Where's the snow?

As we move into Jan, we start perhaps our grandest adventure with Nate.  For his Birthday he got a new Snowboard and now he'll be starting the Northstar Snowboard team.  That means we're committed to driving u to Northstar for 10 Sundays so he can practice his carving.

He's got the natural Snowboarder slouch, really comfortable on the board.  Although he seems to be starting off this year a bit more cautious.  I know we got a board that was a little big for him, with the hopes it will last a few extra seasons.  It's also a "pro" board, rather than a beginner, which makes the turns easier, but also a bit easier to fall.

After several trips up to the mountain, I have mixed feelings about the lack of snow.  Luckily they are making plenty to keep the place open, with about a third of the runs open.  With the "good" weather, which means no snow, no one is showing up, which means no lift lines.  I'm getting in more runs than I've ever done in a day before.

Nate was telling me he doesn't like to ski on the fresh groomed corduroy because the little grooves get caught on his snowboard and make him fall more.

With the record low rains, the old town of Mormon Island, which was flooded when they built the dam to make Folsom lake is now exposed.  We took a day trip out to see it and were a bit surprised at how many people were there.  'm pretty sure the Parks department is making more money charging for parking at the lake with no water than they would when the lake is full.

We brought Lilo with us.  She was in heaven.  Got lots of comments from the other park visitors.  We did manage to sneak away and find a place I could throw a ball to her out into the lake and she could swim and run a bit off leash.

I brought the 30 foot leash to allow her lots of room to run.

The mud near the water could really stick to your feet or suck you in.  Nate and Lilo didn't seem to mind.  We met up with the Thompson family who also came out to look around.  Line of the day has to be from Taryn, who commented on the mud all caked around Nate's feet as he was getting into the car and she stated "Nate you have Ogre Feet"

Here's a view of the lake, or what's left of it.  Not long after our visit, MSNBC was posting photos comparing the lake today at 17% capacity compared to a few years ago when it was at 93% capacity.  Quite a difference.

In early Jan, Maria did a girls trip to Temecula to celebrate Martha's 50th birthday.  During the trip, Kelly convinced Maria to join her in running a half Marathon in July in Marin.  Kelly offered to help train her remotely, but that meant committing to a new fitness plan.  Maria and her new running partner Frances have jumped on board and are now committed to making the 13.1 mile trek.  Here they are after their first run together on the long path forward.

The village stepped away from Casa Verde to help the Roseville Envy soccer team, that Emily Slater is on raise money at a crab feed.  We had a great night out with friends and helped our fellow neighbors.

To help satisfy Nate's craving for sushi and my craving to have money left in my wallet, we're taking him to non-Mikuni sushi locations.  The nearest palace is Crazy Sushi, which has 50% off the house rolls.  Nate likes it and it's actually a reasonable price for us.  Too bad they don't have Bon Bons.

Maria and I getting another Epic Mix photo taken.

Nate and his board on the first day of the snow team.

Casey invite Nate to his birthday party.  They rented this party bus for the kids.  It has several TV's inside and out, where the kids can hop onto any game console and most games and play with or against each other.  The back drops down and they can even do the full rock band game with big speakers.

Inside the party machine, the boys are all locked and loaded.

At Northstar, they had these really cool snow sculptures.  We got up close to these two Sumo wrestlers, but didn't make time to see the rest of the exhibit later in the day.  We did see several as we drove out, but didn't get any photos.  Pretty impressive what they were carving.