We got back from our Tahoe vacation this afternoon.  And man, I tell you what, time-shares are the only way to travel when you have kids.  They may be the only way to travel period.  It was beyond awesome having full access to a kitchen, living room, laundry, parking, etc.  We ate out a lot, yes.  But we also were able to fix breakfast at the condo, make lunches, reheat pizza and whatever else we needed.  That was a godsend.  The kids loved having room to play and be themselves too.  The boys shared the second bedroom (with a TV in there!  Harry brought his Wii and promptly hooked it up and I heard a lot of Mario Kart going on in there) while Evie bunked with us in the pack n play.  I did diaper laundry in the washing machine and dryer, we watched movies on the dvd player, played board games at the kitchen table and stored our booze in the fridge.

What more could you want from a vacation?

I also discovered a yarn store in South Lake Tahoe and picked up some yarn for a gift for my sister’s new baby.  She was due Valentine’s Day.  Interestingly enough, my newest niece was born this afternoon!  So I need make with the knitting and get this done!  But YAY for a new niece!  She doesn’t have a name yet, as far as I know, but I’m anxiously awaiting that information.  And more pictures.  Dang, if I could be there to get in some good baby holding.  I loves me some baby holding.

We had a lot of fun while we were in Tahoe.  We constantly warred with our (in particular MY) inner cheapskates.  Kile would assure us that it was okay to pay out the nose for the horse drawn sleigh ride.  And eat out at the super yummy but rather pricey lakefront seafood restaurant.  And take the paddle-wheel boat ride to Emerald Bay and back.  It was a lot of fun, but I constantly fretted over the cost.

I’m such a kill joy.

But we did have some good eats.  The seafood restaurant I mentioned is the Blue Water Bistro and I heartily recommend it if you’re ever in the area.  It’s a little spendy but worth every penny as the fish we had there was beyond yummy.  And the service was spot on.  We did that on Monday night (Sunday was take and bake pizza from Whole Foods).  Tuesday night, Kile got take out from Izzy’s Burger Spa, a place well known among the locals for having awesome burgers and amazing onion rings.  It did not disappoint and take out was the perfect option so that we were easily in place for the big “Lost” premiere that night (side note: WTF??).  The last night, we appeased Harrison and went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Harvey’s casino downtown.  We couldn’t resist ordering drinks that came in souvenir glasses to go with the Hurricane glass I got at the HRC in Nassau over the summer.

All in all:  YUMMO.

It’s hard to sum up a trip like this with mere words, so in closing I’m just going to share some pictures that I snapped up there.  I didn’t take as many as I probably should have.  But here they be!

As you can see, Lake Tahoe is a gorgeous place.  I can’t think of a better place to vacation in the winter!