A Beach Day @ Bear Lake

Yesterday...I tried to plan a beach day at Bear Lake. I am either lousy at planning outings or summers are just busy for families...cause we invited like 7-8 families and it ended up only being me and Mandy, but we still had alot of fun and so did the kids and I am so glad we did it.

We went over about noon....to North Beach. Way cool beach. You drive your vehicle right up to the beach. So Nice. We tried to feed the kids lunch while they played in the sand and in the water. The temp. was actually perfect, but after about 2 hours....it started to get really windy and all of our stuff was blowing away.

My kids were making me laugh. I have not taken them to Bear Lake since Corey was like 1 years old. (So Cade was not even born.) So they were so confused.... WHY IS IT CALLED BEAR LAKE? IS IT LIKE A RIVER? CAN WE FALL IN? IS IS VERY BIG? WHAT IS A LAKE? So as we came over the hill and they saw the lake...all their questions were answered. OH IT IS LIKE THE OCEAN WITH NO WAVES AND IT IS NOT SALTY. AND THERE ARE NO SHARKS. They loved the water because you could walk out forever and it never gets too deep. They loved that. And it makes it easier for moms too.....not having to chase after your baby everytime he runs into the water. Even though the water is a bit chilly...it was hot enough the kids loved it. They played in the sand and played with the balls we brought and floated on the floaties. It was really a good time. Casen was hilarious though. He is such a GIRL. He hated gettting dirty...which is impossible to not get dirty with the sand. In the water...he kept getting mud on him and he would freak out. So then we would wash it off and he was better. It was funny. I remember Cade was like that when he was little.....when I took him to the beach in CA. he was the same way.

After we packed up to go home.....we stopped at La Beaus and got shakes and fries. Their rasberry shakes never disappoint, but my kids don't even get through a third of their shakes...I always forget how big they are. Then we stopped on the way home at the look out point and took pictures. Bear Lake is really pretty and such a fun vacation town. I think we need to plan a little camping weekend there soon. Daddy needs to come with us next time.

And these pics are disapointing of me...I am so WHITE and it is the middle of the summer. And I am starting to look prego. For those of you who do not know...I am almost 12 weeks prego and starting to look FLUFFY. And I hate tanning or being in the sun too long. It makes me sick! So there is a good reason that I am so WHITE. I need another spray tan.

When I get back from my parents house in CA...I want to plan another beach day here and get more families to come. SO FUN! Anyone want to come?

Fun Week with Cousins

My sister Steph and her family live in California now...pretty close to my parents. So we do not get to see them a whole lot anymore. When we take our yearly trip to Ca.....we do get to see them then, but not as much as we would like. The kids really play good together and have a fun time and I get to catch up with my sister. Her kids are Faith (9), Taylor (7), Wright Jr. (4) and Tristan (2). We use to get to see them like 10 times a year and now that they have moved to CA, we only get to see them 1-2 times a year.

So she was going to be in Utah anyway for her parents-in-laws mission homecoming...so she drove up a few days early with all the kids to spend a few days with us...and Auntie Becca go to come too for 1.5 days. We had alot of fun....alot of relaxing around the house, but also some fun activities in between the relaxing.

Steph arrived Saturday night at around 9 PM, so we just had enough time to let the kids play for 2 hours and then get them to bed. We did have a little time to catch up too.

Then Sunday...we took our 7 kids to the last 2 hours of church. We were not going to attempt 7 kids and two adults in Sacrament meeting. After church we had a nice lunch and by then Becca had gotten there to hang out with us . It is so fun to have the siblings together. We were just missing Em and Mike. Then that night we headed over to Grandpa's house in Wellsville. He always has alot of fun stuff for us to do. I stayed at his house cause Tristan and Casen had fallen asleep. And they took the kids over to the dam to feed the ducks and feed the horses. (I loved all the pics and wish I could have been in a few.) Then after the dam, the kids came and played in the Canal in front of gramps house...we walked over to the playground and let the kids play....rode the 4-wheeler....and went and visited Grandma's grave. All in all it was an eventful night and I am sure we wore Grandpa out. And we also got home to a great surprise.....daddy and all his friends home from Alaska....YEAH!

Then Monday...we packed up the kids and headed over to the Logan Aquatic Center, but it was closed for maintenance...so we headed over to the pool in Brigham City instead. We actually stayed for 3-4 hours and the kids loved it. There was a fun slide, a diving board, sand for sand castles, and a kiddy swimming area. Later that night.... we came home and had a yummy BBQ with hamburgers and hot dogs. Me, Becca, and Steph watched the Bachelorette too that night after the kids went to bed....Becca did have to leave half way thru to get home for early work the next day! Sad to see her go....

Tuesday we had a fun day in our backyard....letting the kids swim and do slip-n-slide. They really enjoyed the new slide we have too. Then later that night...we went and got some $5 pizzas and took the kids to a nearby park. They had alot of fun and it wore them out too. That night we made our own Bazookie cookie desserts and watched Americas got Talent and then put the kids to bed.

Wednesday was a quick morning of getting ready, packing and saying our Good-Byes. It was so fun to have them here...even though I am worn out and need to catch up on some sleep. We were up pretty late everynight chatting. I was sad to see them leave, but not so sad because we get to see them in a couple weeks .......me and the kids are headed to CA. to see Grandma and Grandpa and Family.

Another Enjoyable Alaska Trip

This year Matt, his brothers Toph and Chad, nephew Jaice, Dad Norm, and a few friends.. Mike, JD, Ammon, and Dean all went to Ketchickan. Once again it was a fun trip....a few mishaps along the way still didn't ruin the trip....a few guys missing their flight, the fishing boat they rented was cancelled for mechanical problems, and Matt feeling a little under the weather that first day.

