Sat night Monopoly....

Jasmine just makes herself at home in other people's cabins. Monique, owner of the lodge, invited Jasmine in for a game of Monopoly. I don't know how she does this. Actually, Jasmine followed this poor woman around every spare moment that we were at the cabins..."helping" her clean the pool, water the flowers, and who knows what else!

2nd try at the Stables...

Today is much better- weather-wise. Clear skies 73 degrees. Slightly more cloudy on the other side of the lake where the Baldwin Lake Stables are located. Jasmine actually rode the pony for about 15 minutes- much longer than she has ever previously ridden. She was in heaven:) Then about 45 minutes spent at the "petting zoo". Swimming the rest of the day. A large Hispanic family just "moved in". Very noisy, lots of people. Jasmine fits right in. She's out there socializing with them right now. Me- not so much. Learning about chickens. More lizards here than in Arizona!! They're *everywhere* Down on the farm: Pretty muddy from all the rain yesterday. Learning how to properly greet a horse. "Tiger". Waiting for the "guide". Driving home to yukky hot Arizona tomorrow!

Pouring down rain today:(

Very cloudy and sprinkling when we got up. We decided to do outdoor stuff anyway. First we tried renting a bike, but they didn't have any with the kids seat attached, so then we decided to go into "The Village" and do some shopping. We hit pretty much every store...and it was still sprinkling. Next, we decided to go to an indoor arcade with an "ice skating rink":)) The rink was about the size of our little living room with several adults flailing about, so we decided to just stick with the arcade games. Next stop... Baldwin Lake Stables for some horseback riding and petting zoo since it had stopped raining. Four miles later, it was pouring down harder than ever... so now we are back at our cabin:) We'll try the horses tomorrow.. our last day. \There are these really pretty flowers literally everywhere along the sides of the street, at our cabin... just everywhere. I don't know what they are, but they are very pretty. More ice cream - since it dried up for a few minutes. At the arcade while it was pouring outside!

Making faces again....

Here are a couple of our friends that we'll miss. Jude, Ben and their Uncle Jeff. The other boy (Cole) had the "teenage grumpies" and didn't want his picture taken. The boys just left with their parents:( Now we have a bunch of really noisy obnoxious people next to us.

Kid's Discovery Center...

So, we've pretty much done all the "touristy" things. Today we went to the Big Bear Discovery Center which is a "learning center" for kids. It has various "stations" to learn about pine cones, seashells, spiders, skeletons, etc. That didn't take very long. We've just been goofing around the rest of the day. There is a huge family here at the cabins. They have stayed here every single year for 45 years! Two older people who are the grandparents, their son who is my age who came with his daughter, their daughter who came with her husband and 3 boys. The boys are 15, 12, and 9 and have all befriended Jasmine, of course. They have been swimming together every day for hours. They are going home today:(... so it is going to be very quiet around here, and Jasmine will not have anyone to play with (temporarily). They are from Long Beach... and maybe we will see them next year.

Pirate Cruise....

We just got back from our 90 minute Pirate Ship Cruise on Big Bear Lake. I thought that the pirate ship had some type of significance, but nope, it didn't. The ship was built in someone's backyard, a father and son, and was completed in 1968. Somehow it made it to Big Bear Lake in 1997. We looked at all the multi- million dollar homes on the lake..Shirley McClaine...and I cannot remember all of the others. We saw the location of the first moonshine distillery in the 20's, as well as the accompanying brothel:) The kids all got big squirt guns to squirt at other boats and people passing by. They also got a prize from the treasure chest... sunglasses:) It was a really nice slightly overcast day with a perfect breeze. It would have been way too hot without the clouds. We also went past Mel Blank's house- the voice for Bugs Bunny, etc. His son Noel? Blank, did the voices for us thru a megaphone. He is the small dot guy in the white shirt in the distance.

Busy...and it's only 1pm....

First thing... every morning...we barely get dressed, "Hurry, hurry, ..we have to go feed the ducks". We really don't have anything to feed the ducks. Someone came by the dock on a canoe and gave us about a half a loaf of bread, which really isn't all that good for ducks, but that's what people feed them. Next, off to the Big Bear "Zoo". It's not really a zoo. It's a rehabilitation center for local animals. Only 2 acres in size, but next year they are moving to a 10 acre spot. Next we rented a Paddle Boat at the Pleasure Point Marina. Got a little low level cardio workout in for about 45 minutes. It was perfect because the sky is a little overcast and there is a cool breeze. We went out into the middle of the lake as far as we were allowed, then turned around and came back. I'm really glad the sun was not out, or I would have been cooked pedaling all that way:) Going on a pirate ship ride right now to learn about the history of Big Bear Lake.