Big Bear

After we left Disneyland on Sunday we hit the road and journeyed forth to Big Bear once more. The last time we went we had a fantastic time--outside, of course, of the sharing a one-room cabin with a toddler who wanted to party all day and all night, sleep be damned. This time we got a cabin with a separate bedroom so that we could put Ben to bed at a reasonable hour and not have to huddle behind the kitchenette counter by the bathroom and read by the light of our iPods. And it WORKED.

We drove during Ben's nap and got up in time to hang around the cabin for a bit then grab a bite to eat. We went to a little Mexican joint that served us fairly well before. The food: okay. The service: slightly below okay. The aftermath: well, that's too much information. Afterward we went for a walk to the lake, played at a park during sunset...dreamy.

Ben went right to bed without a fight at 8:00 (!!!!), which enabled Matthew and I to cuddle up on the super comfy fold-out in the living room and watch Arrested Development. Ben slept in until a luxurious 5:45 (have I mentioned is proclivity for waking up at ungodly hours while on vacation?). No matter--Big Bear means the Grizzly Manor Cafe, the best breakfast place this side of the Mississippi. Gigantic pancakes and biscuits absolutely smothered in gravy...hmmmm....now I'm hungry for food I'm only allowed to have on vacation...

After our hearty breakfast we visited with our friends that rent us the cabins (which, by the way, are awesome, and you should go there) then hit the Big Bear Zoo. It's one of those gems that you really only need to hit once. They did have bears, which for some reason are my favorite. They also had a house cat that Ben chased down and snuggled with. And while we were going from exhibit to exhibit, pinching our noses to stop from gagging at the smell of animal pee (to be fair, it is a zoo), we almost stepped on a teeny tiny newborn bird that had fallen from the tree above. Sad.

After the zoo we went to Swim Beach to, well, swim. I kid you not, Ben has never had so much fun in water. We live at the ocean and whatnot, but it's hard to swim in the riptides. We used to live in an apartment complex with a pool, but we moved shortly after Ben turned two, and he hasn't been in a pool since. So swimming in the lake was a huge treat. I even stripped down to my swimming suit and swam. I should get some kind of prize for Most Growth. No joke.

After swim time it was nap time (yes!). Then we went to have a barbecue with our friends, the Pools. (but not before Ben drowned himself in the sprinklers and we had to go back in and change.) We like the Pools a lot. Sadly, both their kiddos were newly sick, so we didn't get to play with them much. But Ben had the time of his life with their car. We had to drag him kicking and screaming off it to eat. It probably also didn't help that we didn't have dinner until roughly thirty minutes past his bedtime. Parent fail. Whatever, it was nice to spend time with friends we don't see very often.

The next morning we took it slow. We ate, we played, we walked, we meandered. Then we lunched and headed home. Ben was so tired from all the waking up early and playing hard he fell asleep on the table at lunch.

(if you're wondering why Ben has a pink, splotchy face, it's because he planted his face, on purpose, on the fireplace early in the trip and ended up with a rapidly spreading rash. upon emailing his doctor from the cabin when I realized it was actually spreading, she said it was contract dermatitis. Go Ben.)

Sweet vacation, how I wish thee lasted longer.