Utah: Bear Lake reunion fun

Liz put together a cute tea party for all the girl cousins one day and Michelle did some fun water games for all the boy cousins. The kids loved it. There was also a fun family jeopardy game that night where we got to learn a lot of fun facts about everyone. We attempted some family photos that night as well. And La Beau's raspberry shakes were definitely consumed that day as well.

Utah: Bear Lake

I loved taking advantage of the cooler mornings and low humidity and doing a few runs along the lake. There was a great bike/running trail near our rental house.

We had a fun time at the lake one day. We spent hours just playing in the sand and water and trying out the giant water trampolines, a pontoon boat and a canoe. That night we had a girls' night and went out to dinner and saw a fun play at the Pickleville Playhouse.

Utah: Arriving at Bear Lake

We were so relieved to finally have a nonstop flight after so many difficulties with connections in the past. The kids were so great on our flight to Salt Lake. They were all so excited when we woke them up at 5 a.m. to get to the airport. The trickiest part is always getting all the kids and luggage and car seats from the parking lot to the parking shuttle to the check-in. Ruby was a champion traveler and with our early, nonstop flight we were in Salt Lake by 10:30 a.m. We had to pile in a taxi to get to our rental car place which was not at the airport (but saved us a TON of money on our minivan rental).

Ben was feeling nostalgic for Crown Burger/Apollo Burger so we stopped there for lunch and then had to try Swig, one of the many Utah soda/cookie shops. Then we were on our way to Logan. We stopped there briefly to see Dan and his family (who had just moved there the week before!) and let the kids play while I picked up groceries for our Bear Lake trip. Then it was off to Bear Lake. I love the drive through Logan Canyon. Everything was so beautiful and it was nice to be in some cooler weather.

It was great to see all of Ben's family (his parents and all siblings but one were able to be there). We rented a giant house that was fun for all of us to hang out in. The cousins got right down to business playing and it was fun to catch up with everyone.

Jones Point Park

Our final stop before heading home was a visit to Jones Point Park. We ate pizza under the bridge while we waited for evening traffic to clear up. The kids rode their scooters around and we walked to the lighthouse, getting out energy before our 4 hour drive home. We miss our almost weekly visits to this park to play, ride bikes under the bridge on a rainy day, run or walk across the bridge, or climb on rocks by the river. It's such a great use of the space and exciting to be under such a massive structure.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

I was so glad I could squeeze in a little adventure with Jessica. Since the girls were at the Little's house in the morning, I took the other 3 kids and met Jessica at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Even though we both got stuck in horrible traffic and our time was cut short, Kenilworth is such a gem in the middle of a pretty crappy area and worth the effort. The lotus were blooming (I love seeing them in all their different stages of blooming) and the walk around the ponds was just beautiful. I can never get enough of this place.

The kids got a little more play time with the Littles that afternoon before we started our journey back to North Carolina. The girls had worked on a play all morning and performed it for us. Oliver and Calvin had so much fun running around together.