Bear Lake

Warning: Picture Overload!

There are tons of pictures in this post!

Last weekend we got to go to Bear Lake where my oldest sister, Krista had a condo for the week. We had so much fun. I went up on Wednesday with my Dad because Derek had to stay and work through Friday. It was really great getting to ride with my Dad. He pointed out lots of areas and shared lots of memories. My Dad grew up in Hyrum, which is near Logan. You have to go through Logan canyon to get to Bear Lake. It was fun seeing where my Dad had his first taste of pizza while he was in high school. I couldn't believe that he hadn't had pizza before then. He also pointed out areas where we had camped before. Bear Lake use to be my families yearly vacation/camping spot. We came here all the time. I vaguely remember a few trips. I loved it here. I have fond memories of raspberry shakes from here too, but LaBeau's was closed. Thank heavens Dad and I bought some in Logan and brought them with us! Here are some beautiful (they are totally better in person- these aren't really that beautiful!) pictures of the lake when we were coming down the canyon. I love how you just come around a bend, and there it is!

Here's DaKoda right after she woke up in the car. She looks so funny when she wakes up. Like she isn't really all there.

I love this picture even though it didn't turn out well at all. Red eye, yuck! Anyway, Brooke has such a hard time around people, but DaKoda loves people. She sat on my Mom's lap for quite a while that morning while we watched our new movie, Bolt. This was later that night, she sat on my Mom's lap for a majority of Wizard of Oz. DaKoda never really sits for a long time, so I loved that she was snuggling with my Mom for so long.

On Saturday, we decided to drive back to Logan for a little bit. While we drove down through the canyon, it was snowing. It was a really neat snowstorm. The snow was falling so slowly, that it seemed to just be suspended in air. Almost like inside a snowglobe. We went to the Pepperidge Farm discount store, visited a boutique that I love, and got some McDonalds fries to hold us over until lunch back at the condo. A few minutes into the canyon, it started snowing again. All of a sudden, DaKoda started throwing up. Over and over. I swear she threw everything she had eaten that day. It took a few minutes to pull over - being that most canyons don't have shoulders. It took us a while to strip DaKoda down and try to clean her off. We hadn't brought the diaper bag with us, just some diapers, so we didn't have a spare outfit to put her in. She had had her blanket over her when she threw up, so she sat in her stinky carseat in just a onesie the rest of the way. We had been following my brother in his big Expedition, so by the time we had cleaned her off, they had come back to check on us. Moments after we got back on the road, a truck that was pulling a trailer in the opposite direction, lost control of his truck because of the snow. The trailer was comingat us at a 90 degree angle. At the last second, the driver was able to straighten and gain control. My knees became jello. Both Derek and I were pretty scared. But, I guess DaKoda wasn't because she started swinging her feet and playing around like crazy. The snowstorm was getting pretty fierce by now, and we were starting to get anxious about whether we would make it back or not. I tried to joke with Derek that had that truck hit us, when someone came to rescue us, they would have been pretty curious about the almost naked toddler in the back seat, in the middle of a snow storm - and oh! what's that smell? We smiled for a few seconds. We were almost to the summit when we came across a car that had slid and was stuck. we had to come to a stop because of the line of cars in front of us. Once we stopped, we knew we were in trouble. My sister came running back to us and had us move the girls to the Expedition just in case our car wasn't able to make it. That way, my brother could take us to the condo and then buy a tow rope and come back to pick up Derek. I was a nervous wreck the entire rest of the drive. I am not sure how, but Derek was able to take it slow, and never really had any serious trouble. The passenger windsheild wiper stopped working for him, but he still managed. I guess all that driving he does for work really paid off. I was sure glad we made it safe and sound.

We got to wrap Easter eggs with the family while we were there. This was an activity that we always did growing up. I really don't remember ever dying eggs. I only remember using wrappers on them. I don't know of anywhere that you can buy wrappers anymore, maybe on Ebay. Fortunately, my parents still have plenty of leftovers. The price tags on the boxes said 69 cents from Kings. I thought that was pretty funny. You can't even buy dye for that price nowadays. If you aren't sure what wrappers are, they are a plastic film that you slide the egg into and when you dip it into boiling water for a few seconds, the wrapper shrinks to the egg. Growing up, we use to love looking for our particular eggs. It was really fun to share this activity with the girls. Here they are dipping their eggs (even though they wouldn't eat them later!).





Nothing beats a playground on the beach! It was awesome to go swinging and have such a gorgeous landscape to enjoy.








Brooke enjoyed playing on this train. But I think she really liked it when Grandpa took her out to play for an hour by themselves. He took her out on one of the days we were there before Derek came up. She kept wanting Grandpa to take her back out. As soon as Derek came up, she kept asking him to take her out there too. It probably didn't help that we could see the playground from the living room of the condo. It really was a lovely view! But all Brooke could see was the playground. Forget the lake! We'll have to go back there when the weather is a LOT better. I know the girls would enjoy swimming and playing more on the beach.
We even enjoyed a little snowball fight!

We really had a wonderful time being with all of my family. I wish we got to do it a little more often. We even learned a few new games. Derek and I really loved the game Hand and Foot. We got to team up with each other, but you aren't allowed to talk to each other. We ended up winning the game. We also learned a game using double dominoes. Neither of us (Derek or I- the girls were already in bed) won any rounds of that game, but it was a lot of fun to play. Some of my favorite family memories are of us around the table playing games. I really wish we got together more often when we don't have any plans, a laid back vacation. Or when we get almost snowed in like this vacation at Bear Lake. Thanks Krista for inviting us. I love our time as a family when we get to stay in your condo's.