Christmas Time at the Tenaya

For the past few years, we have gone with the other Ward family up to the Tenaya Lodge just outside of Yosemite to spend a night prior to Christmas. This year the Christophersons joined us as well. Being as there are 13 kids between the three families plus a couple of friends that always come along, we always leave our mark where ever we go.
The kids really look forward to the trip not only because they get to stay in a hotel, but because they get to play in the snow and go swimming at the same place. There wasn't much snow there when we arrived, but it started coming down the next day. As it turned out, there was just enough snow to go sledding and have a few snow ball fights. All the kids (with the exception of Jackson) went ice skating as well, their first time on a ice rink. Trevor and Logan roller blade periodically around the backyard, so they got around all right. Lizzie wasn't so into the ice skating thing, a couple of times around the rink and that was enough for her. Jennifer (aka Oksana Baiul) floated around the ice like graceful swan (or something like that). Logan was more into the crashing then the skating. It was fun to watch. After getting chilled on the rink we headed back into the lodge to hit the pool and spa. The boys discovered the steam room and camped out in there for as long as I would let them. Trevor said as he was basking with his towels draping his body, "Ahh, this is just what I needed". Cheesenut.
The part that Jennifer and I look forward to the most is just hanging out with the adults around the fireplace in the big lobby and talking and playing games. This year we had some added entertainment when the Tenaya was hosting the Chukchansi tribe and its casino employees for a christmas party. Hundreds of people were there all dressed up in formal attire. As the night wore on, it was apparent that some people had a little too much to drink. Two women got into a fight right next to the lobby where we were visiting and had to be handcuffed and taken off by the Fresno Sheriffs. Some visitors from Australia who also witnessed the event asked us if it was always like this around here. We commented that it wasn't, unfortunately, because that was exciting! I always did love a good cat fight.