Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Big Bear

Most Southern California residents have been to Big Bear at least once in the winter. We have been wanting to see what all the talk was about for a few years. This year we finally made a time work. We were able to get a military cabin for 2 nights. Since we were the first to check in we were able to pick our cabin. We chose the one closest to the big sledding hills and the one most secluded. The cabin had a cute living room with fireplace, a kitchen and a sitting area. Upstairs was a loft that had two beds for the girls. The master room was downstairs. Both nights we heard a lot of outdoor sounds that kept us awake. Since we have never lived in a single home, it was a near experience for us all.

We arrived at Big Bear at 8 am on Monday morning. We had breakfast at a popular restaurant. The girls shared a single pancake that was over 18 inches in diameter. It was quite the experience. Next we went tubing. I bundled the girls in multiple layers of pants, shirts, then all the snow gear including hats, gloves and scarves. It only took about 10 minutes to realize we over dressed. It was a warm day (about 50*) and sunny. Every time we went up the hill (on the moving sidewalk) we took another layer off. By lunchtime, Alexa was tubing in just a shirt, snow pants. boots and finger gloves. The girls enjoyed laying on their bellies to go down the hills. We called it superman pose. It was such a wonderful morning. For dinner we found a local restaurant. The food was amazing. We don't get home cooking like that often.  That evening we went back to the cabin, started a fire and played games as a family.

On Tuesday morning we had breakfast at a restaurant in the village. We then walked around and saw the small shops. After visiting the village we went sledding in our new backyard. Addy struggled to get up the hills over and over again. Alexa was very determined to make it up and sled down on her own. She was very brave. Addy preferred the long and slower routes. After sledding we went on alpine sleds. The was a first Justin and the girls. I was very excited to introduce them to something that I experienced as a child. We took up the ski lift and then road down on the sled. We let the girls tell us how fast they wanted to go. Both girls kept telling us to go faster. It was a lot of fun. Tuesday evening we had dinner with our neighbors. Alexa and Addy were both very excited to see Rose and Charlie. After dinner they came back to our cabin to play games, make brownies and run off some energy.

Wednesday was our last day at Big Bear. Justin made us breakfast at the cabin before we went sledding. Since it was so warm for the few days prior, the hills became very icy. Alexa took a hard fall down a hill she did the day prior with no trouble. So we moved to even small hills and still went very fast. The last thing we had planed for the trip was to go tubing again. We had another good time on the hills. After lunch we decided to head home. We will definitely be back if we get the chance.