bear lake

The kids and I joined my family for a day at Bear Lake last week.
The weather was perfect. The water was incredibly warm.
And, despite my fears, my usually water-fearing children actually got in the lake
and had a fantastic time.
I am so glad we went.  

Ellie had so much fun that she was skip-running around, stopping every so often to raise her arms up and cheer.
Nicholas told me it was the very best day and that we should come back to the lake "maybe tomorrow or sometime like that."

Ellie spent the first part of the day happy as a clam in the shade tent where all the snacks were.

she consumed an incredible amount of sand.

she drew lines in the wet ground with the side of a shovel.

she covered our toes with smushy sand.

she crumbled up her pringles and dropped them in her water cup.

and she dipped her licorice in lake water.  Mmm.

Midway through the afternoon, I put on my suit and sat with Ellie by the edge of the water.

She was very unsure at first,

but soon she realized how nice the water was and she was a splashing little fishy for the rest of the day.

Nicholas had his best cousin-friend, Sam, there, so he was brave and happy the whole time.

He played so hard that he didn't stop to eat the whole day.  He ate in the car on the way home late that night.

We tried to help him up, but he preferred laying in the tube like this--nearly falling on his face--because he could reach the ground and pull himself around with his fingers.

He's looking at this picture right now while I write this and he said, 

"You're right! I was going to fall in the water! Good thing I didn't tip."

 Goldfish in the sand.  Did I mention she ate a lot of sand?

We stayed late-didn't leave the beach until nearly 8 pm.  The evening sunlight is beautiful on that lake.

In all my memories of Bear Lake as a child, the hours after 5 pm are the best at the lake.  The crowds clear out, the water seems warmer,

and if you luck out and avoid the nasty wind/sand storms that happen sometimes,

the evening at the lake is just amazing.

We stayed as long as possible, packed up, washed sand off of little bodies, stopped at Quick and Tasty for raspberry lime shakes (of course!) and drove back home.

We're staying at my parents' house all this week for the Fourth of July.  Fireworks, barbecues, Kent's birthday, and lots of wedding planning going on around here.
I love summer.