Visiting CA - Holidays in Tahoe

We couldn't decide between a star and an angel for the top of the tree so we hoisted an angel holding a star up there. Actually, it's been a long day. We went to sleep last night planning to leave our temporary rental in Petaluma the next morning to spend the holidays in the mountains. Around 1:00 am, Mae woke up from a combo of a stuffed nose and two eye teeth starting to peek through her gums. By 3:00 am, she still hadn't settled, and I'd checked the weather to find a big snowstorm scheduled to dump on Donner Summit around 10:00 am. We called an audible, quickly cleaning the house and packing the car, transferring the sleeping 4 yr old into her carseat, and counting on the movement on the road to rock Mae to sleep. By 8:00 am, we'd made our way 4 hours through rain turning to snow up and over the summit with two sleeping kids and settled into our place in Tahoe to watch the weather ramp up. #advancedparenting #highstakesgame #needabeer #andanap #andanotherbeer #shesnoangel #xmas #xmastree #tahoe

Morning rainbow (but there's more snow on the way!). Thanks @backroadbennetts for the hand-me-down snow suit! #sisters #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents #truckee #tahoe #rainbow #snowbow?

I'll warn you right now that I have some incredibly cute kid snow angel pictures queued up, but I know you people need some adventure mixed in for spice. So here's a flashback to 2009 B.C. (before children) when @advodna_ann and I joined @dacawa (photo credit) to ride a section of the mostly dirt TransAmerica Trail 2-up on our F800GS. After riding passes like Engineer, Cinnamon, California and Ophir in Colorado and the White Rim Trail in Utah together, we figured it was time to get engaged and see where the next adventure took us. Link to the trip report temporarily in profile and always under "Other Adventures" on the blog. Thanks to @2and2adv for reminding us of our MC touring days and for encouraging more couples to mount together. #waitthatdidntcomeoutright #ordidit #alpineloop #f800gs #bmwmotorcycle

I warned ya. Snow angels!!! #truckee #Tahoe #toddlerlife #childhoodunplugged - posted by advodna_dave on December 23, 2015 at 07:29PM

Merry Christmas 2007, 2013 and 2015! #themorethingschange

We've been done with Christmas shopping for weeks, partially because we created an "Airstream Approved" Amazon wish list for grandparents to work off of and partially because we had everything shipped directly to our house in Tahoe. Well, @advodna_ann finally got around to opening some Amazon boxes last night to wrap stuff only to discover that the most important presents - the ones from Santa - were way too big for our toy storage in the trailer. After briefly discussing a strategy that involved a post-Xmas swap out and a story about a magic shrinking spell, we instead decided to drive an hour and a half each way to Target in Reno in a Christmas Eve snowstorm to get the smaller size. #downsizing #everyinchcounts #christmassaved #pawpatrol #nojobtoobignopuptoosmall

Gorgeous day in Tahoe today. Snow all morning and blue skies in the afternoon. #truckee #tahoe #breakingtrail #forgottheeergo #childhoodunplugged

First day on skis was a success! Well, in that there was no complaining, she actually slid by herself a couple times for a few feet and the slope-side snowman turned out pretty good. Oh, and there was hot chocolate involved. Two hour group lesson scheduled for tomorrow! #truckee #Tahoe #firstdayonskis

Magic carpet ride and some quick reflexes by the boy instructor (she's the first one on the carpet in the tiny light blue suit and red helmet). Wynne was a super sport for her first ever ski school session today. 6 to 1 student to teacher ratio meant a lot of waiting, and at least two toddlers on the ground at any given time. After about an hour, she announced she was done, so we got some hot chocolate and called it a day. #focusingongoodexperiences #skischool #truckee #Tahoe #tahoedonner

Ready for ski school with her buddy, Levi. #skischool #truckee #Tahoe #tahoedonner

Another day on the slopes, this time with mom and dad as the instructors (thanks to grandma for entertaining Mae at home!). A little progress and a lot of fun. #truckee #Tahoe #tahoedonner

