The Crowning Event

Don't you hate it when the computer has it's own mind? I can't get the cursor to the top pf this page, so I'll just start here where it keeps placing me! Pictured above are some of the very cute beds at my mom's cousins' beach house at Bear Lake. I forgot to take pictures of the room we stayed in, but my kids loved playing on the pirate ship the most. The third pic is in the surfer room and we stayed in the travel room where our triple bunk beds were designed as luggage- super cute!

Our last weekend in Utah we got to go to Bear Lake near where my great-grandmother grew up. This was the crowning event of the trip, not my mom's accident the day before when she tripped on a cord and smashed her face on the sidewalk, though that was memorable. She has healed nicely, at least she had when we last parted.

Bear Lake included a zip line perfect for kids and even grandmas.

I totally just blanked on the name of this special ATV (maybe it's just an ATV? though I thought it was called something different...) 

A fun playroom 

 Beautiful view from every side, this one happens to be from the Idaho side.

We celebrated Nikolas' first birthday. He ate his whole piece of cake and enjoyed every second of it! 

Erik loved the seesaw 

And of course the boat that Derek and Missy brought up with Missy's dad. 

More fun toys from Derek.

None of my kids went tubing, but Victoria loved riding the boat. Austin still talks about the "speedboat" he went on. Erik fell asleep on it and Karissa wouldn't set foot on it!

After recovering from the beach house, we celebrated Pioneer Day with a parade around my mom's neighborhood. Of course Grandpa Jim had to build a covered wagon last minute- so cool! 

Our final event: the race! It was Victoria's first race ever and she was excited, even though it was really early and she looks dead in this pic. She ran the 1 miler with Blake, Mariah, Natalie, Calvin, and Jake, and Layla. After I came in from the 10 K (ran with Derek, Missy, Karina, and Andrew) I ran it with her and she did very well, despite her nerves, coming in at around 8:24.  

I was much slower than my previous races, but that's what you get when you don't run more than 3 days a week. Derek and I got 27th (he for the men, me for the women, though he came in about 4-5 minutes before me). Missy came in 26th for the women and 3rd for her age-group, winning her a medal! Mariah and Layla also received medals. Way to go! 

Mariah with her medal and her buddy. Erik took a liking to Natalie and would go to her and Mariah often. 

We all had a great time in Utah, but were ready to go home when the time came. We got to visit with my cousin Celeste and her family on the way home. They only live 8 hours from our house! We got to visit an extra couple days with my mom before she flew back to Utah. Thanks for the great vacation everyone!!