Bear Lake

This was year two of Bear Lake for Matt, Jaden, and I. Last year we kind of fell in love with it, so we we have been looking forward to this trip like it was Christmas!  I made a packing list and meal plan like a week in advance- partially from excitement, and partially because the older I get the more I understand myself, and I knew if I didn't start planning a few days early I'd forget everything in my last minute frenzy.  We budgeted for our vacation, and pre made our meals, and then packed the car til bursting and headed out Wednesday morning.   The original plan was for our family, Mallorie and Reed, and Dan and Heather's family to all convoy our way out there, but brake problems cropped up (as things generally do right before a trip. It's basically turning into part of the plans by now I'm noticing. :p It doesn't matter which side of the family either, it's like Murphy's law for vacations or something.) So, Mallorie and Reed were troopers and rode in the car with Jaden and I. Matt and Kennedy drove Matt H's truck and pulled their camp trailer. Dan and Heather's family went to Sandy to do some last minute boat trailer repairs and planned to meet us at the campsite later.  We drove through Wyoming so that Matt wouldn't have to pull a trailer through Logan Canyon, and took a pit stop in Evanston for lunch. I really was so impressed with the boys, they slept for a good chunk of the drive, but were awake for the last hour and a half probably. They were pretty good sports despite being done with their car seats. It was both encouraging, and eye opening for Mal and I thinking ahead to our Nebraska trip coming up in September. ;) They totally play off of each other. We'd have phases of giggling back and forth, and phases of crying back and forth. :) I had forgotten how much I absolutely LOVE the lake until we pulled into town and started unpacking things and getting our camp set up. The water is so blue! Reed and Jaden enjoyed some much needed freedom on the grass while we got things situated. They're such fun little cousins. I'm so excited to live in the same neighborhood next month! I have a feeling these two will be little trouble makers, and have so much fun together when they get older! Day one at Bear Lake basically consisted of getting settled in, and roasting some hot dogs for dinner. It was kind of stormy, so we thought Matt, Ethan, and Kenners were crazy for getting into the water. The waves got so big! They were the only three brave enough to get in that day.  Day two was probably the warmest day we had for the whole trip, so we took advantage of the sunshine and got into the water! Jaden was more tolerant of his life jacket this year, so the boat was more enjoyable. :) I wasn't as brave though, and so I only did two little turns on the tube with Kennedy. My arms are so wimpy, I couldn't hold on for very long and we probably didn't go any faster than like 5 miles per hour. Haha.  Matt got up on the knee board though, and we stopped in the middle of the lake to jump in and swim! Jaden even dipped his toes in over the side of the boat. :) Friday and Saturday were both more stormy so we played games and hung out in the sand more than in the water . (well, most of us. Matt and Matt got in anyway, and so did most of the kids... I just was wimpy and knew Jaden wouldn't stay in long enough to make it worth getting changed and ready haha.) Saturday night Matt, Matt H. and Dan decided to do their 'night dive' again. Before they went down, Dan set up a nice big stack of wood for a very large fire that they could get warm next to after their dive to retrieve the anchor. :) Matt H. made a little 'burning man' for our camp. :)  By the time the guys got out of the water we were all very much ready for a warm camp fire... turns out it got a little bit too warm! Roasting marshmallows was comical to watch, because it was more a game of, "who can get close enough to actually roast the marshmallows". The kids would seriously stick their roasting sticks in the fire for like 3 seconds at a time because it was so hot to stand that close to the fire. :) We were very toasty.  Later the guys found a flare in the boat and decided to go light it off by the lake... it was kind of disappointing. Until Steven and Laura found it washed up on the shore and brought it up to the fire and re lit it. The flare definitely worked then, haha.  We had so much fun, I married into an awesome family! We had 5 days of yummy food, reading in the sunshine, playing on the 'beach', and- my favorite- laughing together. It's always hilarious to get everyone together, and I love it. :) Every once in a while you need some serious belly laughing. ;)