This weekend was a Family Reunion for my Dad's Mom's side of the Family. As the story goes, back in the day my Dad's uncle Jesse would call my Grandpa Lyman and suggest a sojourn up to Bear Lake. All the cousins would play on the beach, and the adults would relax. A few years back, that side of the family decided it would be fun to reinstate that tradition with the newer generation. We've gone up almost every year since then....as much as I'm really not a "beach" type person, it's really a good time, and I enjoy catching up with my Dad's side of the family, as well as hanging out with my cousins I see more frequently.
All packed up and ready to go...
On the road....
My parents decided to get a condo at the place we typically stay, the Blue Water Beach Resort/KOA. We've camped in the past, but my brother got rid of his trailer, and my sister is 7 months pregnant, and my mom dislikes camping. She prefers easy access to a bathroom and shower, and since Talia is still in the early stages of being potty trained, I had to agree that easy bathroom access was a priority. We had no idea what to expect...and were really pleasantly surprised. The condo was really nice.
My niece Gracie, and our "other sister" Summer (Summer is my SIL Brenda's youngest sister. She's with us a lot to help Brenda with the kids, so we have come to consider her our youngest sister, and we love to have her with us!)
Cute pregnant Heidi with Hunter...
Gracie let me play with her hair...
My Dad's cousins maintain a cabin on a hill overlooking Bear Lake. We headed up there Friday night to roast hot dogs and marshmallows..
A Stunning view...
Chris and Brenda
Having Fun (Brenda and Summer)
The kids were all more interested with my brother's Ranger ATV
The Fam...
Talia is all about the flowers!
Imagine my surprise to see our favorite House Supervisor Michelle (in the yellow visor) at my family reunion..it turns out that she is good friends with my dad's cousin Diane. She drove Diane up to the reunion, and decided to stay and golf and eat dinner with us...
Good times...
The first night I don't think anyone got much sleep. The condo was set up with 1 bedroom (my parents and Heidi and Adam slept in there), and 2 pull out beds in the living room. Chris and Brenda and Cole and I took the pull outs, with the intention of having the kids sleep on the floor and Summer on the couch. Well, Talia ended up in bed with Cole and I, and Hunter with Chris and Brenda. Sleeping with a 3 year old and 2 year old is....difficult. Cole gave up and went out to the car to try to sleep around 2:30 am. Brenda took a sleeping bag down the end of the hall, leaving Chris and I with the beds and our restless toddlers. None of us got any good sleep...
Chris and Hunter
(Photoshop enhanced)
Parker and Alec
Kyle and Gracie
(I took all these without a flash, with my long shutter setting on my camera. Considering the no flash and no tripod, they turned out pretty good. I did use photoshop to lighten them up a bit).
We ate breakfast, got ready, and hit the beach to join up with the family.
(Talia kept trying to talk to the seagulls)
Our own family "island"
(I wore a light cardigan most the day...between the breeze and the intermittent clouds, I was cold)
Building a sand castle...
The kids always have a great time!
After a day at the beach, we went back, cleaned up, and headed out to dinner...
Talia was so wiped out she fell asleep on the way into town..and didn't wake when we transferred her from person to person...my mom enjoyed cuddling her (it doesn't happen very often anymore, she's too active)
After dinner, I went out in the ranger with Chris, my Dad, Adam, and a couple of my younger cousins to go look for deer. We saw a few, and I mananged to get some pretty decent shots of this doe...
I was really impressed with my camera. This was using the digital zoom, with the exposure set to -1, and no flash (obviously). I used photoshop to clean up the digital noise a little. I love how you can see her watching our every move...
Beautiful scenery along the way...
After we got back, we played games for a little while, then crashed. Cole and I were able to get Talia to sleep on the floor, so we had a much better night. The sleep was pretty decent, and we woke feeling much better.
We cleaned up and headed out...the drive home was calm and beautiful. I really love driving through Logan canyon. We got home, unpacked, and I started the millions of load of laundry I'm still catching up on.
It was a really fun vacation.