Bear Lake Vacation

We go to Bear Lake every year with Brian's family. The older our kids get, the better this trip gets. We still have to watch them close, but we don't have to follow them around on constant watch like we did when they were toddlers. Our first stop, as always, was Gossner's in Logan for two flats of milk boxes (note to self: the orange cream is nobody's fave, get extra cookies and cream) and some hot cheese.

We were pleasantly surprised to see Jake. Somebody was going to have to wrestle the boys and throw them footballs for hours, and it wasn't going to be Brian! Ha! 

There was a little drama when we discovered that the rooms we reserved didn't have enough private bedrooms for all the adults. Grandma volunteered herself and Grandpa to sleep in the loft that had two queen beds and three bunk beds. Good thing Colin and Emil can sleep through anything! Snoring is a tradition in Brian's family. ;) We got it all worked out and Brian and I somehow got a quiet room with a king bed in it. Winners!

Brian and I gave Bridget a kayak for her birthday and we let her open it before we headed to Bear Lake. She spent hours on the lake! Fun.

Brian rented a larger kayak. Aiden used Bridget to give him rides everywhere. :) He was so busy! Which means Linzy was so busy.

Colin took a few rides. Emil took the position that he should also have his own kayak and he would not be getting in with Bridget. Except when he felt like it, then he would get in and go for a ride. Sigh.

See? He's a good driver.

Nate was in the water the whole time. He even tasted it. :)

Sweet Bridget loving Bear Lake. Two days away from being 10 years old.

It took a lot to convince Colin to shoot the water gun toward the lake instead of the spectators.

Pretty much the whole time we were at the lake that first day (about four hours - three sunscreen applications for the kids) the kids would remind us that we were going to the pool right after the lake. Perhaps I've mentioned before my dread of the pool at Ideal Beach? No need to rehash. The kids love it, so we do it. Mostly Brian. That first day I got in and swam with the kids and got in and out of the pool 100 times (grrrrr). The next time we went I had burnt and swollen feet, so it wasn't happening. We played mini golf later in the afternoon on Wednesday. The course was a mess - gas and paint cans out, a shop-vac in the middle of one of the holes, debris and garbage everywhere. We even had to get our own golf club and balls. Weird. We found out later the kid who was supposed to get the course ready had been fired and it didn't end up getting done. (The whole time we were playing Brian insisted that it was always this messy. Hahahaha!) Dena and Darin were in charge of the first dinner and Dena bought everyone pizza. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't think of it first!

The rest of the family showed up early Thursday morning, so Thursday was a big lake day. My feet hurt so much. Never forget to put sunscreen on yourself (that note was for me). None of our kids were burned, though. :)

Brilliant Aunt Dena, Uncle Darin, and Cousin Jake

Emil building a sandcastle. Gravel castle. Whatever.

The only picture of me in all the hundreds that were on my camera and phone.

Abby and Bridget are co-queens of Bear Lake. 

More water gun fights. Always some kind of fight.

We rented the trampoline on the water and Sea-Doos on Thursday, too. Bridget jumped off the trampoline several times and swam back to shore, too. I was on a kayak to take this picture. 

Emil felt brave and jumped off too. This is Daddy helping him back on the trampoline. I didn't catch him jumping (I think he actually slid off) because the kayak was turning while I was aiming my phone at them. I could almost feel my Grandpa Furniss approving of my efforts to get a good shot. :)

Kalvin and Abby tried to stand up together on this paddle board for a long, long time. I think Kalvin was mostly trying to dunk his sister, which she recognizes here. :)

Kalvin and Abby

We staggered back to the condo after four hours at the lake. I had a birdhouse painting activity for the younger kids to help them settle down a little. And get paint all over everything. :)

Nate loves craft time!

Colin's birdhouse is all black.

As you can see, Emil didn't stop talking even when he was trying to paint.

Whoever packed these goose-call things is on my B-List. You're so glad you can't hear this picture.

Friday was another day on the beach at the lake, but we decided to make it a shorter one. Brian and I were out of sunscreen (we brought a full tube of lotion and two spray cans of it) and my feet were so painful. Lucky I was reading Pollyanna during our vacation. I can be GLAD of that!

This is my favorite picture from the trip. :)

Grandpa got out on a paddle board and raced Bridget and Colin back to shore. (Colin was the gunner.)

This is what it looks like on shore. Usually we have an awning thing that we put up, but it blew right into the water and grazed poor Nate on Thursday. We weren't going to be there long enough to set it up again anyway.

Abby balances like a pro on that paddle board. Even with Aiden shoveling along. :)

Emil, Colin and I made a city of castles.

 Colin playing Frisbee with McKade.

 Onion rings, fries, and shakes at LeBeau's for lunch.

Nicolette took McKade's spot and that's fine because she's cute.

After lunch we HAD to go back to the pool. I clung to the square foot of shade and covered my feet and watched the kids play. Grandma was a much better spectator than me.

 Grandpa even participated!

It was still Go Time, so Grandpa brought out some water balloons and the kids partnered with an adult to toss them back and forth until they popped. 

Grandma and Emil were partners. 

It was an intense game. :)

I just noticed that she's still wearing goggles. :) Hahahaha!

Friday night after dinner, we celebrated Bridget's 10th birthday with a cake Uncle Hal secretly picked up for us in Montpelier, and by singing her The Birthday Song. She had trouble sleeping in the loft, but Bridget is still the most fun at Bear Lake. So glad we could celebrate her birthday there.

It's official. She's double digits now. I can absolutely say that Brian and I are much better people today than we ever were without Sweet Bridget in our life. She is hands-down the Best Girl. :)

We can't leave Ideal Beach without a Frisbee Football game. Can you see Colin and Aiden behind Dena? Colin ran like crazy and tried to get open to catch the Frisbee. Brian said he even called to Uncle Kyle, "I'm open!" I am so easy! That makes me cry with happiness for some reason.

Look at that air!

Saturday morning is always crazy getting everything and everyone packed up again. I found a spot for our family picture and did the running back and forth with a timer again. When we were done, a lady who was cleaning up the mini golf course said that "next time" they'd be happy to push the button for me. See you in a year, lady!

Poor Aiden was not having it. I'll do better next year. I'll have a lady to push the button! 

We let Bridget pick all the movies on the way home and we even stopped at Joy Luck for lunch because that's Bridget's favorite place to eat. We've made our Bear Lake memories for 2016!