Big Bear

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Lake, village, cabins, horses, skiing. That’s what I think of when I think of Big Bear. Horseback riding on the Pacific Crest Trail, kayaking on the lake, wine tasting followed by karaoke in the village, or skiing in the winter.

My brother and sister in law have a cabin not far from all of the fun.

(Tomahawk Cabin is available for your perfect stay, if you want more info send me a message)

Once we arrived the girls took off running to the dogs and the hammock.

We had a few hours before our trail ride at Baldwin Lake Stables. The two of us have ridden with them plenty of times to know that this was a great place for the girls first trail ride.

However If I could change anything about that ride it would be all of the things. Certain things were a little messy and I don’t think the guides actually knew the horses well enough to determine which ones should have been behind each other and vice versa, especially given the young and novice riders. Yes, I am totally judging the guides on not knowing more than me, but it was fine. No one died.

All of the fears that the girls had at the start were non existent by the time we made our way back to the stables. It wasn’t two minutes in the car when they asked when we could go riding again, mom winning.

We spent the evening having the best family time.

The next morning was a lake day. Perfect weather and a few kayaks later we started the day.

The water was a little murky and I wouldn’t suggest ingesting it. We had a great time.

After a couple of hours on the lake we made our way back to the cabin just in time for the Italy/Swiss match. …..priorities.

After some soccer we headed to the village for doggie treats, ice cream, a little wine and people food.

We had the best weekend away!

Sunday Dreaming

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We spent the morning dreaming about running down to Cabo for a couple of nights, spending the days on Medano beach eating fresh fish and sipping margaritas. Real life has us doing laundry, cleaning fish tanks and getting groceries, good times.

It’s been a busy summer so far. My classroom had an art show focusing on Henri Matisse’s Scissor art.

We went to the fair and luckily didn’t leave with fish this time. The two goldfish from last years fair are still living their best life, sigh.

The girls dragged us on the Zipper which I had horrible memories from childhood (thanks Jess) and I am happy to report that it’s not scary anymore.
That evening Old Dominion was playing and we were lucky enough to sneak up on their rehearsal.

While the girls were riding rides, we took advantage of some wine tasting and a funnel cake hot dog.

The only thing that would’ve made it better was if it were beef and not chicken.

We did one last ride before calling it, it was a school night.

Thirteen Candles and a Blank Space Cake

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How it started.

How it’s going.

I just can’t. My baby is thirteen years old.

She wanted a Taylor Swift birthday including the cake from her Blank Space video. I almost pulled it off, almost.

The cake.

In the video T Swift stabs her white heart cake and blood spatters out of it. I watched the video countless times and scoured the internet for an actual recipe that I thought would mimic the video. A lot of recipes called for a raspberry jam filling, some just suggested decorating the cake with the knife stabbed in it and blood pooling around. But the birthday girl wanted to actually stab the cake for the bloody result, so I set work.

I made a white cake from the box and layered it and crumb coated with cream cheese frosting.

Next I made some fake blood with corn syrup and red and a dash of blue food coloring. Then I poured it into a water balloon. Sounds easy, it wasn’t.

I cut a hole into the cake, big enough to fit the water balloon. This took trial and error and a little panic.

I pushed it down and covered the hole with some of the cake that I cut out and then covered it with frosting.

I breathed a sigh of relief, I had done the hard part and it didn’t look terrible.

I threw on another coat layer coat of frosting, I don’t know what the proper term is but I added more frosting and then got to piping.

I decided to add some friendship bracelet decor.

What I did next was my big mistake. I put it in the fridge and moved on with my life not thinking of the corn syrup that would thicken.

The build up was too much to handle.

You can see in the video how the corn sryup was too thick to splatter out like we were hoping.

Ugh, so close.

Such a let down.
So, if you make this cake I suggest not using a frosting that needs to be kept cold or make it and serve it right away.
Happy 13th birthday Kbear. I love you to the moon and back and around the entire universe.

Roasted Panzanella

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I had so much basil sitting on the counter. I always buy some not knowing if what I have at home is still good and then I get home to see that it is and now I have all this basil to deal with, first world problems. Not wanting to make pesto or have Caprese, again, I decided on a Panzanella salad. However this time I wanted to roast the veggies because, no Caprese again. This recipe is super easy and you’re left with very few dishes, always a win. But you guys, it’s soo good, I mean it’s basically a deconstructed pizza.

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. French or Italian bread, about 5 cups, cut into 1″ pieces

12 oz. cherry tomatoes

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 small red, yellow or orange bell pepper thinly sliced.

