Big Bear & Weekend Visitor Surprises!

WE ARE BACK!! What a wonderful vacation and weekend we had! As you all know, we headed to Big Bear this past Monday with 4 other families making a grand total of 10 adults and 6 kids in a five bedroom, 3.5 bath, 3 story "chalet" (http://www.bigbearlp.com/details.php?RECORD_KEY%28Listings%29=idnum&idnum(Listings)=158). Some of you may read this and think, that is NOT a vacation but the Owston, Price, Henn, Wiese and Magin families all beg to differ! (Just a forewarning...there are going to be a lot of pictures posted in this entry so don't tell us we didn't warn you in advance that you may be here for awhile :)

The view from our deck
And now, to introduce the other superstars of the week that you will be reading all about in the Big Bear portion of this blog entry...

Cavanaugh Henn-son to Mike and Courtney AKA: ("Little Man" or"Man Sandwich")

Roxy (front) and Jazzy (back), daughters to Jason and April (AKA: "The Pickles or "The Girls")Mackenzie, daughter to Travis and Amy (AKA: "Mackie"," Mac Attack" or Macalicious")
Mia, daughter to Mike and Caryn (AKA: "Mommy", "Mommies" or "Princess" )
We started off for Big Bear Monday morning at 10am with a beautiful drive up Pearblossom Highway (the road we take to get to Vegas, baby!) then into the San Bernadino Mountains. It was about a 2 1/2 hour caravan with one pit stop at McDonald's. When we arrived at the house, we unloaded everything, unpacked and decided who was going to cook their dinner on which night. Each family brought enough fixings for one night's dinner for everyone which worked out beautifully!

The "AAA (triple A) Threat" plus one (Amy, April, Roxy and me)

We designated the family room as "the playpen". All of the kids toys were thrown in there with the kids and blocked off by the couch and a large coffee table :) They loved it and so did the Moms and Dads! Needless to say, Monday was our stay at home day to relax and get everyone into "vacation mode".

"The Playpen"

On Tuesday we got up and the guys fixed a huge breakfast for everyone. We pretty much did nothing until the late morning and finally decided that we would take a ride into town to check out what Big Bear has to offer....especially the local hangouts so we could have first hand knowledge on where we want to go for "Girls Night Out" and "Guys Night Out"). We found a place for a snack that deep fries everything; oreos, snickers, etc. plus everything else that is supposed to be deep fried like chicken strips, funnel cakes and other yummy treats AND they served beer!

Isabelle at the front door and playing her favorite "upside down-flip" game

Of course we headed back to the house for nap time and more "vacationing" chill time. The Henn's made dinner that night-carne asada, yum! We got the kids bathed and off to bed early as the adults enjoyed the rest of the evening talking outside under the stars and then watching, get this, Superbad. What a movie! LOL! This night was originally supposed to be the "Guys Night Out" but the guys weren't up to it so they postponed it till Thursday night. The girls however, were getting into gear for the following night, Wednesday night...that was our night out!

Mackie and Isabelle taking a bath-they took one every night together. Isabelle blew bubbles in the bath for the first time on Tuesday night and has been doing it ever since. This pic was from Wednesday night while the Moms were getting ready, Travis and Michael gave the girls a bath :)

It was decided on Tuesday night that we would get up the following morning and head out for a family hike by 10:15am sharp and if you can believe it, because we couldn't ourselves, we actually made it out the door by 10:08am! The trail head was about 4-5 miles away from the house and there was parking on the side of the road. With our Adventure Passes (a pass that you are required to have to park at all national parks) hung in our car windows and our hiking packs on, we were all set for our 2.4 mile hike on the Castle Rock Trail.

The Families ready to go

Although it was not a long hike, the elevation gain is 500 feet, making it a steep climb by any means...especially with a kid on your back, or your fronts in the Price's case.

The Price family Us :)Break time! Catching a breather. The Wiese FamilyThere were 2 viewpoints on our hike; the first one Michael and Mike Henn (with Cav on his back) bouldered up gave a breathtaking view of the lake and another that only Amy and Michael got up to with an even more breathtaking view of the lake and the adjoining mountains on the San Bernadino side. However, we all agreed that the best part of that hike was that is was downhill all the way home.

Mike and Cav at view point

The view from Michael and Mike Henn's look out pointWe made a pit stop back into the Village on the way home to get some ice cream...we all needed and we all deserved, ice cream :) While we were there, Mike Henn and Michael went to the tattoo shop, since they have a good reputation, to check out what they had to offer however, no one "got inked" on this trip.

Isabelle chowing down on Mom's ice cream! "Girls Night Out" was a blast! Michael dropped us off at Chad's Place (a local biker bar) around 8:30pm and we hung out there till they closed. Well unfortunately for us, closing time was at 11:30pm....it was after all Wednesday night. But for those 3 hours we had so much fun! We played darts (which I won every game) and pool while drinking pitchers of Miller Lite! Classy ladies we were that night! LOL! As 11:30 rolled around, none of us were ready to go home so we walked around the village in hope that we would find another place to hang out at or even get a bite to eat at but our luck stunk. We walked for miles, at least it seemed like we walked that much :), and nothing was open. Around midnight, we finally stopped looking and called the guys and had them come pick us up. But when we got home we stayed up once again, chatting, playing games and falling asleep to Team America (don't you love the flicks we chose to bring with us on this trip?). I will post a few pics of that night a little later...once I get them from Courtney :)

