A gorgeous ski break

Skiing is never cheap, but we finally hit upon a stretch of days where the weather cooperated! The kids are out of school this week for "ski week", so we headed to Heavenly (Lake Tahoe) on Sunday, and stayed through Thursday. The weather was fantastic, and we skied Monday-Wednesday.

The kids LOVE skiing, and are trying to convince us to do another day before the season ends. We'll see if we can make it happen. On a clear day, you can see Lake Tahoe from the runs. It's perfection. Photo below that M took while skiing. I'm not nearly good enough to manage the camera on the slopes.

I skied much harder than normal, mostly because the kids wanted to be on the part of the resort that didn't have any beginner runs. So, it was all intermediate/advanced for me. I'm a barely intermediate skier, so I'm exhausted! The boys legs never seem to get tired. :-)

Although skiing is super expensive, we did have a few frugal wins:

• We received 1/2 off our first night's stay, as the refrigerator wasn't working. We had the use of a refrigerator in another room, which was pretty inconvenient, but saved $150. 
• I packed lunches for the 2nd & 3rd day. We didn't pack the first day, and regretted it with the crazy high food costs in the lodge. I had a smushed PB&J two days in a row, but way cheaper & all you really need is fuel to keep you going.
• We bought our ski passes online ahead of time, to save a bit
• We considered putting the kids in sports camp this week, vs taking the time off. Sports camp for the two of them would have been about $800. Our trip cost more than that, but we used vacation time vs needing a camp.
• I picked up snacks at Rite Aid using rewards, for no out of pocket cost.
• I brought a bottle of wine with us, which we enjoyed after we got back to the room. 
• We ate lunch at Costco on our way home today, while we filled up on gas. 

Any frugal wins for you? Do you ski? I love it, & wish it wasn't so expensive & wasn't such a long drive. Otherwise, we'd go much more often.