Pause

I am going to pause my attempt to play catch-up in order to blog about the wonderful Memorial Day weekend we just had up in Big Bear. We rarely, if ever go out of town on holiday weekends but when Cruz and Tara mentioned another race up in the mountains where we had done the Turkey Trot last Thanksgiving, it turned into a long weekend adventure including the Miller family as well. The best part was that we decided to all share one big cabin, which meant 6 adults, 4 kids and 6 dogs (3 of whom are still very much puppies). We weren't sure how it was going to work and yes at times it was chaotic to say the least but more importantly, it was SO MUCH FUN!

On our way Friday night:



All six dogs playing:



Jadyn balancing on the two ladders from the "bunk bed" room:



Cruz and Tara have always shared their love of dogs with us but it has never worked out that we had similarly aged dogs at the same time. When their danes were puppies, our last two dogs were seniors and not interested in playing. When we first got Kuma, their danes were older and didn't want much to do with him. So, it's pretty cool that now we both have puppies at the same time. And despite being only half the size of their danes, Bailey held her own and played with both Gabby and Duke all weekend:



Saturday we strolled Big Bear village and took care of packet pickup for the race. We even managed to have lunch on the patio of a restaurant with ALL six dogs. After that we went for a hike along the Woodland trail:



And skipped rocks by the lake. I had to take a picture of all four kids as I had taken a VERY similar picture when we visited Big Bear the previous year:



Sunday was the Memorial 5K. While we originally thought the race would be the same course we completed for the Turkey Trot, relatively flat given that we were up in the mountains, this course seemed like it was ALL uphill. The announcer even declared it the most challenging 5K in the country. Jake and Kuma ran with me, along with the Millers and Tara. Cruz ran the half marathon.



Challenging it was, but we did it!:



And after showers, lunch and a nap, we went back out to take the kids and dogs on the Alpine Pedal path, a gorgeous asphalt trail along the lake. The kids decided to all ride their scooters:





Jadyn has been asking to take a new family photo to include Bailey and I thought the lake would be the perfect back drop to give it a try BUT I never thought we would get such a decent picture. I mean really? Both dogs are actually looking at the camera! It really sums up how relaxing and fun this weekend getaway was for all of us.



Sunday night we all went out to dinner at a nice local Mexican restaurant. After that, the Millers bid farewell and the rest of our time was spent relaxing and getting ready to head home. But not without lots of talk about all getting together for another trip real soon.

While we didn't attend any ceremonies this year, we still took pause to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom. Without them, we may not have been able to enjoy such a peaceful weekend getaway.