bear lake, round two

we went to bear lake again last thursday. it was super fun! like before, we got there in the late afternoon. we like to go at that time because a lot of people are done for the day and leaving. by early evening we end up with quite a lot of beach to ourselves.

there's another benefit to going in the afternoon. libby tends to get car sick and she gets sick almost every time we drive through that canyon. we've found that if we drive during nap time she will sleep instead of getting sick. always a bonus.

after we'd been there about an hour or so, the wind picked up to a very nice breeze; enough to keep you from getting too hot, but more importantly, enough to get some nice waves going! it was the most fun we've ever had there. we had so much fun drifting in the waves.

and now for picture time:

bear lake from the overlook in logan canyon.

the kids are having a little snack. that's how i get them to stay out of the water long enough to let the sun screen dry.

maria going for a swim.

lincoln still doesn't care much for the sand or water so i gave him some small rocks to play with. it entertained for a while.

if you look closely you can see a stick poking out of the sand in front of hudson. it wouldn't be a nuttall trip to the beach if someone didn't poke a stick in the sand.

the kids had fun collecting drift wood . . .

and rocks . . .

and digging through the sand.

and they love sinking their toes into the squishy sand.

one really nice thing about the lake is how warm the shallow parts are. it's very comfortable.

libby enjoyed drawing in the sand and watching the waves erase the marks.

the kids liked when ethan would lay down in the water. they'd all pile on and ride while he crawled to shore.

i took about 12 pictures of this shell and rock and various others - i had to do something while i sat on the blanket with lincoln!

here maria and ethan are playing in those fun waves. i got a chance to play in the waves too. it was the most fun i've had in a while. guess i should try to have more fun.

this is how libby and lincoln were all the way home until . . .

we were about five minutes from home.

we had such a great time. i love that this fabulous lake is so close to home. in fact, we are so excited to be going back this week!

maria and the waves

maria shows how to properly negotiate the waves.

libby and the waves

the waves try to knock libby over.

one year older

it's that unfortunate time of year when my oldest child decides to grow a year older. maria is now seven. i can't believe my first little baby is already seven! my only consolation is that she is always such a delightful girl on her birthday.

each birthday kid gets to pick what to have for dinner and what kind of cake i'll make. maria wanted hotdogs for dinner and for her cake she said, "chocolate. every year chocolate."

i think she looks more like ethan every year.

lincoln seemed to enjoy the hotdogs as well.

hudson and libby gave maria the "how to train your dragon" book. she's already read the whole thing and started over.

libby was very interested in the presents. she did pretty well considering. she only said, "no, MY presents" a couple times.

more books. she loves the magic treehouse series. over the last couple years we've managed to find most of the first twenty at used book stores. she really wanted the few she was missing. she was also really excited to get another magic treehouse research guide. a research guide is a non-fiction companion to a book in the series. for example, she got book #17 "tonight on the titanic" along with it's research guide which tells all about the titanic.

she was very excited to get a playmobil toy from grandpa and grandma hawkins. it was exactly the one she wanted! how did that happen? she also got a couple extra dresses for her cinderella doll she got for christmas and a snow white/prince/horse set that is polly pocket size.

bear lake

we went to bear lake last saturday. bear lake is great fun. and it is actually a very interesting place so i will share a few fun facts:

• bear lake straddles the border of utah and idaho and is the second largest natural lake in utah
• it was formed by fault subsidence which is continuing to make it deeper on the eastern side of the lake
• bear lake is known as the "Caribbean of the Rockies" because of the beautiful turquoise-blue water - the result of calcium carbonates suspended in the water (and it really is beautiful. it amazes me every time we come to the top of the pass of the canyon and i get that first glimpse of the lake, sparkling in the summer sun.)
• because of the chemical properties of the lake, it is home to several endemic fish species. it used to have many species unique only to this lake but after the bear river was diverted into the lake the chemical makeup changed just enough to render many of the species extinct. now it is home to four species of fish that occur no where else in the world. introduced species find it hard to thrive in the unique water of this lake.
• bear lake was an annual rendezvous site for mountain men and native americans
• bear lake is a popular place to swim, jet-ski, boat, sail, fish and more.
• the lake is typically icebound in winter

so there you have it. more than you ever wanted to know about bear lake.

