The end of the fall semester at Thacher and Monica Ros brings a much needed rest for all the inhabitants of the Mahoney house.<!--more-->

Part of the reason there has not been a post in a while is that the end of each semester creates a kind of chaos that one needs to live through to fully understand. There really are no words that can explain what happens.

Now that period of time is behind them all. They are off to Lake Tahoe for a Christmas in the mountains with extended family: Maga, Aunt Anita and Uncle Greg, Auntie Sushma and Uncle Adam and for a couple of days the very ailing cousin Dylan and his friend Carlos whose car blew a water pump forcing them to hang out until Uncle Adam fixed the car.

The trip takes two days because asking a  five-year-old and an almost three-year-old to sit in a car for 12 hours is impossible. The first day of driving from <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=from%3A+Ojai,+CA+to%3A+Stockton,+CA&f=d&hl=en">Ojai to Stockton</a> took about 6 hours total. The next morning, the 23rd of December they family, along with Maga, drove from <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=from%3A+Stockton,+CA+to%3A+South+Lake+Tahoe,+CA&f=d&hl=en">Stockton to Lake Tahoe</a>. They arrived mid afternoon to the house they are staying at called the <a href="http://heavenlyskicabin.com/">Heavenly Ski Cabin</a>.

Aidan, of course, didn't dissapoint with his incessant pleas of "I gotta use the potty, I gotta use the potty!!!!!" forcing the familty to stop a couple of times until Aidan started using an empty Gatorade bottle. Declan on the other hand was happy as a clam watching movies along the ride. Once inside the house the tree went up along with the ornaments.

Now they await the arrival of Santa...