Bear Lake Chronicles - Beach Fun

Summer is not complete without a va-k to the beach. For us that means a trip to Bear Lake, Utah with Larry's family. This year all of Larry's sisters, minus one, and his parents were able to come. That brings the total of beach bums to 31. There were times of chaos, times of fun, times of concern for the safety of children, and a little drama. But isn't that the recipe for all family reunions? We enjoyed ourselves so much that it will take a couple of posts to cover it all. The kids ran from sunup to sundown. And the first question asked every morning was "When are we going to the beach??"

Brooke taking a break from the water and enjoying Aunt Charlotte's company. Or CHAR let as we like to call her. Gives it more of a southern drawl that way.
Brooke trying to swim with flippers on. She decided that she liked the old fashioned way of swimming better and ditched the flippers right after the picture.
Brendan enjoying an afternoon on the boat. He has his shirt on because the day before he burned so bad we referred to his skin as "crunchy". By the end of the week his face was also over done. The best part of boating is the water weenie. You never know what is going to happen. Will we ride for a long time? Will we get ditched right away? Will we crash hard or softly?? Well this crash was hard! Larry was driving and you would think he would be careful with his lovely wife, but apparently he thought it would be more fun to dump his sister hard.

Nancy, me and Aunt Cindy

And getting back on that thing in the water can be a little tricky. Everytime I got my leg up it would slide right back off as I tried to pull myself back on. And it didn't help that we were all laughing hysterically the whole time because I couldn't get on. Finally my sister in law pulled me up by my life jacket which just about strangled me in the process. I looked like a turtle. It was ridiculous. But we loved every minute of it. On Larry's first ride he got dumped hard and got a vicious knee in the ribs which resulted in some cracked ribs (I should clarify that a dr has not been consulted in this matter. Larry has had broken ribs before and is going on past experience). So needless to say he didn't get in the water the rest of the day. However, he got to provide rides for everyone else and all agreed that he is the best driver : ) Jeff, Bella and Brendan getting ready for a ride.

Jeff pulling the kids out of the water after Larry dumped them. Is there no limit to his torture?? Dumping his own kids?? Who would do such a thing?? A fun loving dad that's who!
Lily did not go in the boat this year as they did not have life jackets small enough to fit her. But that was ok with her. She enjoyed leisurely rides in her own personal boat. It even had a horn.
And of course no trip to the beach is complete without building sandcastles! The trick was getting Lily to stop sitting on them and crushing them before they were actually finished.
We found out on this trip that my camera does not like excessive sunlight. I had a hard time getting clear pictures of everyones face. But I loved this picture of Brendan and Lily all the same. You don't need the crystal clear picture to see the pure joy in her face and the pure love in his. He loves Lily so much and is such a good big brother to her. He spent a lot of time playing with her on the beach, splashing around making her laugh.
The beach at Bear Lake is great because it stretches on for miles and during the week it is not very crowded. People are really good about spreading out and giving you a lot of room. So at times it feels like you are on your own personal beach. And the sand is full of little tiny shells which the kids love. We always enjoy the time we spend there. As for the time we spent away from the beach....... those chronicles will be posted later!