bear lake is very high this year. the water is almost right up to the road. usually we drive down here and drive for several yards before parking, then walk a few more yards to the edge of the lake. this year it was hard to even find beach.

excited to go swimming.

playing in the sand. this is one reason why bear lake is so awesome. sandy beaches! the kids love playing in all that sand.

see that ornery face lincoln is making? he made that face whenever he was touching sand or water. so i guess the beach is not his favorite place to hang out.

another reason we love bear lake is its shallow shores. the kids can wade for quite a ways.

the kids loved floating in their life vests.

building a stick forrest.

when we got to bear lake we knew there was a chance of rain. we anxiously watched the clouds make their way over. we figured we'd pack up when it started to sprinkle. instead we decided to pack up when all of a sudden our canopy flew off toward the water in a gust of wind. luckily it flew right to ethan and he was able to grab it before it went into the lake. we were pelted with sand as the wind whipped all around us and we tried to pack up as quickly as we could. maria was a rock-star. without anyone asking she helped ethan pack everything up while i changed babies in the van. hudson cried hysterically because the sand was blowing on his face and in his eyes. it was sad, but i had to laugh as he walked toward me with arms stretched out like a zombie, eyes closed, crying, trying to make his way through the sand to me and the van. i kept yelling at him, "hudson, just walk forward. you're fine. i'll grab you." it still makes me giggle a little. it was an impressive storm. i'd always heard people remark how quickly a storm can develop at bear lake, and they weren't kidding (and this was probably nothin').

our day at the beach didn't last as long as we had planned but we had a lot of fun for the short time we were there.

it poured all the way home through the canyon. we stopped at the jardine juniper trailhead to let little ones use the bathroom. it was so beautiful i had to step out of the van and take a picture. nothing like a bit of rain in the mountains (so long as your not in a tent, of course. i don't care who you are or what you say - i've been in many tents in the rain and they ALL leak.) and by the way, it smelled wonderful. you could smell the grass, trees, dirt, and especially the sagebrush really well.

it was a great day.

pool play

we love our little pool.

it's big enough to fit all the kids. the kids love to "swim" in it.

lincoln loves the water table. the water table was a gift to maria from grandpa and grandma nuttall years ago. we pull it out of storage every summer, give it a wipe-down, and it still looks new. the kids have had a lot of fun with it and it's perfect right now for little linkies who is too little to play in the pool with the bigger kids.

and here are a few random pictures of the kids:

our little superdude. he'd noticed that superman wears his underwear on the outside so this is what he did this particular day. he even wanted to wear it like this when we went to the tabernacle to hear the noon concerts they do in the summer. we told him that a gentleman does not wear his underwear outside of his clothes when in public places. but he put it back on when we got home and was even pleased to show it to the company that came over that evening.

ah, yes, my little cheesey man.

haha! this picture cracks me up. my sister gave libby a pair of jammies that have little froggies on them and they came with this little frog mask. libby thinks it's so funny to put this on and go around the house growling at people.

soccer and racing

this spring maria participated in soccer for the first time. it was a great experience and she really enjoyed it. maria tends to be hesitant with new things and her first game went like this:

that was how she looked the whole game. if the ball came near her she would back up. it was kind of funny to watch. but she progressed quickly. by the next game she actually ran around and by her third game she actually tried to kick the ball.

maria is right in the middle of the picture.

maria is the girl on the left (in the front).

by her last couple games maria made some good assists and even tried to score a goal a couple times. ethan and i were really pleased with how much she progressed and we're happy maria had a great time. she's already looking forward to next year.

a couple weeks ago maria and hudson participated in a mile run in wellsville for their "pony express days". maria ran the race last year and got third place.

here the kids are lined up at the start. hudson is 5th from the right (with his hoodie on) and maria is next to him. i had to laugh when the guy said "go" because it seemed like every kid went except maria and hudson.

here's hudson at the end of the race.

maria racing toward the finish line.

maria won second place this year! here she is holding up her ribbons from this year and last year.

forgotten

i'm just glad that whoever put that there forgot to come back for it.