Extreme Weather

OK, so there’s “Murphy’s Law:” Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Then there’s “Danahy’s Law.” Danahy’s Law states that when on vacation, we will encounter the most extreme weather fluctuations possible. Phrases like “It’s never been this hot,” and “we never get snow in April” or “it’s never been this cold at the beach during spring break” punctuate our attempts at vacationing. Whether it’s heat waves in the summer or snow storms in the winter, it will inevitably be record-breaking weather that we experience.

We are just coming back from a weekend in Lake Tahoe. Just coming back as in I’m typing while driving down the mountain. In fact, we just stopped to take the chains off the front tires (front wheel drive and all) because there are chain controls on Route 50. It’s a drive I don’t particularly enjoy, given the steep, death-defying cliffness of it. But after this summer (of record temperature heat, remember) and driving (OK- front-passengering) the cliffs of the Italian Cinque Terre, Route 50 doesn’t seem as bad. And now my hands smell like chain. Ah frozen icey goodness.

We came up to spend a ski weekend with the cousins in Lake Taco (or “Chicago” as Ed keeps mistaking it for…) We lucked out on the drive up = no major weather issues. Brian ingested 2 coffees, 3 sodas and a Monster brand beverage in an attempt to stay awake on the drive up Thursday night. We made it up safely and awake, but then he couldn’t fall asleep (see beverage consumption above.) Friday morning arrived bright and early (and loudly) with the cousins waking to find Julia and Ed on the floor of their room. Much laughter (and maybe some wrestling?) ensued. After a breakfast made by Aunt Hilary the chaos continued with the preparations for the ski outing. The six oldest kids were outfitted and readied for a day on the slopes – with temperature highs in the mid 20’s. Uncle Chris and Brian got all the kids to Sierra at Tahoe for the day while Aunt Hilary, Stephen and I stayed home in the warm and toasty house. They spent their morning skiing – a subject that I don’t know enough about to comment on. I hear they had fun. I’ll leave it at that. Edwin conked out in the lodge and Uncle Chris had 5 kids to himself at one point while Brian watched a sleeping Ed.

Hilary and I spent the morning trying to win tickets from the radio station to go see Dana Carvey. Which would have been AWESOME: I hear he does “chopping broccoli” in operatic form. Alas, we did not win tickets. But I may have some explaining to do when the cell phone bill comes… We enjoyed our day together playing with Stephen and facebooking. And I finally got to try out the lovely eating establishment Sprouts that my friend Jenny raves about.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Brian and I got out for breakfast at a cute little place (“Ernie’s”) which is located across the street from the original coffee shop (“Bert’s.”) I hear there is another family owned place in Folsom. (I’m guessing the name is “Big Bird’s.”) Then it was off to more skiing for Brian and the big boys. Again, I’m told it was fun. It really sounds less than fun to me, so I’ll take their word for it. Tahoe continued their snow-storm. Only the second big one of the year. Of course it was! Danahy’s Law and all… The young 5 spent almost the entire day outside building forts, creating elaborate tunnels and digging snow paths in the front yard. They only came into eat lunch and wait for the snow clothes to thaw and dry, then it was back out again.

Hilary and Chris got ready for their big night out. It was the anniversary of their first date 15 years ago. Brian and I took on dinner and babysitting duty. It wasn’t hard really, (seriously, what’s 3 more kids?) except for the small diaper detail. As a parent, once you are done with diapers, you are *totally* done with diapers. As in never, ever! want to change another one. I tried telling Stephen earlier in the day that he could only poop for Mommy. Yeah, that didn’t work so well. So after dinner and dessert (because Brian bought 2 cakes) I got treated to diaper duty and Stephen got treated to a bath. BTW, he *does not* like getting his hair washed. It was at about this point that Obexer decided that he was done with this party and retreated upstairs to sleep.

Then we were on to bath #2 with the middle boys. To entertain a now clean Stephen, he was offered a story. And when he picked Colin to read to him, we were all a little surprised (Colin most of all.) Colin dutifully (if not *very* expediently) read the required stories while I bathed the middle boys. Then the girls were off to shower – after which then necessitated curler application by Aunt Joelle. A little “Princess Diaries” viewing and then it was off to slumber land – thankfully not protested, due to the immense amount of snow play during the day. The big boys even went to bed fairly easily out on the sofa bed too.

“I bet everyone will be asleep in their beds when we get home. Except Joelle.” Uncle Chris was right. I was waiting up for them.

A little more snow play was necessary before our trip home on Sunday morning. This one had the benefit of a true snowball fight between and Aidan and the Three Musketeers (Uncle Chris, Edwin and Peter.) After which we packed up the car and headed up and then down the mountain toward home. A very white, wet weekend it was.