Bear Lake

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to go to Bear Lake. This was our only vacation all summer. That's what happens when you have a baby right before summer starts! We had considered going down to Lake Powell with the Muir family that weekend but Bear Lake is much easier with a baby and we really love it up there. It's the perfect kind of trip for our kids right now. Short drive, beach, plenty of things to do. We stayed at Ideal Beach which was great because we could walk right down on the beach and it had a pool and plenty of lawn area. It also has a mini golf course and kids craft area which we didn't even get around to visiting.

Here's the view from our condo. We were right by the pool and the playground which was very convenient for us.

When we got there I was bummed to realize we'd forgotten the frisbee and bocce ball set I was planning to bring. But then in the closet of our condo... ta da! Bocce ball set and frisbee and also a croquette set. We made the kids play a game of bocce ball but they seemed a little confused as to how this is fun. I guess it is kind of a weird game that somehow becomes fun when you get older.
These condo units are all individually owned. I would love to meet the people who owned ours. I imagine they are a little elderly couple who just love collecting things and have a lot of grandkids. That would explain the plethera of stuffed animals and beanie babies all over the condo. They also had birdhouses and fish hanging off the ceilings and light fixtures and a whole wall of Bear Lake Monster wood artwork. But the best surprise was when Josh and pulled down the murphy bed we were going to sleep on and found this.

The picture does not do it justice. The wood art in the middle says "sleep in the forest." It was like sleeping in one of those themed rooms at Anniversary Inn! So romantic...
We decided to start the weekend off right and get our raspberry shakes on Friday night. Last year we got them when we were leaving and had to deal with meltdowns. The kids were much happier this time around.

We also spent plenty of time at the beach. It was nice and warm on Saturday but a little cooler and very windy on Sunday so we played at the pool on that day.

My parents also joined us on this trip which was so fun. It's always great to have a little extra company, especially company that loves to hold our baby!

Camryn really bonded with her grandpa on this trip. He held her quite a lot and bounce her on his knee to her little heart's content. My parents decided to join us on this trip because that way my brother Nate could come along as well. He just got home from his mission and started school up at Utah State so he's basically just around the corner from Bear Lake. He earned lots of "favorite uncle" points over the weekend with our kids.

I've always thought these bike/cart things looked fun. 4 people can pedal on these things with 2 kids sitting in the front. Our little family did not all sit in this one. I couldn't pedal since I was holding Camryn so Nate and Josh pedaled ours and my parents took Sydney riding in theirs. They were really fun and once again I'm glad we had my parents along because we couldn't have done that on our own!