Bear Lake and the 4th of July

At the last minute I decided to take the kids up to Bear Lake on the 2nd of July knowing that my Mom would not be up until the evening of the 3rd and Quinn the morning of the 4th. I know I sound crazy right, three kids in a tent by myself. I thought Grandma and Grandpa Moore would be there but they were not feeling well so it was just me, the kids and my Dad. It actually went really well, I was quite surprised because the last time I went to Bear Lake without Quinn it was just me and Emma. Things did not go well from the beginning. First she threw up in the car, then I ended up needing 12 stitches in my arm and finally she refused to sleep. We went home the next day. 

So the reason I did this was so Emma could play with Ally, who she hardly ever gets to see and they would only be there that first afternoon. It was worth it they had a blast and spent the whole time in the water. Liz, Chad, Ryan, Eric and Kaylee were also there. We sat on the beach and watched the kids play. Mia and Chad both got their first boat ride. The weather was beautiful and the water so warm because it was so hot out. I thought I was going to escape the heat wave but no it was just as hot there but without air condition. The weather was so good we didn't pull off the water until about 7:00 pm then we headed to La Beau's for dinner. We just happened to see Elder Tom L. Perry there with his huge family too.

Here are the girls - Ally, Emma and Kaylee

 

Wednesday we spent the day at the property just hanging out sweating in the shade while Dad worked all day in the hot sun laying some sewer pipe. Not fun for him but it is done and now he doesn't have to move his trailer. It was a very nice relaxing day. At one point Mia and James were napping and Emma was playing in the trailer so I actually got to sit and read with a Diet Coke. Heaven! But the afternoon it was so hot we just had to go get a shake. Yummy.



Reading books in the tent.

Playing games.

Just being cute.

Jeez how many hats do I need?

Cute kids.



Oreo shake.

Looking for boats.

Squirrel!

 

Emma's chain.

 

Thursday the 4th we had a great few hours on the beach. The weather was a bit cooler so it made the water feel a little more like July but we were still able to get in. The kids had a blast swimming and playing in the sand. We pulled off just before the storm hit and missed the hail at the beach and the rain at the property so we then got to enjoy a nice relaxing afternoon and evening.

 



Beach baby.

Happy 4th of July spent on the beach.

Building a sand castle.

 

Thursday night Mom and Dad had to go home and back to work so it was just us. We watched the fireworks out over the lake and then the next morning packed up at our leisure and headed home. On the way we decided to stop in Logan at the American West Heritage Museum. It was really fun. We learned about the Indians, Mountain Men, Pioneers and First Settlers. It was so hot though we didn't stay long enough to see it all. The kids were beat so we will definitely have to go back.

Mountain man and tepee.

Playing pioneer games.

On the train.

Making crafts.

 

Mia had a few firsts on this trip: first time at Bear Lake, on a boat and on a train. She also rolled over for the first time the day we got home and is now a pro. 

Lavender Family Picture Overload

At the end of June we had family pictures taken with all of Quinn's family. We had them taken at beautiful Memory Grove in Salt Lake. We only wish it had been a little cooler and that the sun was a little bit lower in the sky. Taking pictures in 100 degree weather is not the best. Mia also did not eat real well before we left but was so good. James was the hardest to get a smile out of and as you will see we didn't always succeed, but we are pretty happy with how they turned out and hanging out at the Training Table for dinner afterward was great!

The whole family.

 



 

 All the grandkids.

 



 

As you can see they all love being silly.

The brothers and the wives.

 

Our family.

It took just about everyone there to help us get these.

 

The older cousins are such good friends and have a great time when they are together.

 



Still just boys.

The girls.

 

The boys, kind of.

All of us again.

 



Grandma and Grandpa with their favorites.

 

Dinosaur Park in Ogden

Know Grandma Van Bibber had to work full time for a month we hit the Dinosaur Park in Ogden on her last free day. It was warm but we had a great time and it was not crowded at all. Thanks for a fun day Grandma.

Here we are looking pretty scared that we are going to be eaten.

These two are still scared.

This is the face from James that I get all day long right now. When will this phase end?

Looking at a dragonfly.

Dinosaur prints.

Emma in the window of the volcano slide.

Love the dinosaur slide.

Turtle, Turtle.

 

Mia just happy to be out of the stroller for a little while.

Digging for bones.

Emma is scared for real this time and won't look at the camera.

 

 

 

 

The Zoo

We finally bought a zoo pass so I packed up all three kids and headed to the zoo to enjoy the cooler weather before the heat hit. We had a great time and enjoyed the new Lego animals that are scattered all over the place. We were also able to get up close to a few animals and finally saw the bird show and it was so good. Overall a great day now if it would only stay out of the 90s and 100s we could go back.

A falcon, not a Perigan Falcon which would be Emma's favorite but still really cool.

Lego Frog

 



Lego Gorilla James

Lego Orangutan Emma

Always climbing and goofing off.

Watching the Sea Lion work on some training.

The very cool very big Lego Polar Bear.

Hey Taylor hope you haven't been this close to a grizzly bear like I have. It was very cool to see the three grizzly bears asleep in front of the glass window.

Mia's first time on the carousel.

Emma wanted to make sure that Mia got out the stroller to see the baby giraffe.

At the bird show, it was awesome. The birds fly right over your heads. At the beginning they ask you not to reach up and touch them because you really could.

The Bald Eagle

A Hawk