A Bachelorette Weekend Away From Wormy

In early March, I got my first weekend away from Little V in many months... I was off to New Orleans to enjoy the bachelorette party of my friend Amy (Virginia's godmother).  Although I was sad to be away, it was a short and easy trip and it was great to catch up with my old friends and make new ones.  Here are a few highlights from the weekend.  We can't wait for the wedding in Cabo in May!

Historic bar in the French Quarter:

Beignets at Cafe DuMonde:

Bourbon Street still had a few Mardi Gras decorations remaining:

Law school roomies, Meredith and Amy:

Tahoe, With Toddler

In case you haven't been following the news, California has been having quite the drought this winter.  We've been glued to the Weather Channel and doing frantic snow dances, but the mountains at Tahoe have pretty much been bone dry through February.  Finally, we bit the bullet and decided we needed to take a trip to Tahoe no matter what.  Little V wanted to ski!

My latest passion has been following all sorts of travel deals blogs (one that all traveling moms out there need to read is MommyPoints), so I decided to find a way to do Tahoe on the cheap using miles and points.  As luck would have it, the Ritz Carlton recently build a slopeside resort at Northstar-at-Tahoe, which is where we wanted to go anyway.  Northstar definitely has the best kids ski programs, and it was pretty much the only resort that had any snow coverage, as they have invested heavily in snow-making.  Even better was the fact we could use our plentiful Marriott points earned from credit card bonuses and business travel for a room at the Ritz.  Score!

We loaded up the car early on a Saturday morning and made it to Tahoe in record time.  We pulled up to the Ritz to find a legion of bellmen who unloaded our skis from the ski rack and took them to the "ski concierge."  We would later find that we would never have to lug skis or boots during our whole stay - the staff takes care of everything, including helping you in and out of your ski boots.  Amazing - and especially helpful when you have a toddler in tow and an extra set of all her ski things.

View from our room:

The pool area and hotel (swanky!):

Virginia had her very own crib (which was stocked with a baby toiletries kit and outlet covers - they think of everything):

After checking into our room and getting a bite of lunch, we managed to get Virginia an early afternoon ski lesson.  She was pretty worn out from the travels and getting close to nap time, so the first lesson was not much of a success.  But it was a start!  Meanwhile, Thomas and I traded off skiing and watching her.  Here she is in her first lesson of 2012 (and waiting to take her first ski lift ride ever):

Thomas hits the slopes (note the totally dry valley behind him and the "thin cover" sign!)

 After (unsuccessful) nap time, we hit the hot tub and then headed to dinner in the Village, a short gondola ride away.  Virginia had a blast watching the ice skaters at the rink there and eating a delicious Japanese dinner.

Ready for a night on the town:

Bento box and chopsticks (before you get too impressed with her exotic culinary taste, you might spot that the kids bento box included french fries!):

By the end of dinner, she was nothing short of WORN OUT.  She fell asleep on my shoulder walking back to the hotel and Virginia never falls asleep anywhere but in a crib!  Here she is upon return to our hotel room:

We got up bright and early Sunday morning in time for Virginia to take a one hour early bird lesson.  Since she isn't quite three, she was too young for ski school and we thought three hours of ski school would be too much anyway at this age.  She took to skiing much better this time... here she is tearing up the slopes:

After Virginia finished her lesson, we went back to the hotel for a swim and to pack up our room while Thomas skied.  We ate a nice lunch at the Ritz and then loaded up the car for the return trip to the Bay Area.  Virginia slept for much of the trip:

It was a great weekend away.  I only fear we've been completely spoiled for next year - once you get used to the Ritz, it is hard to go back!  Guess we'll have to stockpile the Marriott points for 2013.

February Friends

Virginia has turned into quite the little social butterfly as she nears her third birthday.  It is exciting to see her really interacting with other kids, playing games, and working out conflicts (well, sometimes, at least).  She has a good group of friends in her weekly playgroup as well as other friends from the neighborhood and the park.  Here she is with some of her best buds:

Virginia and Abby spend a lot of time hugging: (the matching shirts were totally unplanned!)

Virginia and Tasha enjoy outings to Fairyland:

At Build a Bear with Kylie and Isabel (her partners in playgroup crime):

Nanny's 90th!

We packed up the family in early February and took another plane flight to North Carolina.  This time, we were going for a happier occasion - to celebrate Virginia's great grandmother, Nanny, turning 90!  We had a great time visiting with immediate and extended family, eating some good NC BBQ, and capping it all off with a party on Saturday night.

Piano Playing with Mimi:

Holding court at the kitchen table:

Visiting the world-famous Dick's Hot Dog Stand!  (This is a restaurant up the street from Nanny's house where my dad and Auntie Lynn both worked.  In a strange, small-world turn of events, Thomas's second cousin Ginger married the son of the owner.):

Silly Papa:

With Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Dave at Dick's:

Virginia loves her Auntie Lynn "THIS MUCH!"

Virginia was really excited to eat this cake!

With Cousin Beth and Adam at the birthday gala:

Loving on Mimi, Liz, and Mom:

With the birthday girl herself (Virginia would NOT stay still long enough for us to get good photos with anyone, so this is the best we could do!):

February birthday girls in the Neeland family (plus Virginia):

Virginia conked out on the plane ride home - the first time she has done that in more than a year!

January Made Me Shiver

After an eventful holiday season, we laid pretty low in January.  The highlight of the month was definitely our several trips to the Alameda Little Ice Rink.  Virginia amazed us all and actually skated quite a bit on her own.  Best of all were the little seal ride-on toys that they provided - she could use them to practice skating and also ride on them when she got tired.

January also started Virginia on the party circuit - a lot of her little friends started hitting the three year milestone and Virginia was invited to several events (that almost always involved a bouncy house!).  Here she is at the birthday of her buddy Isabel, one of the members of her playgroup.

Finally, we capped off the month with an overnight visit to Double Creek Ranch - the Mendocino County home of the Griffingers.  It was great to get out of the city for the weekend and enjoy the country air and good company!

Playing with Papa

A cute video of Virginia playing with "Papa the Monster" while the Neelands were in town for the holidays.

Harvey Holidays

While the Neelands were in town for the holidays, we did a little San Francisco sightseeing in addition to all our Christmas events.  Since Uncle Dave is a big beer lover, most of these events centered around beer.  First up was a boys trip to Sonoma County to visit a few of the breweries there.  We also did a tour of the Anchor Steam factory in San Francisco.  And, of course, no visit to Alameda would be complete without dropping in to Forbidden Island, the amazingly awesome tiki bar just blocks from our house!

Christmas in California

Mimi and Papa arrived in California on Christmas Eve at noon and we were off to the races in celebrating Christmas.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at St. Clement's Church watching the children's nativity services, followed by dinner at Claremont Country Club with the Harveys.

We returned to Alameda to hang our stockings and get ready for Santa's visit.  This was the first year that Virginia really "got" Santa, but she proved she is still a toddler when she tried to swipe one of Santa's Christmas cookies!!!!  We have the video proof:

On Christmas morning, we awoke to find that Santa had forgiven Virginia's little momentary transgression and had nevertheless left us lots of presents.  Virginia got a train set and a pink bicycle, among other goodies.  We opened gifts with the Neelands in Alameda all morning. 

In the afternoon, we adjourned to Harvey Manor in Piedmont for dinner and more presents!  Virginia wore a dress that was handmade by one of Papa's coworkers, and she looked adorable.  She got a new dollhouse and princess castle from GayGay and Pop Pop and an electronically controlled giant Nemo fish from Uncle Biggie that was a big hit.  It was a great Christmas!