Up the mountain for a day

A friend of mine is spending the summer in Big Bear. This is probably one of Erik's favorite friends and he has known her since he was 4 months old. These friends have been up and down the mountain for ages but we have never really been able to schedule a visit. Randomly I was talking to this friend on the phone two weeks ago and it dawned on me, I could totally plan a day trip to Big Bear to visit her with the boys this summer. The only day that worked for our schedules this entire summer was today so off we went.

I mentioned this trip to my mom on 4th of July and she asked me to take the back route and stop and have breakfast with her which is exactly what we did. It was nice to have a meal with my mom since it is so infrequent, and it was too short and not enough bonding time. Unfortunately we had places to be and Erik was too impatient to see his friend for us to dally too lunch.

Originally we planned on meeting at a beach on the lake, but as I was driving up the mountain it was raining so I asked if we could just meet at her house instead. So there we went and it was adorable. As soon as we got there Audrey, Erik's friend, gave him the grand tour of the cabin telling him about every room. What a great little hostess.

Then we quickly realized if we didn't leave soon the boys would destroy her house, my boys are high energy and have listening problems especially when they don't nap so we struggled today. Our destination was to a park near the lake at the Village. Basically the perfect place to spend our afternoon. The kids played in the park for about 3 minutes before wanting to dip their feet in the lake, which turned into unexpected swim time. It was cold, but somehow the kids still enjoyed themselves.

 

Watching Erik and his friend is very interesting. Audrey was happy to swim calmly, but Erik was obsessed with climbing and conquering the rocks. He has sudden confidence in his physical ability and needs to prove it constantly.

 

 

 

Elliot in turn just did one big lap from the water to the rocks to the water again. He was very tired and I am proud of him, he knew his limits that day, even while tired, and didn't push himself. Ask me about his running away issues I won't have the same answers.

 

Erik also got brave enough to go for a swim. His friend Audrey had a lot more practice using a life jacket  and more confidence in the water and she dragged him along. There was one rough moment when Audrey left him and his was in too deep, but he actually swam to a safe spot. I was so proud of him and knew his lessons were paying off when that happened. Other times he did a death grip on his friend's arm and in her life jacket she was calm enough to actually pull him in. I am impressed by her calmness in the water and patience with Erik in that situation.

And all the while, this insanely cute baby just hung out with us as cheerful as could be!

I have to confess the swimming, playground was the end of me. Elliot kept running off and Erik kept acting fearful, but was behaved for the most part. Getting the boys dressed was a juggling game of kids running away and complaining I never really want to repeat. I think skipping a nap to swim might not be worth it, EVER.

So from the stress of that I don't have pictures from the rest of our time. We did head to the village and had ice cream with the kids. Chocolate for Erik in a sprinkled cone, mini cone for Elliot and he didn't even finish the ice cream. (I trashed about 1/2 of Erik's ice cream and gave half the cone to Elliot). That was a great moment. Erik and his friend were just so happy and the moms got to talk and Elliot was behaved. If you want a moment of peace, I highly recommend ice cream cones.

Then we headed back to the park to burn off the ice cream and it was fun. Their were a couple of foreign kids there and all 5 of them did laps over and over and over again. It was a game of chase and they were having so much fun, then time to head home for dinner.

Of course the boys both passed out on the way there and I wanted a couple moments of peace so I let them sleep for 30 minutes while I talked with my friend. A big mistake as I will explain later. Then we had dinner and headed home soon afterwards.

I seriously expected these two to fall asleep as soon as we were on the road they were so tired, but the 5 pm, 30 minute nap was a very very very bad idea. Got home at 8:30 way past their bedtime and neither kid was asleep and I needed a drink from the drive. I write this to remind myself, wake the kids up if they fall asleep that late. A few extra kid free moments to talk are not worth it.

It was interesting to go up to Big Bear again as it had been almost 8 years since my last visit. I am such a mountain girl and the lake and the hills and trees appeal to me spiritually, its a feeling of renewal when I am in that environment. Although the day was stressful, I will never stop taking my children on outings and adventures because those experiences are too valuable to me and very important for me to share that love and interest with my children. My question is, my kids are a handful right now is it better to stay home and deal with it, or get out of the house and teach them new experiences while dealing with it. The choice is so individualist, but for me the choice is obvious.