bear lake top ten

We went to Bear Lake with my family last Saturday.

My ten most memorable things about that trip:

1. Building a drip castle. Err, Kingdom.

complete with castle, cathedral and cemetery, blacksmith shop, stables, stone-laid roads, two motes, outer farmland and duke's chateau, central marketplace, trees, and village homes.

2. Nicholas before Sammy arrived: 

 Sitting in the shade, making us rinse the sand off his toes every few seconds, avoiding the camera, whining, asking for more cheetos, and using his hair and his eyebrows as napkins...  
(oh, and I forgot to bring his swimsuit...)

3. Nicholas after Sammy and his family joined us:

4. My mom finally getting Ellie to take a nap via the same method I napped at bear lake when I was her age.

5. The weather.  So perfect.  The lake water was the warmest I've ever felt it.  The beach was crowded.  As in, they actually closed access and stopped letting people in.  But we lucked out and didn't feel overcrowded in our spot. Oh, and we got to watch someone get married in a shade canopy up by the bathrooms.   Yeah, it was about as glamorous as it sounds...wedding gowns and swimsuits and a pavilion and an outhouse in the background...

6. Taking the raft out--Kent, Sarah, Josh, and me.  I was laughing so hard at one point that I thought I might drown.  To sum:  at one point Josh did an unintentionally perfect impression of a seal sliding back into the raft. The seal barking was intentional; the perfection was not.

7. So glad Kent got to come with.  And thank you, thank you, Mom, Dad, Sarah, everyone for helping with our kids so we got to do some playing too!

8.  Raspberry Lime shakes from Quick and Tasty.  Heaven in a paper cup.

9.   A moment of smartness that told me not to leave my keys in my unlocked car while I was sitting in my mom and dad's van while we were waiting for our shakes.  

Followed by a not-so-smart moment.  

Kent ordered a hamburger.  It was taking forever.  So my parents headed home.  Nicholas rode with them.  
Me, Kent, Sarah, and Ellie waited for Kent's food.
Kent's food came.
We got in the car.  
Where are the keys?

In my mom and dad's car. Heading home. In the canyon. No cell phone reception in the canyon.

Sent a text to Mom, Dad, and Josh.  "MY KEYS ARE IN YOUR CAR!  Cause I'm an idiot."
Knew it would be about 45 minutes before they saw the text and another hour after that before they could come back for us.

10.  SO, we walked. We tried to help a man driving a semi cab find a house named "3D."  We stood in line to get a taco and then changed our minds. We sampled fudge. Ellie was happy as a clam in the moby wrap. We read a sign about fish that are androgynous to Bear Lake. (six species!)  We found a  place that sold a survival tent, a pink sleeping bag, an air mattress, gas station food, ice cream, chandeliers, and cabin furniture (all in one place).  

And Dad came and rescued us. We bought him a brisket sandwich, got one more raspberry lime shake, and called it a day.