Isabelle, Mackie and Mia-Mia was forced into this one...she is not a big fan of bathing with others. We are just glad we got this shot of them :)

Thursday was another stay at home and chill day for all of us but Michael got cabin fever and wanted to get out to take a stroll around the lake. So Courtney, Cav and the three of us got into the car and set off. After driving all around the lake and finding nothing but boat docks/landings, huge rocks and no beach, we stopped at a little spot where people were fishing and got out to check out the water. Isabelle had started her one and only melt down of the trip about half way around the lake. So when we pulled off at a spot where there was a little sand and thought that would cheer her up. At first she cried and carried on (see first pic) but as soon as she saw the water, her day brightened up. Although it was freezing cold, we took off her sandals and let her stand in the water. While in the water a duck swam by which she would have loved to have dove in right after!

Little Miss CrybabySomeone sees a duck!


This night was "Guys Night Out". Their first thought was to head out right after dinner (this was our family's night, well Michael's night-hehe, to cook) and hit Happy Hour then come home however, they found a little place called Murphy's Pub that had karaoke going all night and needless to say, this is where we picked them up from hours later (pics of their night will be posted later too). Some stayed up till the wee hours of the morning, trying to soak in every last breath of vacation that they could while others (like me) hit the hay when the guys got back.

Courtney and Cavanaugh at the "beach" Friday morning we got an early start, packed up and headed out by 10am. Michael had closing weekend of Hurly Burly that weekend and a show that night so we wanted to be sure he could get a nap in before having to run off to the theater. Meanwhile, my folks were driving to the airport to pick up Dickie (Michael's Dad) to surprise him that night after the show ended. My Dad and I were texting each other trying to get all of the details worked out without Michael knowing.

Grandpa O (Dickie) and Isabelle hanging out at the house.
We had a babysitter all set up for Isabelle so when Michael left for the theatre, the parent folk came over, I picked up the babysitter and off we went out to grab a bite to eat and to the show. They had been hiding Dickie at their house since his flight came in that afternoon and we weren't going to chance anything ruining this surprise. Dickie was staying clear of the dressing rooms at the theatre and we made sure that anyone who saw me, didn't tell Michael I was there because he would wonder why and who is watching Izzy. After the show the cast gathers in the lobby to chat with everyone and let me tell you, the look on Michael's face when he saw his Dad was priceless! I wish I had a camera with me. Michael did a double take and said "what the heck are you doing here?". We surprised the heck out of him...it was great! We got home that night and sat outside not too late since Michael had to be up and back to the theatre at 9am for auditions for Of Mice and Men, the next main stage show at the theatre that he is directing.

Grandpa O playing with Isabelle and her Incrediblock Saturday brought another visitor to the Santa Clarita Valley...a client and friend from Toledo Ohio, Karl. After Dickie, Isabelle and I hung out all day, we got ready and went over to my folks house to join them and Karl for dinner. Karl had not seen Isabelle since last September at a conference we were at in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida so needless to say that when he saw her, he couldn't believe how big she had gotten.

Isabelle and Karl After dinner we took a walk down to the playground. Karl got some great shots of all the fun we had (thank you again for sharing them, Karl).

Poppy and Isabelle playing on the slide
Michael had closing night of his show that night so after dinner Dickie, Isabelle and I headed home and waited for him to get home. When Michael got home, he and Dickie went out to Mulligans for the cast party. They had a great time! Sunday morning my Dad came by and picked up Dickie since both he and Karl were on the same flight home. We were so glad that not only did Michael get to see his Dad but that Dickie was able to see Isabelle. We did miss Marebear though (aka: Grandma O).

Dickie and Sam chilling on the bench at the playground in my folks community. Sunday morning, Isabelle had just gotten up in time to see Dickie off however, there is no rest for the weary. Micheal was off for the second round of auditions for Of Mice and Men and Isabelle and I were up getting ready to head over to Nana's house to see yet more visitors in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Isabelle playing Cinderella with ZoeMy cousin Mark and his two girls, Zoe and Sadie, were in from Wisconsin from being up north in Placerville this past week visiting with my Uncle Steve (Mark's Dad) and Aunt Vicki. Amy, their Mom/Mark's wife, had to take an early flight back to Wisconsin out of LAX on Saturday morning so Mark and the girls decided to stay at Nana's house until their flight on Monday morning.

Isabelle wanting a piece of Sadie's roll....she did say please though and Sadie shared :)This gave Isabelle a chance to meet the girls and the girls a chance to meet Isabelle. We were over at Nana's for a few hours catching up on things with Mark and watching the three girls play. Surprisingly enough, despite the age difference, they got along really well. Zoe was very careful with thier things and making sure Isabelle didn't get a hold of anything too small. And Isabelle shared the few toys we brought her as well.

Mark and Isabelle playing naptime Mark wanted to take the girls to Marie Callendars for a piece of pie (that he so fondly remembers when he lived in California) so since I had to get Isabelle down for a nap and our place is on the way there, they followed us home. They were here for about 20 minutes and then, with it being almost 2 hours past her naptime, Isabelle started loosing her charm sort of speak. Again, it was a short visit but we are glad everyone got to see everyone, especially since the girls had never met Isabelle and vice versa. Sunday night I think we were all in bed by 9pm. What a busy but fun week we had but loaded with lots of wonderful memories!