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To understand what we’re trying to accomplish here, please refer back to this blog.
November of 2020, the Oakman family, minus Buster, embarked on a beautiful outing to Big Bear California. One of Madison's life long goals is to visit snow (she's 5). She's setting the bar high, and I'm almost positive this infatuation of snow has nothing to do with the movie Frozen, thank you Disney. As Madison wouldn't shut up about, ahem, I mean, as Madison politely asked, if we could go, Katie and I both decided that a little day get away would be nice for the family. As you can tell, we didn't involve the 3 year old, she doesn't get a vote (sit tight kid, when Maddie's in college it'll all be about you).
This trip was all about keeping it simple, remember the phrase "less is more?" We abided by those rules and had a wonderful time. We departed around 10 AM and arrived just in time for lunch. By keeping it simple, we packed lunches. We wanted to avoid all dining establishments; first, to save money and 2nd, have you ever eaten out with a 3 and 5 year old? It's about as much fun as watching Frozen 91 times in a year. The kiddos won't eat their $11 grilled cheese or $14 chicken tenders, you, the father will eat their half eaten food and get extra fat. Be smart people, pack a lunch and enjoy a restaurant when they're 33. For our lunch, we lucked out and found an iconic picnic spot buried in the mountains overlooking the lake.
For the day's activity, we decided to search for a snowy hill to go sledding. Keeping to the plan, we wanted to avoid the established sledding organizations. The parking usually cost $20 followed by a $25 per person entrance fee, definitely not a rip off. With our borrowed sleds (thank you friends) we were able to find a vacant hill to enjoy the snow and sledding. Okay, I lied, it was a snow embankment in an open field, but nevertheless, the kiddos went sledding, we had a snowball fight and asked the kids if they wanted to build a snowman named Olaf...see what I did there?
Vaya Con Dios
