Raleigh had a snow day, and we got jealous.

The past two days, I have seen countless "snow day" pictures of my friends back in NC.  Well, we had a snow day too…..here's the skinny on our BIG BEAR SKI TRIP!!
We arrived around 12, got a drink and watched skiers and snowboarders for a while and then checked into the hotel.  We left the hotel to try to find a place to sled, but to no avail.  They were to close in half an hour and we would be charged full admission.  Then we stopped at a big "Fun plex" that promised iceskating, laser tag, etc.  It was such a gimmick.  The "ice" was just a 20X20 foot fenced in plastic area you could take your socks off and slide around.  But of course once we got George in there, he wanted to "ride" every single video game.  I let him sit on a couple of the video game motorcycle seats and then dragged him out of there.  Poor kid, parents promised skiing, and all he got to do was watch, then we promised a sled ride and that didn't happen, then promised iceskating and of course we did not get to do that either.  We finally gave up and went back to hotel and played on playground there.  He was just as happy to do that and we were glad we didn't pay the 75$ it would have cost to sled for 30 minutes.  For dinner we found a really cute pizza place in Big Bear Village.  George and I split a pizza and Georgie got mozzarella sticks.  That was a blast from the past. One bite and I was back at the Applebee's in Rocky Mount after a softball game.  Yes, I had a mozzarella stix phase, who didn't?!   Food brings back the best memories!!  Right behind the pizza place was heaven…err, I mean, an icecream/ fudge/ caramel covered apple place.  We all got a special treat.  George got a dark chocolate caramel apple, I got a 1/4 pound of fudge (which I proudly finished the next day) and little George got a bubble gum ice cream cone with sprinkles.  Another one of my stages- bubblegum ice cream- one taste and I was 5 again.   I wish I would have taken a picture because it was the quintessential child's cone.  So perfect and blue and bubblegumm-y.  We found an outdoor gas fire place and enjoyed our treats.  Our day did not start very well, but it sure ended on a high note!   We made a fire that night in our little cabin.  Our plan was to watch a movie by firelight on the portable DVD player.  We planned to watch Peter Pan all together in the bed.  Well, somehow the DVD player was broken.  We decided the iPad would have to suffice.  We couldn't get the WIFI password to work.  This was God's way of helping us put the screens down and enjoy the fire a little.  We made a pallet out of pillows in front of the fire and took turns telling made up stories to each other.  A night none of us will forget. Partly because of the beauty of the fire and the togetherness we all felt but partly because George and I got possibly the WORST night's sleep either of us had ever had that night.  We think we might have given ourselves a little bit of Carbon Monoxide poisoning from the fire.  So I opened windows but that made us cold.  Then Georgie had a nightmare and I put him in bed with us.  He gets his sleep habits from his Aunt Lauren and cousin Hannah because he slept horizontally the whole night.  Tossed and turned and wiggled and kicked.  Big George came down with a stomach bug at some point in the night and had terrible nausea and tummy aches.  Its almost funny now that I am removed from it a few days but boy was it awful then.  We woke up early despite having little sleep and got dressed for the slopes.  A great first trip for little George.  We spent most of our time on the bunny slope with Georgie but each went down a few runs by ourselves.  I have forgotten how much I adore a snowboard.  I had the best time.   We both took it easy because I - for one- did not want to discover the inside of the ER in Big Bear.

We had snacks for lunch and then called it a day around 1pm.  We drove down the mountain and got home by 3:30.  I unpacked while Georgie  played in his room and big George went to bed.  By this time he was really sick.  I made dinner for little George and had him in bed by 6pm.  My little man was worn out from the trip.  I think we all were!