quick family vacay to big bear.

my oldest brother john and his family of five came to los angeles to visit for a week. just weeks prior, they had gone skiing in new hampshire with the kids, who had so much fun, they really wanted to go skiing again while in california, so he rented a cabin up in big bear over MLK weekend and we drove up to meet them. on our one full day there, we skiied snow summit, and it was our first time on the mountain this season for both james and me.

james all geared up.

it was monday, and it seemed like most ppl had left sunday night (when we were heading up, the opposing traffic looked horrendous), and the snow was great and the mountain wasn't too full of people either. the most awesome thing is that i made a huge breakthrough in my skiing! over the past 2-3 years, james and i have been trying hit the mountain when we can, but he snowboards and i ski, and i've honestly never taken a class, so i was really just trying to figure it out on my own. this time, going with my brother, who is a really good skiier, i was able to finally ask a few questions and get some tips.. and it made a huge difference! i have way better control, which means way more confidence, and after warming up in the awesome family park area during the morning, i was cruising on all blues all afternoon! (up until this outing, i could really only do greens, and blues were rather intimidating and slow-going for me). my older niece and nephew though, they did ski school and it was too easy for them, and they were powering down blues like it was nobody's business - they're all of 7 and 5 and way better (and braver!) than i probably will ever be.

me, unclipped, taking a break.

since we rented a cabin, my parents brought food and my mom cooked the whole weekend. and we even did hot pot for dinner after the whole day of skiing - so delicious!

and of course, since it was after all a family vacation, we brought our coffee survival kit: a french press, coffee grinder and heart roasters coffee. so glad we did. there was also lots of booze for the same purpose.

leaving big bear.