10 cloves of garlic, peeled.

1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. shaved parmesan

8 oz. small fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine or bocconcini)

2 c. packed baby arugula

1 c. packed fresh basil leaves 

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a rimmed and lined baking sheet, toss bread, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and garlic with 6 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds black pepper. Shake the sheet to arrange everything in an even layer.

Bake, shaking the sheet halfway through, until bread begins to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

Scatter the Parmesan over everything and continue to bake until tomatoes burst and bread is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.

Remove sheet from oven and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Add mozzarella, arugula, and basil to sheet pan. Drizzle with vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil, season with ½ teaspoon salt and toss to combine, scraping up any melted bits from the sheet. Serve hot.

*Recipe adapted from Delish.com

A Little Dirt on our Boots

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A day of non stop country music with a backdrop of palm trees swaying in harmony. That is a glimpse of what Boots in the Park at waterfront looks like. As soon as we heard Thomas Rhett was going to headline Boots in the Park this Spring we had tickets that afternoon. The festival lineup also featured his daddy, Rhett Atkins, Scotty McCreery, LOCASH and Lee Brice. VIP tickets are the only way to go for this festival because it’s a separate area with it’s own amenities, bathrooms and most importantly benches to sit on because age.

We arrived early planning out where we wanted to park ourselves for the day while we were in line.

We were one of the firsts in the VIP section.

If we had to complain about VIP it would be the lack of food and drink options, but we survived.

While we were sitting and chatting a lady came up to us and asked us if we wanted to meet Rhett Atkins.

We replied with an obvious “yes”.

Our phones weren’t allowed backstage… He seemed like a nice guy and we shared a few laughs.

Rhett was a good story teller and shared personal anecdotes between songs. He told us about the time Luke Bryan went to his hotel room in nothing but his boxers to tell him that he came up with sure fire hit song.

This is that song….

He’s written a lot of songs for other artists such as Blake Shelton and Jon Pardi. He told us backstage that his four year old son might join him on stage for a song. Sure enough at the end of his set, his son came out and sang the old classic “the Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the crowd went wild.

On our way to get a refill we ran into our radio morning show hosts. I listen to Jon and Tammy every morning so we had to get a picture.

As the sun started to go down, Lee Brice took the stage.

And he sang all of our favorites including Rumor.

Next up was not so little Scotty McCreery whom we saw at Boots in the Park in 2019 with Old Dominion. I was eager to hear his latest song, Cab in a Solo.

A drone show lit up the sky.

Finally, the man of the match. Thomas Rhett came out and started the show with one of my personal favorites, Vacation.

His entire performance was stellar. He played all of his hits and talked about how he re-did “Heads Carolina” with Cole Swindel, which I did not know.

It was such a good day with my love and we can’t wait to see Thomas Rhett again.

Costa Maya

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He did it, the captain managed to dock in Costa Maya! And so did the captain of another large vessel that was there with us.

The ocean was super choppy the wind was busy but we hit the ground running, okay walking.

The port was riddled with sale sharks and I had to literally drag Shawna out of the mouths of two of them. The port has a lot to see and do, you don’t actually have to leave the port at all but please don’t actually just stay at the port. They had a pool with lounge chairs, a full service restaurant, bar and all sorts of shops. We finally made it out to where the taxi’s were and hopped into one with another couple luckily heading to the same beach.

We landed at playa Mahahual, where we popped a squat in chairs that had the warm waves lapping at our feet.

The water was warm and so clear.

We walked the Malecon for a ways toward the ships general direction popping into stores now and again. Once we had all that we wanted we were back at the port.

One last passion fruit margarita before we embark.

{Nothing compares to the passion fruit margarita and the Devils bar in PV.}

We enjoyed a nice dinner in the main dining room that evening. This was our view.

After dessert we got ready for prom night!

We danced the night away sipping our own spiked drinks.

Meeting the crew was a great way to end the trip.

And just like that… we were at the airport waiting for our flight home. But not before crushing some catfish and beignets.

And that’s it. Our flight was nonstop, had zero hiccups and we were back at home and gasp, unpacking by 5:00 that same day. Norwegian Breakaway was a great ship, a billion times better than the Jewel. The entertainment we loved and obvi favored the four singers and their band at Syd’s Pour House. Food was fine, drinks were pretty good. Ports, we would rate a 4 out of 5 because I’ll always be bitter about Belize.

The End.

