Hellobee

San Diego’s winters are typically warm compared to the rest of the US, so if we want to experience snow and a real winter we go to the mountains. Last year around this time we went to Big Bear for the Veteran’s holiday weekend. We rented a house for 5 days through Airbnb and invited two more families to join us for the trip.

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Located in the San Bernardino Mountains, Big Bear is approximately a 3-hour drive from San Diego (and 100 miles from Los Angeles), so it was perfect for a nap time drive. This wasn’t our first time going to Big Bear; in fact, the last time Mr. Cheesecake and I went to Big Bear I was pregnant with StarCakes and there was freshly fallen snow in the mountains. This time around, we had to account for an almost potty-trained toddler and a baby that hated her car seat.

StarCakes was pretty much day potty trained by this time, which meant that we had make stops along the way whenever he needed to use the restroom. GemCakes on the other hand, could only nap in her car seat when the van was moving. This made for an interesting arrangement when we had to make pit stops. Mr. Cheesecake would pull into the parking lot of a restaurant while I drove the van around so GemCakes could still nap. When StarCakes was done, I would go back to being a passenger and Mr. Cheesecake would continue driving.

We did, however, have to make sure that StarCakes stopped drinking liquids before we began our drive up the mountain. This was because there would be no rest stops for the next hour. If StarCakes needed to go to the restroom, he had to do it on a two-lane road on the side of a mountain. Plus it would be difficult to keep the van moving so GemCakes could nap. Luckily, he didn’t need to go until we reached Big Bear. GemCakes, on the other hand, woke up during the mountain drive and fussed and cried because she wanted to get out of her car seat. We tried to appease her with toys and food, but she was inconsolable. The drive felt long with a crying baby, but eventually we made it to the house, let the kids run around and unloaded everything inside.

What We Packed & Living Arrangements

Since we were going to stay at a house we didn’t pack very much beyond clothes. We also went grocery shopping once we arrived in Big Bear. While it wasn’t too cold and the snow was already melting, the temperature still dropped to 40 degrees at night so we used the heater a lot during our stay. I made sure to pack lots of layering clothes, extra socks, snow boots, winter jackets, baby and toddler snow suits, gloves, scarves and hats. We were lucky that the house had a shed with adult snow suits so my partner and I wore those when we went sledding.

GemCakes is warm and toasty in her baby suit.

The house had a pull out bed that StarCakes slept on, while GemCakes slept in the pack-n-play that was provided. I brought a bedsheet and blankets from home to make it feel familiar to her. Each family had their own room and there was enough space for everyone in the common area. There was even a game room with a pool table that turned into an air hockey table and a basketball hoop. We took turns cooking meals; if one family did breakfast, the second did lunch and the third did dinner. The families that didn’t cook would help with meal clean-up.

What We Did

We brought minimal toys since we anticipated that the kids would spend most of their time outdoors or playing with each other. We did bring our Magic Mic in case the kids and adults wanted to show-off their singing skills. Big Bear Lake was barely a block away from our house so we walked there daily with the kids. Mr. Cheesecake and StarCakes fed the ducks, went fishing and ran around the park with the other kids. GemCakes wasn’t walking yet so I wore her around the lake while she napped. 

One night we ventured into the cold and went to the Big Bear Bowling Barn. We got bumpers for the little ones and StarCakes actually had a lot of fun pushing the ball down the toddler ramp. He even got a strike a couple of times! We snacked on french fries, pizza and nachos and had a great time.

Because this was non-peak season for tourists, there weren’t many people roaming the streets of The Village in Big Bear during the day. This is the downtown area of Big Bear where you can find lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and recreation activity stores. We stopped by a candy shop for the kids to get their daily dose of sugar and at a coffee shop for the parents to get caffeinated.

About 10 minutes away from our house was a tubing and sledding area called the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. The kids spent most of the morning tubing down the man-made snow on the hills since the snow had already melted. What’s great about the tubing hill is that there is a moving walkway to bring riders to the top of the hill – no trekking up from the bottom! There is also an area where we could ride a sled down a quarter-mile track. StarCakes was able to go on both, as long as he was accompanied by an adult. GemCakes was still too little so she just hung out with me inside the cafe area.

StarCakes is ready to go tubing down the hill with Mr. Cheesecake.

Overall, it was great sharing the house with two other families, especially since they also had kids similar in age to ours. There wasn’t any pressure to go out and do something everyday. We would gladly do this again and are aiming to make another trip to Big Bear in the next year. Hopefully next time we visit there will be more snow and the kids will be old enough to go boating in the lake!