprised by the waves.  They are having fun playing in the sand; the weather is nice and sunny without without being too hot.

Christening cake

Petapalooza

We took the girls to the Petapalooza today, which was a giant festival for pets at the park. There were an unbelievable amount of people (and dogs, cats, and more) there.  Parking was crazy of course, even though we got there before it officially opened.

The kids watched the K9 unit, dogs jumping in pools, animal shelter booths, and more.  There had to 100+ different tents set up for different causes at least.  The most important one to the girls was the sno-cone vendor though, where they got a blue colored shaved ice, to cool down from the 100F day.

Good or bad skill building?

 

Our first haircuts!

The kids had their first haircut.

It looks like it was an amicable event, with no outrage.

Playing in the park makes us hungry for dim-sum

Looks like the girls had a nice day at the park and then at the famous dim sum place in Little Saigon

Playing with Justin & Randall

Girls Enjoying time with Gaga

Building towers, seeing friends, and playing in the pool.

Pizza party at nonny's. Dejected dachshund

 

Pig-a-tails

 

When I take the bus to work...

....this person is at my stop every day.  He also dresses the same every day, rain or shine.  I've gotten inured to the weirdness of people on public transport, as after all, nothing compares to the people you see in Manhattan's subways, especially late at night. 

But for sober and sensible Sacramento this one's a character. 

He also carries a couple of police radios, and listens to what is going on the emergency channels.

Fairytaletown!

The kids went to Fairytale Town yesterday and had a blast.  There is a tame rooster that marches around the amusement park, policing the gawking children.

A busy Saturday

Today the kids were at their grandmothers so we did some chores around the neighborhood

• Made a tray of biscuits
• Switched winter wardrobe out and put it back in the attic
• Pet related tasks
• Took bike in for servicing
• Returned books to library
• CVS prescriptions
• Post Office packages

Then we went to pick them up and my mom took us for dinner at a local Thai place, that was surprisingly good.  We had pumpkin curry, various kinds noodles, eggplant saute, and chicken plus mango sticky rice for dessert. The kids needed a bath upon getting home, and that's where they are splashing around now.

More (professional) pictures

If you click on the above you can see the best pictures the mountain photographers took all season.  They are working with Nikon and zoom lens, and seem to have some skill in terms of composition/framing etc, so they are much nicer than my point & shoot or camera phone efforts.  That being said, my Canon S90 is very small, and takes quite good pictures, enough so that if it's important, I'd much rather have that lens/sensor than a smartphone camera.  One can clean up the pictures in post-production -- the key is to have a good lens and get enough light.  Everything else is fixable.

Great day, fresh snow, no crowds!

Despite the parking lots being full, and village condos being scarce, there were not many people actually skiing on Northstar, despite all the fresh snow.  Here are some of the trails off the east ridge.  Even though it's not a popular area to ski, because it does not have its own dedicated fast lift, you can see that's empty.  Even at 2pm in the afternoon you could still see the corduroy tracks laid down by the grooming machines.

The top of the mountain was colder than the base area, and at times of the day, also had some fog covering the area.  Click on the photo below to see a slide show of all the pictures we took of the kids.  

The mountain photographers took great pictures of us as well, which we'll get in a few days.  Since we didn't have a full kitchen, we took the kids out for dinner twice: once to the 50/50 and another time to the classic Truckee Diner.  Both were good and recommended for children, and we were able get in/out quickly without any tantrums or meltdowns.  For the first time, we stayed in Truckee rather than at the mountain, at the Larkspur, which graciously upgraded us to a king suite.  Unfortunately, the girls were getting the sniffles and insisted on clambering up with us on the featherbed and poofy pillows, rather than their more spartan kids camping tents, in the other room.