Bear Lake

We were fortunate to be able to take a trip up to Bear Lake over memorial day weekend. Scott's parents were kind to pay for our glamping experience and we are so grateful for it. Originally, we weren't going to be able to be up there until Sunday morning since Scott had to work on Saturday. However, he was able to get off early and I'm glad that we were able to spend an extra night there. The drive went great and the kids were so good. Kylie fell asleep for most of the drive and Jordan played with his little piano and read books. We arrived at Bear Lake by 6:45 and met up with the Peirce family. They slept in a tent while we and Scott's parents and brother slept in a tent. The tents were so spacious!! I couldn't believe how much room we had, it was amazing. We cooked up some hot dogs and s'mores for dinner. We then just talked the rest of the night and went to our own places by 8:30 since it started to get really cold. We put both kids in the pack n play so they could be warmer and they were having too much fun. I put a movie on the iPad and they eventually fell asleep to a movie. It was super cold throughout the night though, so it was a restless sleep. I did have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I loved seeing all the stars in the sky. It had been a while since I've seen the sky so full of stars.

Sunday was a full day. The kids woke up at about 6 in the morning and it was still freezing outside. Around 7, we headed to the main lodge to go to the bathroom and then get free hot chocolate. It started to become warmer and the kids wanted to go play at the playground, so we did that and then put Jordan down for a nap. He slept for about an hour and then we headed to the beach side of bear lake. We didn't bring swimsuits as the water was way too cold, but it sure was hard to keep Jordan away from the water. The kids played in the sand and flew kites brought by Brita. Scott's parents and Andrew showed up (from their vacation to Oregon and Canada) and then we all had lunch. We headed back to the campground so I could put the kids down for a nap. It was too bad though because they didn't sleep at all while Scott was gone with everyone else. I was tired too and it was just frustrating that they wouldn't go down. Everyone else ended up going to a cemetery where some of the Fletcher ancestors are buried. Once they came back, the kids played at the playground and in the activity tent (where there was a ping pong table, air hockey and two arcade games). We had tin foil dinners, s'mores and banana boats to eat before we had a family home evening. Brita gave a lesson on the ancestors that ended up in St. Charles, Idaho and Bear Lake. Everyone then headed to bed around 9:30. It was not nearly as cold as the night before, so Scott and I sat and talked by the fire for a bit.

On Monday, Jordan woke up at 6am again and wanted to play right away. Scott took him to go get hot chocolate, while Kylie still slept, and we had muffins and fruit for breakfast. We started packing up our tents and the kids played at the playground while we did that. Everyone but us went to go to the Minnetonka ice caves. We decided that our kids would have a hard time walking 888 steps in an ice cave, so we opted to do a bike ride instead. It cost about the same as the caves and the kids sure enjoyed the ride. The bike was fun and we rode it for about 45 minutes (we rented it for an hour). After that, we got some lunch and a chocolate raspberry shake and then headed home. The kids fell asleep pretty quickly and it was another good drive home. Once we got home, we gave the kids a bath right away and Scott and I took showers. We relaxed for a bit until we headed off to a BBQ with friends. Kylie went to bed by 7:30 and Jordan was in bed by 8. Scott played some soccer and I fell asleep when he left at 9:30. We were all so tired from such a fun vacation.