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.

just linkies

these are some recent lincoln pictures:

happy baby.

awwww. don't you just love when they are asleep?

i was trying to get a picture of him in his sunday best, which is soooo cute, but the rascally baby can't hold still for even 10 seconds. maria tried to hold him but you can see it wasn't going well for her.

where's linkies?

cheesin' out for the camera.

drooly-face.

man, i love that cheese.

lincoln is a pretty good baby. he's not as happy as some of my other baby's have been, in fact, he is easily the whiniest baby. he also wins the award for the most annoying cry which is more of a scream. but i thinks he's my funniest baby. he does things that make me laugh all the time. i also think he's the snuggliest baby. now, don't misunderstand. i wouldn't really call him a snuggler, but i do get more snuggles from him than i ever got with my other babies.

he's constantly moving around and will rarely sit still. for that reason changing his diaper is typically a two-person deal. he loves to climb and wrestle. he's really amazed us with his climbing ability. he's starting to walk a lot now. he can stand up in the middle of the floor and walk around. he's also very noisy. i can hear him right now. all the kids are supposed to be down for nap and i can hear him loudly talking to himself and making random noises.

he's a pretty funny baby and we all enjoy laughing at him and playing with him.

where's linkies?

this is a video of lincoln playing peek-a-boo. i giggle every time i watch this. i think my baby is so cute.

maughan hollow

we went hiking again last saturday but due to computer troubles (again) i am just getting the pictures up.

we started out hiking the right hand fork trail. as i mentioned last week, the water is crazy here right now and the river was all over the place. there was water on much of the trail as you can see from the picture below.

we passed over this first section and a couple other wet spots without much difficulty. then we came to this:

uh, ya, that's the trail. where you ask? right there. that raging rither of death you see. apparently the river is so full it decided to jump tracks and go down the trail a ways. right where ethan is standing it flows back into its original course. the river is just to the right of maria.

we decided to head back at this point and take the high road, another trail from this same trailhead that goes up, up, up to maughan hollow.

i told you it was up. the kids quickly got tired but it was a beautiful trail, one of my favorites so far. the downside is the steep drop off on the right side. we had to hold libby's hand most the way for fear she'd tumble down the mountain. so for that reason, and the fact that it is so steep we declare this is not the best of hikes for kids. more pictures:

beautiful, yes? loved the mountain views. the dirt was very red on this trail.

we saw and attempted to identify many different plants. this is lupine. we also saw arrow-leaved balsamroot and a few other things that i have yet to positively identify. i'm working on being able to identify more plants and know their uses. plants are amazing! there are many uses for the balsamroot. many.

snack time. thank goodness we brought those snacks. that was the incentive to get the kids to walk longer.

ethan is explaining to maria why it's important to stay on the trail. they found a spot where someone had gone of the trail and the result was erosion. ethan and i like to teach the kids as much as we can when we are on the trail. we must be doing a good job because maria told us, "you guys know everything about the mountains!" i told her that was because our parents took us to the mountains so much.

i love this picture. look at them mountains in the background (and them handsome boys)!

tree seat.

we had a great time on this trail. we only got sprinkled on just a little and the rest of the hike was just about perfect.

we don't get to go into the mountains this saturday, but we will still be having fun. ethan and i are going to a homeschool convention while the kids play with cousins all day. i do have some stinking cute pictures of linkies to post, plus maria's soccer pictures, so watch for more stuff coming soon.