They still wake up at 3 AM to go fishing and then go fishing at 10 at night, and come home so sleep deprived, but for some reason it is still considered a vacation for them.

The highlights are always the fishing of course, the Eagles, the Bears, and the awesome fish tacos and fish meals that are prepared. Matt always says the fish tastes so much better fresh, in Alaska, then after he brings it home and we cook it up. Maybe it is the chef? They did some fishing off the boat too. This year he said the fish were a little more clean and they look about the same size as last year. Another bonus for Matt was that he had his nephew there Jaice (10 ) to tease. Matt is such a tease. He kept teasing Jaice that he was going to tape him up with duct tape to the park bench outside where the bears were. So all of a sudden everyone was missing their tape. Jaice had hid all the tape in the house and he was hiding out from Matt. I think he thought Matt was serious.

All in all they had a good time and even Norm (dad) had a good time observing. (Norm just had surgery a couple months ago for Appendix Cancer and was still healing, but he still wanted to go).

Fun Week w/ Kiddos

Matt is in Alaska this week and the kiddos are missing him...especially Casen. Casen says "DADDA" like 50 times a day. It is actually kind of getting annoying. I am ready for Matt to come home....cause his son has an obsession with him. And Casen keeps seeing Matt's truck in the garage and thinks Matt is home....but really daddy is gone....they all drove together in a friends HUGE van to the Idaho Falls airport. And everytime I go out in the garage for something...Casen follows me out and I find him sitting on Matt's 4-wheeler and he is saying DADDA.

Anyway, we decided to take it easy this week. I had a lot to do around the house....so during the day...we would stay home and just veg and get the housework done.Then at night I would take the kids someplace fun.

One night we went bowling...which was pretty fun. Casen was quite a challenge though...not sitting in his stroller. The first game Cade placed first, me second and Corey third. And the second game...I placed first, Cade placed second and Corey placed third. (You do have to remember that they are playing with bumpers and I am not). But you know how much that bugged Corey. I had to hear about it all night...that she lost both games. She usually wins every game we play or at least does better than Cade. She eventually got over it.

I also took the kids to Firehouse Pizza one night for their awesome Bazooki dessert. So worth it, but once again Casen was a pain in the butt.

Another night we went to Golden Corral... the kids favorite eating place...and also moms favorite place for dessert. Casen actually did well there. I just kept finding stuff he liked.....the Nachos were his fav.

And another night I took the kids to see Toy Story. It was a cute movie...I even got teary eyed toward the end. Casen was a pain there too, but there was barely anyone in the theatre...so it was not too bad.

We had a fun week and a relaxing week, but we were excited to see daddy come home. Oh and Casen did go to his first week of nursery at church and he did awesome. It was such a relief. He did not even care that I was gone. When Matt came home...all the kids including Casen ran to dad with the best HUGS and KISSES ever.

The 4th of July Weekend

Had a super fun, but busy weekend....almost too busy. I am resting from a vacation weekend...exhausted! Friday night we had a BBQ with family and friends and it turned out really great, but what do you know...I forgot to take Pics. I am terrible at that! We had a nice dinner with Hot dogs and Hamburgers and the usual summer spread of side dishes. Super yummy! Then we let the kids swim, while the adults chatted and the guys played Botchy Ball (something to that effect). Then after the kids were done swimming... we got ready for the fireworks. We can see the stadium fireworks from our house and hear them if we tune into the radio station from the stadium. The kids had alot of fun watching those and it was relaxing to be at our own home and not in the mess of traffic and crowds. Matt and some of the other dads also let off some of our own fireworks and sparklers which the kids loved even more. I think it was a hit and everyone had a good time. Wish we had some pics.

Then Saturday we spent a few hours cleaning up...then we went to lunch with some friends and family...and then that night we met the cousins on Main Street for the Annual Old Car Show. It turned out nice and the smell of exhaust was not too bad. I thought Casen would be freaked out, but he actually did really good. He does not like the loud noise of trucks, motorcylces, lawn mowers, etc. But I think he got use to it and realized it was just for fun!

Monday we went to the Hyrum Parade for the first time ever! We had some friends who had a daughter dancing in the parade, so we thought we would head over and check it out. We were suppose to meet friends over there, but the parade was so crowded and there was mass confusion, so we just sat our chairs where we could find space. The kids enjoyed it and filled up their candy bags. I forgot sunscreen, so I was so worried about them getting burnt. The parade was about 2 hours long, but we left after about 1.5 hours. We were finished and we beat the traffic. I love parades, but it was the LONGEST PARADE ever. I was ready to leave. After the parade, I had the kids run a few errands with me and then we decided to go to the pool for a few hours (Matt was going to meet us over there, but he ended up working and having to get stuff ready for Alaska. He left today..WED.). So we had fun at the pool...it was actually not too crowded. It was a little windy..so maybe that kept people away. My kids loved the slides. Corey got super brave and went on the straight-down one about 5 times. She loved it! Mandy and her kids also met us there for about an hour, which was fun too!

Later that night we went to AGGIES for dinner with family, which was so NOT relaxing with 3 rowdy and tired kids. It was fun to try out a new restaraunt...and we even had Tai Wesley...the Aggies bball player as our waiter. Then to finish off the night...we took our kids and went and saw the Lewiston Fireworks. Casen started out a little scared and then ended up loving them. It is so fun to see a little baby experience things for the first time. He is so cute, but OH so active right now. I am having a hard time keeping up!

It was a fun weekend, but now I need a vacation from our vacation weekend! Need a few naps and some couch potato time.