Change of Plans

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The alarm went off at 7:00 and we were excited to get on with our day in Belize. We had ferry tickets to take us from Harvest Caye to Placencia so we could wander the narrow streets of the village, nibble our way through chocolate shops, eat fresh fish and sip rum punch while we sunbathed. Buuuut none of that happened because as we were getting ready the captain announced that the weather was too windy to dock and although he made several attempts he was unsuccessful. Day ruined, we were so disappointed. Instead we got a day at sea and since we now had a full 24 hours to reach our next port the captain took it really slow so we weren’t blown off the pool deck.

We saved a couple of pool chairs, had breakfast, made reservations for the Ice Bar and spent the day poolside.

We ran into a lady we met the first day at sea and she told us that the last time she took this cruise they didn’t stop in Belize due to weather. So if anyone has actually gotten off a Norwegian ship in Belize please tell me about it, I have questions.

Once we washed all of the sun cream and remnants of a day at sea off of us we made our way to the Martini bar where we could order a real espresso martini, not that fake shit. The martini bar is a nice place, they have a bar inside and outside with lounge seating in both areas. It would be a nice place to sit and watch the sun set, probably. This is wear we waited for our Ice Bar reservations. Oh the overated Ice Bar, exactly as it sounds is a small bar made of ice. The staff rolled out a cart of hanging ponchos which they gave us complimentary along with some gloves. These two things did nothing, the ice bar was well, fucking freezing.

The bartender was offering couple of different cocktails, we all got one free drink which was basically 2 oz. of said cocktail in an ice glass. I couldn’t handle it, we drank it and split. No thank you, the Ice Bar is not for me, not enjoyable what so ever.

Once we had feeling back in our limbs we went to the sushi restaurant for dinner and it was absolutely delish, one of the best meals on the ship.

And then, “no and then” it was music time.

Followed by some french fries and bedtime. Tomorrow we were hopefully going to be in Costa Maya.

They Say it’s your Birthday

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We woke up eager to get off the ship. Shawna had some anxiety leading up to her big day so we wanted to make it the best birthday ever.

We still weren’t sure what or where we were going that day because being in a brand new place is just the best so it all sounds fun! I have family that has lived on the little island of Roatan for years but unfortunately they were on the mainland during our visit. However ,we were encouraged to try Roatan’s famous Monkey La La’s.

We wandered off the ship and through the port, taking it all in.

When what do you know….

We took this as a sign and stopped for a drink.

These were very good. I think they are made with Kahlua, Bailey’s, vodka, creme de coco and condensed milk blended with ice, or something like that. Filling and sneaky.

Still not exactly sure on our plans moving forward, we walked outside to see about a taxi. This is where they are all waiting, the taxi’s, tour companies aka everyone wanting your money. We ended up walking with a man who called himself Dusty, explaining to him that we wanted a place where we could park ourselves for the day, eat and swim and be picked up when we were done. We walked, he talked and before we knew it stumbled upon were lead to a little place on the water called Aqua Bar.

We popped in so we could figure out our life and Dusty sat down with us. I was wondering if he was going to be with us all day. He told us about growing up on this small island and that his moms house was right next door this this bar we were at, of course it was. When we decided that he most likely wasn’t going to have us murdered we set out on our day, but not before popping by his moms house. She was out front of her cute yellow house selling a few souvenirs, shirts, sarongs and some homemade elixers.

She told us about how she made these concoctions during the pandemic and everyone who drank them never caught Covid, or that is how the story went. We went ahead and bought a small bottle to try but decided to wait until we were back in the safety of our house to try that risky little game.

{So…. it’s gross, tastes like gasoline blended with a hamburger.}

Dusty had called us a ride to take us to Sundowners in the West End. A beach front bar with beautiful views of the bay with a super laid back vibe. We staked out a prime spot on the beach and then headed to the bar.

Margaritas and Mojitos were made while I met the local bar cat.

Then straight to the water.

We met a lot of expats who were there for repeat vacations or diving trips and they all had nothing but great things to say about this little island.

We swam and talked the day away.

Then just like all great days the time flew by and before we knew it we were piling into our ride and headed back to the ship.

We never once felt unsafe being in Roatan, just putting that out there.

When we reached our room, her birthday cake was waiting.

Congratulations on turning another year older, ha.

We cleaned ourselves up and made our way to dinner. We had a very good meal at Le Bistro the ships French restaurant.

That night was 90’s night which I was super excited about but the 80’s music turned out to be a little more more fun.

You know how the nights end by now.

Happy 50th birthday me fave!

