Another driver

Brianna passed her driver's test and has her driving permit!  Now comes the fun part..... discovering which peddle is for the gas and which one is the brake and learning how to multi task by using the blinker at the same time you are getting ready to turn.  Stay off the sidewalks people! 

Family Vacation - day 3

Before we headed home, we found a way to fill one of Chelsea's goals for the summer - to ride horses.  So we packed up and checked out of our rental house and headed over to Baldwin stables.  Cord was to little to ride, but they had lots of other things for him to do while the older kids rode.  Cord got to ride a pony that was lead around the stable and go into the petting zoo to feed goats and then brush them.  Again, it was a perfect day for Cord and I to hang out while the older kids got to ride.  Dad rode down the mountain and we picked him up at the bottom.  Then we headed back to Vegas - and the heat.  Uggh.  We had a great weekend together just hanging out, playing board games, and bonding.  We are already planning on things we can do next time we go back to Big Bear Lake.  :)

Cord bonded with his pony whose name is Tiger. This pony is actually full grown. 

Just the right size for Cord. 

Mason was riding DeeDee.

Chelsea was riding Dakota.  She always seems to get the more "frisky" of the horses when the ride. 

Brianna was riding Chico.  Apparently she always gets the slow horse that wants to stop and eat all the time. 

Family vacation - day 2 - Big Bear

I've never been to Big Bear, but Mike has and thought it would be perfect for our family vacation.  We fell in love with the small town and the awesome weather there.  We also loved being all together in a house we rented. 
Mike started the morning with a bike ride around the lake. 

The boys and I went to check out the clubhouse, played a little pool, and played around on the tennis court.  Someone who saw us playing with the tennis balls offered to let us borrow some tennis rackets.

The first family activity was to head over to the Alpine Slides.  We got to ride the ski lift up to the top and ride plastic cars down the cement slide.  Cord laughed the whole way down.  We went down twice.

Beautiful view of Big Bear lake while we were waiting in line at the slide. 

After lunch we headed down to the lake and rented a couple of jet ski's.  Those who wanted an adventure went with dad, those who wanted a nice mellow ride went with me :).  Chelsea and Brianna also got to take turns driving.  We had the jet ski's for an hour which was perfect. 

On the way back to the house, we had to stop at a local bakery and check out the yummy treats there.

Brianna wanted to go check out the local shops so Mike and I wandered around with her while the other kids chilled at the house.  One of her favorite shops "The House of Jerky" and the old fashioned candy store.  I was able to get my Christmas ornament to remember this vacation. 

Mike and I waiting for Brianna in front of the candy store enjoying our unique cool root beers.

This place is so beautiful.  The combination of cool, mountain air and the lake was refreshing. 

We ended the day with a family pool tournament.  I totally expected to be out the first run, but made it all the way to the finals.  Dad took first, I was second, and Brianna took 3rd. 

We then had smores for dessert, cooked over the barbecue.  YUMMY!