Half-way mark

We are halfway through our Big Bear Spring Break. We have had a great time just relaxing and enjoying ourselves. I have a ton of pictures to get from my other cameras, and I'm going to have to fill in a story about Mr. Smooth Operator and the girls.

So, when we first arrived to the cabins and was unloading, a young boy approached the girls, leaned up against the bed of the truck, and said, "Soooo, ladies. Do you need a hand?"  The girls apparently replied, "Nope, we've got it" and just went about their business, but Ken was LOSING...HIS....MIND that a young boy would approach HIS daughters and talk like this.  I laughed myself silly because the girls didn't buy into it.

Then, today, the same young man saw me in the lodge, approached me and started asking if we skiied.  I explained that we did not ski, but we were here on a short holiday to enjoy the time off from school.  He chatted with me for a while, and then offered me a mint.  I declined his offer and as I was leaving the lodge, I made sure he understood that the girls' dad and I were very protective of the girls.  He answered, "Oh, with beautiful daughters like yours, you would HAVE to be protective!"  Holy shit!!!  I laughed so hard at his statement.  That kid was very smooth.

This was the view out the kitchen window while I made coffee in the morning. Wow! Talk about beautiful!

I have a picture just like this one from last year when the girls were in the loft. Such a difference from last year.

Here is Jordan with the special hat that she chose for Afternoon Tea.  

This was, by far, the highlight of the week in Big Bear. I had to tell Jordan to go back into the Cabin for a major time-out after I caught her kicking Mr. Smooth Operator because she was angry with him. While she was sitting on the bed in the loft, she apparently wrote this letter. Mandy was the one who snitched on her, and after sternly disciplining her for writing such a "nasty" letter about me, I started laughing hysterically at what she wrote. HA!

Mandy loved wearing her new beanie to the mountains.  The weather was cold in the morning and at night despite warming up to the 60s during the day.

Yesterday, we enjoyed some shopping and lunch in the Village. Ken and I had some stomach troubles which way-layed our plans, but we enjoyed reading and watching the first two Star Wars movies. Suddenly, the Star Wars stuff at Disneyland is making sense to them. In fact, Jordan was yelling, "hit him in the shoulder and DUCK!" Hahahaha.

Today, the girls and I went to Afternoon Tea. We love the Millcreek Manor Tea House, and they are always great to us. The "live tea party" is one thing the girls want us to keep doing over and over again. We are able to pick out the tea leaves we want, and this trip was Chamomile with fruit and Chocolate & Mint. Mandy was so glad they gave us two tea pots this time which allowed her to have the chocolate tea. The girls loved it.


Our tea time food was the egg salad sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, cucumber and ham on crackers, quiche, and of course, the gingerbread hearts and scones with sweet cream & orange jam. Since I'm not a fan of gingerbread, I took mine back to the cabin for Ken to have.


Taylor actually saw the bill, and she couldn't believe that I paid $20 per person for us to have tea, but it is so great to watch the girls use the excellent manners that I have taught, and is there anything better for little girls than a real-life tea party??


Our afternoon was spent on a walk of almost two miles. The girls and I had trouble with the incline and the ice, but it was fun.


Ken BBQd for supper this evening and we were able to enjoy a cigar before the night cold set in.