Bear Lake

Well, we had a great weekend last weekend but it pooped me out! First we drove up to Bear Lake Friday afternoon/early evening and spent the weekend up there with my mom and step dad, my sister and her family, and my two stepsisters.

Saturday morning we got ready to go to the "beach".

We played in the sand a little bit and got some nice sun.

Maggie and Amanda were very concerned with getting NO sand on any of the towels, blankets, or any of it sticking on their own feet, swimsuit or clothing.

We buried Anna and Megan in the sand and made "their lifelong dreams of becoming a mermaid" true. (those are their words... hehe)

Later on I got to go out on the boat and watch the exciting rides on Big Mabel (the orange floating device seen in the background here).

Some caught large waves.

Grandpa and Amanda were chilling out a bit before their ride began.

Maggie was being super patient waiting her turn so....

Uncle Nick asked her if she wanted to steer the boat and she got really excited!

Finally it was Maggie's turn to ride with Amanda and Grandpa Chad.

Then Nick took a ride with Anna and you can see him here holding her tight and screaming.... like a little girl. :) The girls thought this was the funniest thing ever.

After this fun ride we went back to the beach to let the girls, Chad and Jonathan eat lunch. Then my stepdad, mom, sister and two nieces joined Nick and I back on the boat for the ride back to the Marina so we could pull the boat out of the water and go back to the cabin for the night! Let me tell you this was quite the boat ride! Probably the most intense boat ride on a lake I will ever be on! The waves were at least 4 or 5 feet and we were being thrown up and down and all over the place and we all ended up putting on life jackets "just in case" because it seriously felt like we could be flipped right over at any time. Here is a picture of some of the waves from that second ride.

Water was splashing on all of us like a ride at an amusement park. My mom was screaming and then laughing all at the same time and the rest of us were just nervously laughing at her trying to stay calm so the kids wouldn't freak out but we were all having fun and it is one part of this vacation none of us will ever forget.

Happy Grandma.

Not so happy Grandma. :) (This is my favorite picture from the weekend. I can still hear the sound that accompanied this picture)

It took us about 2 hours to make the trip in the boat that should've taken maybe 30 minutes, but we made it without flipping over and as soon as we got to shore, four of us ladies hopped out and ran to the bathroom because we couldn't hold it in any longer.

And last but not least, here is Nick squeezing Maggie and pretending like he can't let her go just before we all headed to get some raspberry shakes after dinner.

I wish I could put all of the pictures we took from that weekend on here. I had fun using my brand new camera to take all sorts of pictures of my beautiful nieces that I don't get to see too often. This was a great trip and we had so much fun spending time with everyone!