Lake Tahoe

On the top of our ‘must do’ list was take the kids to Lake Tahoe to show them what real snow looks like.  I’ve been to the snow once in Australia and I was far from impressed.  I couldn’t find the snow!  Now here’s the thing, before I get jumped all over, we are not snow people.  I can only do cold in small doses.  It’s also not something we are going to do regularly during our winters here (we usually escape to the US during our winter).  Given that, we were recommended Planet Kids at Soda Springs for some snow play fun. We booked last-minute accommodation in Truckee, borrowed snow clothes (I didn’t keep any of DC wardrobe), and … ROAD TRIP!   

Prerequisite pitstop at In'n'Out

We were lucky and there was a dump of snow the weekend prior so it was still natural snow.  Yay!  The kids were excited by the scenery as we drove into the area!  But before hitting the snow, we checked into our hotel.  I have to say I was quite impressed by it; fresh baked cookies, mulled apple cider and hot chocolate in the lobby.  Yes, please!

We went for a drive to Donner Summit and a lookout was the perfect place to have a snowball fight.  We also found a discarded sled so Eloise spent the rest of the afternoon going up and down a small hill.

That evening, we had dinner at Smokey’s Kitchen in Truckee.  It was just what I felt like in the cold.  The problem was too much BBQ on the menu, we couldn’t decide.  It was all delicious!  After dinner, we played board games in the lobby (as you do) before turning in for the night.

Soda Springs

Yay!  It’s snow day.  We arrived at Soda Springs, picked up our “lift” tickets, and hopped on the Jeep to take us to Planet Kids.  Only breaking for lunch in Truckee, we spent 6 hours on the tube carousel, mini-tubes, building Olaf (we brought a carrot and buttons especially for this), throwing snowballs at each other and climbing snow volcanos (Eden) and learning to ski (Eloise).

On the "sled" (Jeep)

More snowballs were thrown …er, pitched (good form, buddy!)

This "Magic Carpet" took Eden up the sledding hill all day

Again!

Do you want to build a snowman?  YES!  I do!

Olaf

Tube carousel

King of the (snow) mountain

We were so proud of Eloise.  It was her first time on skis and this video is of her after just 2 runs down the bunny slope.

We had an awesome day at Soda Springs!  It was a great experience for the kids and one they still talk about today (it's Winter here).

Here's some parting knowledge for you:  Don't eat yellow snow.  Note: the snow was not yellow below.