Happy Birthday to @advodna_ann!!! We couldn't spell ADV-O-DNA without her ('cause even tho no one understands it, that's short for Adventures of Dave and Ann and the last A stands for Ann!!). Oh, and also, I wouldn't have two awesome daughters and a perfect partner to share parenting and explore the world with! 😘

Sometimes I feel like our marriage might be slipping. You're up @upintheairstream and @telegramsam... #punoff

At some point, you have to let your children go. Or give them a push... #momoftheyear #truckee #Tahoe

There are some absolutely *epic* gatherings of travelers going on tonight, and we're loving seeing pics from so many likeminded people we've met or hope to meet this coming year, but it's been pretty great enjoying a New Years Eve of homemade paella, patatas bravas and sangria with some family and close friends that our lifestyle takes us away from the rest of the year. Here's to another year of making time (and place) for the people and things that are important to us! Happy New Years!

Alright, here's what 2016 has in store for us (or us for it?). We'll return to the trailer in Massachusetts in mid Jan and head down towards Austin, TX via the Bourbon Trail, Memphis, Nashville and Ft. Worth in Feb. From there, we'll turn east to come along the Gulf Coast through New Orleans and the FL panhandle in Mar, up the Atlantic Coast in Apr and north via the Blueridge in May. June will be back in Boston, July a flight to CA and August and Sept *likely* a loop up through New England and into Nova Scotia. By November, we plan to make our way all the way back to CA to settle a bit (not too long) before the next adventure. Larger map and calendar on the blog. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #roadtrip #familytravel #travelwithkids #fulltimefamilies #lifeontheroad #welltraveledkids

99.9% of our pictures are taken with our iPhone 6's since we rarely have an extra shoulder free for our Nikon, but every time we hang out with a great photographer and see their shots, we talk about getting one of the new small form mirrorless cameras. Then again, as long as we keep hanging with the pros and getting pics like this one by my sis-in-law @pyster68, maybe we don't need one! #hangtime #dadonduty #ufb #childhoodunweighted #truckee #Tahoe

This little traveler turns 4 today! This pic is from Kelso Dunes on the way home from our first 5 week trip in the Airstream looping around the Southwest. That year, 2013, we spent about 100 days in the trailer. Here Wynne's just about the same age Mae is now! #campingwithbabies #welltraveledkids #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife

When the newly crowned four year old wants chocolate cake with rainbow frosting, you give it a shot. #pinterestfail #didntletthecakecoolenough #butdelicious #andshewashappy #maybenextyear

Snow falling on our cabin in Tahoe the last couple days reminds me of this oldie-but-goodie pic from the time we were surprised by a late Sept snow fall up a winding dirt road in the National Forest north of Winnemucca. We went to sleep to a few raindrops on the aluminum roof and woke up to 6-12 inches of snow! After a brief period of wondering if our rescue (or grim discovery of our remains) would make the national news, we dropped it in 4-LO and crawled over a 7000+ ft summit and down into the valley on the other side. Link to the story of a panicked morning temporarily in profile or from Sept 2013 in the blog archives. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #airstreaminsnow

First day on the slopes together in... let's see, how old did Wynne just turn? Right, 4. So... Four years and 9 months. #parentsgonewild #alpinemeadows #onlylastedaboutthreehours #includinglunch

Packing up to head back to the Bay Area for a little more than a week before flying back to the Airstream in Mass and getting back on the road. When we do travel out of the trailer, we love these packing cubes to keep everyone's stuff organized and to define what we can bring. For this 8 week trip, each person got three cubes. For the kids, that's one for tops including a few "party dresses" for the holidays, one for bottoms and shoes, and one for "Winter" including snow suits, boots and poofs. Of course, it helps that their clothes are small! Everything gets packed into two North Face duffels with backpack straps we keep stuffed under the bed in the trailer. We also use a small folding luggage cart to pile everything on or strap car seats to for navigating the airport. Gonna be a little interesting fitting "Christmas" back into the same duffels we came out with... #familytravel #travelwithkids #packingstillsucks