Bear Lake 2010

Tyler's family has camped at Bear Lake for 80 summers, ever since his grandmother was a little tike.  Now I am a part of the tradition, as is our son.  Lincoln was born into a heritage of clear waters, rocky sands, campfires and group meals.  Lucky kid.

Bear lake started with a long, leisurely drive.  Speckled with moments of terror, when my father-in-law's truck, pulling TWO trailers, nearly toppled over in the winding canyon.  They made it, though.  Catastrophy skillfully avoided!

Lincoln slept,

and ate.

Upon arrival at our group campsite, we adjusted into typical Bear Lake mode.  Clock and calendar went out the window, and our priorities adjusted to include:

Jet skis, sun, sand and water.

Here's Tyler's parents and mine heading out to explore the lake.  Awesome adventures?  Yes, please!  I was really scared at first, but once I adjusted to the idea of going as fast as a car over the choppy surface of a lake without any helmet or the body of a car to protect me if I fell, I was ok.  When the lake was smooth, I even amped it up to 56 mph!  Of course, I was still gripping the handlebars like death and screaming, while everyone else was doing tricks and turning the jet skis on a dime, cranking out donuts, etc.  My mom is a daredevil on those things!  I always forget she grew up in California, near a lake, so it was like coming home for her.

Evan outdid us all by driving with a broken wrist. 

And Lincoln?  Well, Lincoln was in heaven.  He's an outdoor, water baby in every fiber of his little baby-boy being.  He played in the water, played in the sand, played in the grass.  He was a busy little explorer.

He had both sets of grandparents there on Saturday. 

Obsessed with wheels, Lincoln was pointing them out everywhere, 

even scouring Home Living and Family Circle magazines for those rare car ads.  An excited "OOOOOH!" erupted when he spotted one.

His favorite toys involve wheels, too, of course.

I thought my tummy would get some sun.

Instead I burnt my legs. 

I forgot to reapply sunscreen in the midst of all my picture-taking.  As usual, I was snap-happy.

(Yes, Lincoln's fingernails looked like this the whole time.)













My mom took some of my favorite photos, though, while I was out jet skiing.  Bill (father-in-law) was playing with Abby with his typical boyish energy.  Love it!

Tyler's mom has had many birthdays up at Bear Lake; that's what you get when you're born in July in this family.  This weekend was one of those for her.  I really like my mother-in-law.  She's easygoing and knows how to balance her life to protect her happiness.  Dollmaking, running, eating healthy, and loving her family are a few things that characterise this woman.  I'm learning a lot from her.  :-)

Thanks to Bill and Lori for letting us sleep in their trailer this year.  We even brought Lincoln's crib mattress and put it on the floor so he would feel at home as possible.  And aside from me getting embarrassingly cranky about getting interrupted while putting the baby to sleep, this situation worked out pretty well.  Maybe next year we'll bring a tent, though, so Tyler's parents don't have to sleep out in their truck! 

What would camping be without a huge fire?  This family knows how to build a good one, too.  It gets cold up there at night, so we all huddle around to get warm and eat smores or bratwurst.  I didn't want to bother everyone with my flash, so I didn't take many pictures around the campfire, except of course of Katie, who is really fun to photograph.  Mainly because she's so adorable. 

Every year there is a craft, and I was so happy to bleach shirts again.  I wish I had taken more photos of other people's shirts, because they were all so awesome!  Tyler's pregnant cousin Alyssa even made a "bun in the oven" shirt.  I loved how into it the teenagers were. 

Here's mine:

I made an octopus in Evan's honor.  It's his favorite animal.

Katie's looked cooler.  I'm going to have to get more practice in the octopus-drawing department. 

When I first met Tyler, I quickly realized that Bear Lake shaped his summer.  He has never missed a trip his entire life.  And I can understand why.

I wouldn't want to miss this much fun, either! 

Already looking forward to next year.