Bear Lake

We had such a great time last year that we have decided to make an annual last weekend of summer vacation camping trip to Emigration and Bear Lake.  I hate that it already happened and it's back to school now, but we had a great time last weekend.  We camped a few nights and spent a day at the lake.

We started the day off playing on this giant water trampoline that Floyd's parents have.  The kids loved it and I spied a few envious onlookers. 

When Annie was about two, she made Grandpa Griffiths help her down this slide something like 189 times one day.  Good news - she still likes it!  This time it was Grandpa Clair's lucky turn to help her down.  And seven other grandkids.

Up next was tubing time.  First up - Josh and Cole.

Meanwhile, Annie and Savannah entertained themselves by chanting "dump them off" over and over.  And then over and over again.  It's a mystery where they learned that.

We got a thumbs up from Cole after the ride.  Summertime and the livin' is easy.

'

And pretty soon it was time for the girls. 

We got a thumbs up from them too!  Savannah's even came with a smile.

Annie's smile was back a few minutes later.

Cole had a smile for us too.

And then it was Ben Shlumpy's turn.  He was so excited.  He laughed the entire time and kept on waving at everyone.

Note to Floyd:  it's totally fine if you crop me out of pictures taken at the lake in swimsuit when I've already been camping for a few days. 

I'm not sure how long it would take these kiddo's to get sick of riding the tube.  Longer than one day, that's for sure.  Every few times, Ben would hop up and say, "my turn!"  So even mom got in quite a few rides.  Plus a wild one with Aunt Kell.

Please note:  The babies are still suffering from the "impossible to get three babies to look at the camera together" syndrome even though they are now 2-year-olds.

The big kids all loved jumping off the boat, which has never been a favorite activity of mine.  That won't shock anyone, I'm sure.

Cole never even plugs his nose when he jumps in.  He definitely didn't learn that trick from me.

Ben, of course, wanted in on some of the fun and was a little jumper too.  That kid will give anything a try.

Of course, in between rides, there was a lot of sand playing going on.

When that got old, it was time to try the knee board.  Savannah was our pioneer and she made it look too easy by getting up on the first try and taking a nice long ride.  All smiles, of course.

 Josh was none too pleased that it was actually a little trickier than it looked.

 Cole was incredibly persistent and wouldn't stop until he got up.  And he did!  Woo-hoo!  He made it a couple hundred yards.

 Little Miss Petunia had no interest in trying the knee board, but thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the boat ride.  'Cept when we weren't going "full speed," which to her is the only way to travel by boat.  She loves it.

Thanks for the great time, Bear Lake!  We'll see you next year.