The next day was supposed to be Belize……

Welcome to Cozumel

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The reason we chose this cruise was because of the itinerary. NOLA to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. I know right? NCL really does the have best deals, what they lack in certain areas they make up for on their price tag.

We woke up in Cozumel and as soon as we stepped off the ship we were in heaven. The weather was perfect, the water blue and before we knew it we were hopping in a taxi to go eat on the beach.

I read all about the all-inclusive beach clubs and we decided against it not wanting to commit to one place our first time there. However, looking back, I think that is a good way to go. There isn’t much to do in Cozumel unless you are doing a certain excursion or renting a car. So if eating, drinking and swimming is what you want to do, then head to Mr. Sancho’s or one of the other popular places.

We started at Albertos Beach bar and we had the place to ourselves. We ordered fresh caught seafood and margaritas and we were in a happy place.

When we were ready to mosey on, we had our waiter call us a taxi. We were on the southern part of the island so we decided to head closer to the port.

Money Bar beach club.

This place was very nice, reminiscent of Europe. Located on a reef, lounge chairs are above with stairs to take you down to the clear and warm water. And they made delicious espresso martinis.

When the time came to head back to the ship we made one last pit stop. Welcome to Miami is right across the street from the port. A small hole in the wall bar with a Captain Jack Sparrow character stumbling around out front which in itself was strange, but who am I to judge? We stopped in for one more drink.

Once we were back on the ship and clean, we went for dinner. Then, yep you guessed it, back to Syd’s Pour House. We took turns waiting in line and grabbing drinks at Malting’s whiskey bar which was located right outside Syd’s. After the show we wentto pool deck for an 80’s party.

This pool deck was supposed to be adults only but that rule was lenient. I also tend think all young people are 14 years old when they are in fact, legal drinking age and that saddens me. There were a lot of those around this cruise, dancing to music that came out before they were born, sigh.

We ended each night at O’sheehan’s bar and grill. A pub that’s open 24 hours a day and a perfect spot for late night snacks before bed. The pub also had two pool tables but those were being run by professional 14 year old billiard players, or so they thought.

They next day was Shawna’s 50th and we woke up in Roatan.

Passports, check!

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Packing for a vacation is one my most favorite past times.

Remember when I said we most likely wouldn’t cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again? Lies, sorry. We took another Norwegian cruise for Shawna’s 50th birthday. But, this ship was bigger than our last one, and checked all of our boxes in terms of on board entertainment and ports. You guys, this trip was amazing!

We were at the airport early because we must make sure the gate is where its supposed to be and then we hit the bar for the obligatory pre flight spicy bloody.

We were on our way to New Orleans which was a first for us. Once we dropped our bags in our hotel room, we hit the ground running. We only had one night to get it all done. We walked along the river and straight into town for dinner.

We had gator, oysters and delicious cocktails. Then we strolled our way to Bourbon street .

We people watched, bar hopped, and listened to all the music. We ended with a nightcap at our hotel bar and then to bed.

Our transfer to the port was included in our package and was effortless. Our time to “check-in” on the ship wasn’t until 2:00 but we just went ahead and got in line right when we got to the port at noon.

I probably shouldn’t spill the tea but you guys, we walked right on (knocks wood for next time). Our cabin wasn’t ready but that wasn’t a big deal because we took our asses straight to the pool deck and made ourselves at home.

This ship was very different from our first rodeo with Norwegian. There was a lot of everything, people, bars, entertainment, people…Once our cabin was ready we went back and got ready for the evening. We had a small dinner in one of the smaller dining rooms but since there was a short wait we sat at the adjacent bar and ordered ourselves an espresso martini. This is where we learned that one can’t just order an espresso martini anywhere, those were only available at the martini bar, so we had something sort of like it, but not as good.

So many options on evening entertainment but we chose The Pour House the first night and every night after. This was a group of four singers with their band that just blew us away, they were so much fun. All of this while we sailed down the Mississippi river.

Day 2 was a sea day which meant a pool day.

This is when it really sank in that we were on a cruise with a lot of people and kids who were on their spring break. Lesson learned, no cruising in March.

The pool was packed but we still had a great time. We met so many fun people, a lot who were on this cruise for their second time, that was good sign.

Dinner, I am sure we had it. I will still stand by the fact that the food on Norwegian’s dining room is just O.K. nothing spectacular. After dinner, you guessed it, back to the Pour House. This time we were in line early. Yes, I said “in line” that’s how packed this ship was. If we wanted a seat we had to get there super early. But this night was important because they were doing a Fleetwood Mac tribute.

And it was so good.

Day 3-Cozumel….