Bear Lake!

"Mom, Dad, Why is this lake called 'Bear Lake?' Are there any bears in it?" The most wonderful times are spent contemplating (and laughing at)the questions kids ask! Honestly, I have no clue why Bear Lake is named that way--all I know is that we always have a ton of fun, & come home burnt--no matter how many times we apply sunscreen. :o) This time was no different.

This was a quick trip for us--No one was available to go until Friday afternoon, and we all had to leave by Sat. evening. It's amazing how much fun you can pack into 24hrs! We started out all the fun by taking the kids down to the beach on Friday evening, before everyone else was to arrive.

I just love the way she would curl her toes, digging them into the sand.... Garden City has started charging $7 per vehicle for a day pass to its beaches, so we decided to look around a bit to see what else we could find (after all, we were just going for an hour, and planning on spending the next day at the beach (paying the $7), so why pay for both days? We did find another public beach entrance on the other side of the Utah/Idaho border--beautiful beach & not so busy! It became apparent to us the reason why it wasn't so busy when we got stuck in the sand near the entrance--it was a bit too deep for a minivan to go four-by-ing. We had gunned it, but should have given it more of a head start before trying to blast through the sand. Oh, well. We got helped out.

This is Mark just after the van got a good tow out of the sandpit...the first time. :o) He was just a bit sandy himself. (No, that is not scruff!)

Addie, loving the waves & water!

Do you think Kelli's enjoying the water?!!! How often do you get a picture like this?!We had to be helped out again when we went back, too--apparently we needed more of a head start that time, too. :o) We almost needed help out as we approached the main road, too! (Thunderstorms had made a regular mud-bath of the last turn before you went up the steep hill to the highway.) It took some scrubbing to get the van clean again! (It took a bit of scrubbing to get ourselves sand-free again, too, as you could probably guess from the following pictures!)
Do you think they enjoyed the soft Bear Lake sand?!! Surprisingly, we came home with very few shells.... :o)

These pink swimsuits STILL have sand stuck in them. We went back to Alan & Dionne's home (Mark's uncle & aunt who were so gracious to open their home to us & Mark's siblings/spouses/kids), had dinner, a few roasted marshmallows (I think the adults had just as much fun & more than the kids did with that one!), and some fun & games once the kiddies were all in bed. We may have gone to bed a bit late--especially considering the reason we were all up there in the first place...there was a race to be run in the morning! The kids didn't do much swinging--well, at least not in the traditional way! They looked more like monkeys. :o)
Ambree & Taylor....I think Ambree going for the "favorite Auntie" title in Taylor's book. :o)The guys had lots of fun playing a bit of football.Shauna, Dionne, & MelissaAddie & Brooke were picking 'wishes' and waving them in the wind.I absolutely loved the sky that night! My snapshots don't do these cloud formations justice--so full of color, shading, & form! --I think clouds can have personality. :o) The fire smoked a bit--things were still damp from the huge rainstorm Garden City had the night before.... Kudos to Alan for making it work. A true scout!Here's most of the crew--the girls decided it was more fun to play with the hose & swings than play with fire & hot pokey sticks. I guess I should be grateful!
Mark, Ambree, & Sarah ran the 5K Raspberry Run as a part of the Raspberry Days celebration. This happened Saturday morning.... They all did well! Good job, guys! The race started at 8am, & we all went to cheer them on!
Drew had Taylor smiling so cute! She probably was trying to get him to unbuckle her car seat!Look at those big brown eyes! You're quite handsome, Mikey!Here's the map of the race--it was held on the southernmost part of the Lake, in a town called Laketown. Mark was excited to take a picture of the map, so he could recreate it at "Runner's World" (great site for avid runners, or anyone who wants to log their exercise). Ohh....isn't he handsome?!......
Once we had all had breakfast & could get changed into our suits, we were at the beach, enjoying the sun & water. This pic of William is just like him!--he's quite the smiley little guy.Sarah, Bill, & WilliamBrooke & Addilyn eating 'whales.'Brooke--perfect place for a castle!Melissa & Bill looked like they were having just as much fun with the sand as the kids were. :o)Addie fell in love with this tube--was it because it was the first one to be inflated, or because she loved the colors? Perhaps both!Brooke & Addie are good little buddies.Grandma & Taylor are good little buddies. :o) Alan & Mark tied a boat onto the van (it's more like an over sized canoe--that doesn't tip! glorious!), and I think we all took a turn heading out on the water with paddles in hand. The kids loved it! The water was pretty nice, once you got used to it, and I'm happy to say that I wasn't pulled under by any Bear Lake monster (I've had nightmares--I'm scared to see what's actually in the deep of that lake!).
Heading out for the first time! Alan, Mark, Mikey, & KelliMark took Addie & Kelli out for a ride another time.Kelli's pretty excited that she gets to row, too! They were looking pretty good out there!
He is handsome, isn't he?
Alan helped me out by taking Taylor for a little 'ride.' We decided she looked like Moses. ;o) Our little 'Moe'The guys started playing 500--it looked like fun, but I decided I had left my baby in Grandma's arms long enough--time to be a mommy! We did come home with a few burns (even after multiple applications of spf), and Mikey, even though he probably drank the most, used the bathroom the most, & hung out under then tent just as much as the other kids, ended up being a bit dehydrated. Ok, he had a terrible headache, he threw up (over & over) all over Dionne's carpet (sorry!), then slept for an hour outside in the shade with a blanket. He was fine after that--even ate his fair share of pizza at the pizza parlor soon after we woke him up. Too much fun in the sun, I guess. Kelli came home with a sore hand--the wind slammed a heavy storm door on her wrist, and she wasn't very happy about it. I wasn't happy either. She still had a lot of range of motion, but it looked a bit bruised, puffy, and she had a hard bump sticking out on the top of her hand, right where her metacarpals are found. Ex-rays said there were no broken bones/hairline fractures, but that there was some tissue damage & to keep icing it a few times a day. She's not complaining anymore--little kids heal fast!
Other than those few hangups, we had a wonderful time! Thanks for opening up your wonderful home to us, Alan & Dionne!