Hey, friends! We welcomed in 2022 by traveling to South Lake Tahoe, California…and boy was it a dream. It seriously felt like we were living inside of a snow globe for the weekend. I know many of you followed along in my Instagram stories during our trip, but for those who haven’t and want a closer look, you can find a full highlight of the trip here. This trip was the perfect way to beat the “Christmas has come and gone” blues I had.
We pulled ourselves out of that weird week between Christmas and the New Year where you kind just hang out in pajamas aimlessly, and jumped head first into a snowball. We even brought along our New Year’s Occasions Bin™ full of bubbly (mini sparkling juices for the littles), noise makers, balloons, fun 2022 glasses, and all of the fun disposable champagne flutes, plates and napkins needed to turn up the magic on our celebration. You can learn more about our popular #OccasionsBin tradition on my What is an Occasions Bin™ blog post here.
Below I’ll be sharing more of the logistics of our trip, as well as answering some of the questions you all submitted in my Instagram stories. The highlighted links are affiliate links, which means that I earn a very small commission for sharing my finds with you.
Why Lake Tahoe?
SNOW! All three of our babies were born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and had never experienced “real” snow, and we’ve heard nothing but amazing things about it. There are clearly plenty of opportunities for snow sports like skiing and snowboarding, but this trip was more of an opportunity to get our feet wet (with snow?) and have some family fun in a new environment. Because of school schedules, this was a shorter trip for us (3 days and 2 nights including travel time).
All of us agreed that we want to come back and takeski lessons. They offered a variety of lessons, at different skill levels, at the top of Heavenly Mountain for ages 3 and up–read more about that here. 2022 is our last year being stationed in California, and we want to see as much of it as possible. The trip up to Tahoe is about a five hour drive from our home in Monterey–so we went for it.
We’d love to come back during the summer months, to explore more of the actual Lake Tahoe. Perhaps rent a boat and/or do some hiking. We met some friends on the gondola ride up the mountain, and they told us that it’s so deep that the entire Empire State Building can fit inside of it. I have no idea if that’s true, and I’m totally not going to look it up because the way it lit up our girls’ faces needs to live permanently in my memories of this trip.
What Did We Pack?
LAYERS! Lot’s and lots of layers. We each wore a puffer coat and fleece over our base layer of clothes, along with snow boots, gloves and hats. We wanted to make sure that we could easily adjust whether we were at the top of the mountain or sitting inside at dinner. You can find most of what I packed for the girls, and their child sizes suitcases HERE. For Xander (18 months) we opted for a full snow suit, duck boots and the cutest cozy pom beanie (seen below).
You can snag my pink parka puffer HERE. I also packed THIS puffer vest.
How Was the Road Trip?
I was nervous for this one, y’all. A huge snow storm had hit the week before our arrival, and we had heard that many were without power, and that a lot of the gas stations and stores were struggling. It ended up being fine. We drove my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and thankfully we’d just invested in new tires. Mark also made sure the had a first aid kit, tire chains, and extra food on hand, just in case.
We had zero trouble getting there. There were a few patches of traffic as vehicles were naturally moving slower up snowy and narrow roads, but things were basically clear.
MOM HACK: I love to pack travel trays for my kiddos on road trips. I fill them with dot markers, marker books, coloring books, crayons, and a book or two (check out our favorites here). I love for them to have plenty of options to keep them entertained. I know it isn’t always feasible, but I like to surprise them with brand new coloring supplies–keeps their attention longer. The travel tray also has a strap that goes over the front seat headrest, and a clean window if you’d like to slide your child’s tablet inside.
We also love to jam out as a family to the Hamilton Musical Soundtrack.
Where Did We Stay?
We stayed at the Marriott Grand Residence located at The Shops at Heavenly Village and I cannot recommend this resort enough. I know that there are plenty of other lodging options, like private chalets and AIRBNB rentals in Lake Tahoe, but I loved this resort for it’s location. After arrival, we had no further need to drive–everything we wanted to do was right there in the heart of the village: beautiful restaurants (my favorite was Kalani’s), the gondola, Starbucks, tons of cute shops, an ice skating rink, and there was even a grocery store right across the street. I highly recommend this place if you have small children–you’ll thank me for the convenience alone.
I also really loved the rooms at the Grand Residence. We stayed in a one bedroom residence, and were impressed with how much space it afforded us. The kitchen itself was amazing and had everything we needed to make coffee and breakfast in the mornings. The kiddos slept out on the pull down bed, while Mark and I slept well in the bedroom that featured the most darling little fireplace and balcony facing the pool. We loved it.
What Did We Do?
DAY 1: On our first night (New Year’s Eve) we decided to try out the ice skating rink. You can check out more info on hours and pricing here. It was hilarious to see the girls slip and slide, and we ended up watching the annual fireworks show from the rink. It was AMAZING–I highly suggest a New Year’s trip, as we loved the celebratory vibe. We also walked around to get a feel of the village, and listened to live music, before retreating back to our room for bubbly, popcorn and a dance party.
DAY 2: We spent New Year’s Day doing all of the things. We bought lift tickets for the scenic gondola ride–which I highly recommend (pricing and hours can be found here. I’ve never seen so much wintery beauty in my entire life. I mean I was truly blown away by the beauty of this place, and the views of Lake Tahoe from the top of this mountain. It took my breath away.
Even if you aren’t a skier, there’s a viewing platform about midway up the mountain that you can get off at to take in the views. We decided to go all of the way up–as we thought we’d be able to do some tubing. Because of the recent storms, tubing was temporarily closed–so we took in the views and headed back down for coffee, and a very highly anticipated trampoline jumper ride.
We had lunch at Stateline Brewery, and then took the short walk to Tahoe Snowmobiles for snow tubing! Listen, I had not done this since I was a teen and I know for sure that I had just as much fun as the kids did. You can find out more details on tubing here, but I just want to make sure I mention that you need to schedule a reservation before you go. Even with our reservation, there was a bit of wait to pick up our tube and get started. This wasn’t a problem, as it gave us ample time to build a pretty dope snowman. They also have a snowmobile rentals, but if I’m being honest, it’s on a set course and looked pretty lame haha. Snow tubing was a freaking blast, and we were all completely exhausted after tracking back and forth up the snowy hill. Note: This was totally doable, even with a tiny toddler in tow. We were so glad we brought Xander’s hiking carrier with us. It made getting around the village, gondola and mountain SO much easier. We keep it in our trunk and use it often. I highly recommend it if you’re wanting to get active as a family and have a younger toddler. Snag one here.
On the walk back to our resort, we stopped by Azul Latin Kitchen and picked up tacos and the BEST margaritas to take back with us to the hotel. We showered, got cozy, and settled in for a night of hot cocoa and Monopoly Junior–might I add that Zarie was the winner her very first time playing!!!!
Day 3: We had hopes of making a stop by the lakefront before heading home, but a slower start to the morning meant we had to get packed up and head back to Monterey. Needless to say, we left wanting to get back ASAP!
Thanks for reliving this fun weekend with me! If you have any further questions or need help with the details of your own trip, please leave a comment at the end of the post, as I am happy to help.
xoxo
Shakira
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