Love, Strength, Happiness: Bear Lake

The Boat Anchored Just Off Of The North Beach

Ahhh summer! It is summer, right? We took the family to Bear Lake for the holiday weekend, with grand hopes of fun, sun and memories in the making. We got the fun, and the memories, but only some sun and lots of wind and cold galore!

Seriously.

But this will not go down as one of our infamous disaster trips. Nope, no way, no how! No one was injured, nothing was broken (Except for poor Rosie who needs a new starter, we think) and nothing was lost. Success! We just have to come to terms with the fact that Bear Lake is more of a sailing lake than a jet boat lake. We looked around at the plethora of sail boats yesterday and understood, with clarity, that sail boats do just fine on that windy lake. It's beautiful to look at, but not so much fun to try and control watercraft without sails. Lesson learned.

Madi Enjoys the Campfire

Our campsite was great, except for the yappy dog and clueless parents to the north of us, the camp food was excellent, and the girlies were super fun as usual. But the real hero of the weekend is my sweet guy who spent all day Saturday with my ex-inlaws, taking them for rides on the boat and graciously shaking hands when introduced to people in what could have been an extremely awkward situation.

Linzie and Brecklyn Go Wheelin'

Carley Helps Document the Trip


Tyler and Ty Go Wheelin'

I wish this one wasn't blurry. My two favorite Doods.

Fajita Man

Let me explain-

Last summer, my adorable former sis-in-law brought the girls home from a visit with her and she and her husband stayed and hung out with us for a while. We started talking then about a future trip to Bear Lake so our families could spend more time together. Fast forward to one year later - We didn't end up staying at the same camp because they have a hotel on wheels, whereas we bunk in tents. But we did arrange to spend Saturday together at the beach. They had other family members with them, and we had dragged my little brother and his family up with us as well. It could have been the Montagues and Capulets but it wasn't. It was a pleasant afternoon watching the kids play together, happily oblivious to any potentially awkward social situations.

Miles of Beach!

The water was so cold that we resorted to bird watching.

Boston and Linzie building sand forts.

Abby learned to drive the Waverunner!

Bill and Boston on the beach.

Stephanie was reading work material while Tyler watched Lost. (He's addicted!)


Abby plays in the water while Ashley, Emily and Madi hang out on the boat.

Boston playing in the sand

I told my sweetheart over and over how much I appreciate his selfless act of supreme kindness that day. He was courteous and gracious, on his very best behavior, and I beamed with pride. I am a lucky girl! I wish the weather had been better so we could have had more time on the boat, but I think we will make sure to try hanging out with them again sometime. We had a great time!

My girlies... sigh! What fun they are to camp with! I love listening to them giggle and I love their creative mischief. One of our favorite things to do was spread "Pop Its" across the dirt road at camp so that any vehicle or unsuspecting passerby who stepped on or drove over them would entertain us with their startled expressions. We are so easily amused!

My little brother and his family are adorable! We had the best time hanging out with them on the beach and at camp. We were all so thrilled that they came with us. Thanks Ty and Stephanie!

Ashley, Emily and Brecklyn brave the cold water for some tubing fun!

After a day of boating, we ended our trip with an early dinner at the Bear Lake pizza place that we have come to love.. or is it the candy shop next door that we have truly come to love? Either way, we had too much pizza, followed by chocolate dipped raspberries and raspberry shakes. YUM!

Proof that the girls had parents on the trip. I adore my guy!

On the drive home, Carley, Madi and Emily made me laugh myself sick! We never stopped laughing.. all the way home. Things that made us snort- Elephants, "My car is on the roof", police officers playing squad car tag, "Sic-a-hoot Beefenelk" and YUFFAS!