Soon after, the kids did their first backcountry ski trips (first in the Sugarbowl backcountry for a test run, and then two more weekends down at Virginia Lakes for longer tours up Black Mountain). In February, we decided to take a break from the snow and flew down to Loreto, Baja for the first time to snorkel and whale watch during the kids' ski skate week. In April, we headed to the East coast for spring break stopping in New York City, Washington DC and Maryland (I had to work in NYC, and we got to see family in Maryland!). In May/June we visited friends in Sonoma, and got to sail with some other friends around San Francisco bay. When school ended at the end of June, I had a work trip planned to Zurich, so we did a family tour around Switzerland and Italy!

After my work trip in Switzerland, we took a week off and drove to the Italian Dolomites... with the goal to rock climb and indulge in the Italian food, of course :)

After we had done a short multipitch on Donner Summit to prepare, the kids did their first 'alpine' multipitch climb in the Dolomites! Taking the chairlift to get up high is one of the great delights of the European Mountains to make them more accessible. With 6-year olds in tow, it seemed to be the key to our success :) A 10-minute approach beats a multi-hour hiking slog to get to a climb! We went climbing for a few days and went on several amazing chairlift-assisted hikes, where of course each of them included awesome playgrounds, amazing food and relaxing apre' drinks.

Upon return from Europe, after 2 years avoiding exposure, we got Covid for the first time... Melissa and the kids recovered very quickly but it hit me for a few weeks and I had to cancel a climbing trip to Jackson Hole. Of course, there was still some good climbing to come the rest of the summer... we had a very fun weekend in Mammoth and Virginia Lakes with friends, where the hightlights included the kids jumping into the icy cold Moat Lake for the first time and leading their first sport climb at Silver Lake! After that, we did our annual camping trip to Redfish Lake, Idaho. The kids hit another milestone there by doing a 6-pitch 5.6 climb, which they rocked! It was the last climb that Melissa and I did when she was 6-months pregnant with the twins... I kept joking with them "You guys have done this already, don't you recognize the next pitch?". I am easily amused... A couple of weeks after returning from Idaho, we did our first backpacking trip as a family to Green Lake (right next to Virginia Lakes). It was a success, the kids carried their sleeping bags & clothes, and hopefully it was the first of many more! The fall season included a fair amount of skiing (we got early snow, in what became a historic winter), Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with baba & diado, the kids performing together in the Nutcracker ballet at Olympic Valley, and we finished off the year with a 2-week camping/climbing trip in Joshua Tree!

The best part was that on most of these trips, we shared them with friends and family - it was great to be able to go back to travel freely & being more social! :)

	Rubicon Peak backcountry tour	Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe	Tahoe Donner XC

	Baking with baba!		Checking the ice depth on Trumbull Lake

		Monterey Bay aquarium

	Coronado Island, Loreto Mexico

			Sunset over Olympic Valley

			New York City

		Backcountry skiing at Virginia Lakes

	Sailing with friends, San Francisco

	First backpacking trip

			Dressed up for The Nutcracker!

	Ready for rehearsal night :)		We ran into Bucky!!! So fun

	Zoe loves being a pilot		Nice views at Jumbo Rocks campground

	Beginner's Three, fun climb for the kids!!		Silly kiddos... Cirque of the Climbables