Journey

Happiness is a Journey, not a destination.


Namaste.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Bear Lake 2009...Family Reunion.

So, we packed our car as full as it could possibly be packed...
From Bear Lake 2009

We had the DVD player in the car, so the kids watched a movie, and Talia fell asleep right as we headed up Logan Canyon. I love that drive, it's so beautiful. We got to where we were staying (Blue Water Beach KOA) and set our tent up next to my brother's trailer. We got all set up, and hung out.
From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

We had dinner, went for a shake, hung around the "campfire" (a little propane fire bowl that Cole bought for his Halloween stuff) and then went to bed.
From Bear Lake 2009

Now, you'd think that I would sleep great, being exhausted from my week. I did...til about 2:30 am. That's when Kyle needed to go to the bathroom. Now that was OK...I figured if he needed to go, I'd go as well. I walked him over to the bathrooms, and then we came back...Only to have Alec say HE needed to go. Cole took him over. By this time, Talia was awake, and not happy about it. She was thrashing all over the bed, pushing Alec off the edge, and whining...I finally put her into bed with Cole and I. However, we were having problems with our bedding...it kept sliding off us, Cole was freezing, and I was only warm because I was next to him. Talia continued to thrash all over the bed, only now with 2 adults, there was less room. WE got kicked A LOT. Finally, around 5 am, Cole gave up, got up, and went outside. This is when I got cold...and I realized that Talia was probably cold too. I rearranged our blankets, we got warm, and she and I managed to fall asleep for 1 1/2 more hours...til Alec came and woke us. I thought his Daddy had told him to wake us, because breakfasts were our responsibility, but no...Cole was going to let me sleep a bit longer. Little Stinker. We cooked breakfast, I hit the showers (I was hoping it would wake me up and make me feel a little less grumpy...and it worked). My parents and Heidi and Adam went golfing, my brother had to go work for a few hours, so Brenda, her little sister Somer, Cole and I packed up the kids and headed down to the Lake. It was freezing cold in the water, and not really warm out (in the 70's at that point), but the kids were having a ball.
From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009


We spent about 1 1/2 hours on the beach...then headed back up to the trailer for lunch. We ate, my parents and sister and brother in law joined us...then Talia and I tried to nap. Cole took the boys and my older nephew parker down to the Lake (along with my parents and Heidi and Adam). Brenda, Somer, Gracie and Hunter also went down for naps, and had better luck in their trailer than Talia and I had in our hot and noisy tent. After about an hour, I gave up on trying to get Talia back to sleep (we probably slept about 30 minutes). She and I headed down to meet our family at the beach.

This is where the typical "family reunion activities" occurred. Races for the kids,
From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

We hung out on the beach all afternoon. My family headed back a bit before my siblings and parents. We hit the showers, relaxed, and waited for everyone else to come back. Dinner was just hamburgers and hot dogs, but it was really yummy. We went out for another shake...
From Bear Lake 2009

From Bear Lake 2009

We headed back and sat around the "fire" again. Some of the extended family came to join us, and we had a really good time laughing and talking. Talia fell asleep in my arms.

Thankfully, we had a much better night. The kids were so wiped out, they slept great. They hardly moved, which kept them all warm. Cole and I solved the "technical difficulties" we had with our bedding, and we both slept decent as well. We got up, made breakfast, and then broke camp. We got home at almost 1 yesterday.

Getting there was stressful, but once we made it we had a great little camping trip. It's always fun to hang out as a family, see my aunts and uncles and cousins, and catch up with everyone.

It was even better, however, to come home and sleep in my own, soft, perfect water bed ;).

Back to real life. I have a ton of stuff I have to get done today.

5 comments:

Rachael said...

Bear lake shakes are so... yummy! The last time I went to Bear Lake the water level was really low. It felt like you had to walk half a mile to get to the water. Is it still like that?

The kids looks so cute in their sleeping bag. Seeing all the fun pictures and reading about your adventures makes me want to go camping, It also bring my memories of our adventures to the surface.

Kristen said...

Looks like you had a great mini-vacation. I love Bear Lake! I miss you guys at work! Tell everyone hello for me.

Julie said...

Looks like fun and you didn't get rained on.

Mindy said...

That campground was GORGEOUS!! I can understand the sleep in your own bed thing... it's fun to camp for a while, but home is so good.

John and Sherri said...

Looks fun! Sorry you ended up working the night before :(. Bear Lake shakes are the best!