BEAR LAKE 2012

We had an absolute blast this year at Bear Lake.  We LOVE LOVE LOVE Bear Lake.  It is so much fun to be there with the whole Smith family.  We had some new family members this year too!  Since Erica was married just after we came home from Europe, there were 4 new boys/men to add to the party!  They came last year too, but not as part of the family!  So it was super fun.   Something also really fun- Courtney and the kids, and Mal were also able to come up and spend a whole day with us at the beach.  It was so much fun to have them up there spending some time with us and seeing what we have the opportunity to do each year. 
     We had great times playing at the beach, riding on the boats, swimming in the lake, and LOTTTTTS of swimming in the pool!  My kids were WAY into swimming this year, and it was really fun to see them gaining confidence throughout the week.  They jumped off the diving board, swam in the deep end, across the pool, and Morgan even was confident enough to go down the slide a few times!  The highlight of the week for Lincoln was when we made a deal for him to jump off of the diving board without his life jacket, and he would get the BIGGEST raspberry milkshake he's ever had in his LIFE!  Well, he was all over that!  He did it with no hesitation and got that milkshake and a tummy ache to boot!  It was so worth it for that little dude though.  He loved every bite. 
    Bear Lake is always a little bit rough on the nap/sleep schedule, but the kids actually did pretty good- considering.  Morgan took a few naps in the tent, Stockton was a GREAT sleeper, and it helps to go to bed on time when you don't go to bed until 10:00 p.m. or so! 
     We had so much fun doing everything that we could.  We mini-golfed, played on our scooters TONS, played on the grass, ate LOTS of great food, played volleyball, and just relaxed.  Well, as relaxed as you can be running all over the place!  :)  We love Bear Lake, and can't wait until next year!

Catchin' some zzzz's anywhere he can!  Poor 4th child. 

She could have done this ALL DAY!!!  There were a few days that she actually did.  She had so much fun!

In the boat, Stockton was VERY upset, unless I laid him down on the ground, then he was fine! :)

Wow- Morgan LOVED the tube.  She kept wanting to go faster and faster!

She also loved the jetski and could have ridden it all day.  So cute- and such a daredevil on some things!

Lincoln wasn't quite as daring as he was last year, but he still had a great time with Carson.  If Carson was doing anything, so were both of my boys!  They LOVE LOVE LOVE Carson!

Every now and then, Lincoln needed just a minute to wind down with some "electronic time". 

Brothers' gotta HUG!

Golfing?  Or sword fighting?  or BOTH?!

Haulin off the diving board! 

The fateful jump that got him the "biggest milkshake he's EVER had!"

All 16 of the Smith Grandkids- SO CUTE!

My cute family :)

Playing at the park is a MUST as much as we can!  Love it. 

Eating cheetos in the tent!

Camping in Laramie!

Before we headed to Bear Lake this year, we decided that we were going to take a few days and camp along the way!  It has been a long time since I have been able to camp for more than a night anywhere, so it was really fun to be able to set up shop and just hang for a bit!  We were planning on trying to meet some of my family in Flaming Gorge, but no one ended up being able to meet. Darn it!  We were still planning on going to Flaming Gorge, but we ended up leaving Denver too late.  So, we did what we always do- we improvised and winged it!  We got onto the road, and I used my phone to look for some place to camp.  We ended up deciding on a place just outside of Laramie called Snowy Range at a campground called Brooklyn Lake.  We didn't get there until dark, but we still found a great camp spot, and it is a good thing that we got there when we did, because the next day, the whole place filled up!  We had our pick when we got there though- so that was nice.  It was a great time!  Before the trip, Cole was able to take Lincoln to the store and he picked out a cool little paddle boat floatie-thingy.  He was SOOOO excited about it!  Since we camped right next to this awesome little lake- Brooklyn Lake- we were able to use the boat a little bit and break it in before we used it at Bear Lake.  The lake was FREEZING, but the kids still swam in it, and they had a great time!  It's at times like this that I am kind of glad that I have a baby to take care of. :)  Everyone had a great time though, and we only had a LITTLE bit of rain right when we were putting up our tent!  It was awesome!  Unprecedented for us actually.  But the wind during the night was CRAZY!  It totally kept Cole and I up it was so loud!  One of the nights poor little Morgan was having a hard time- she has a hard time at night a lot of nights and we can't figure out why! Poor little baby. Anyways...she cries a lot, I think because she is uncomfortable, but she was crying, and waking Stockton up so we ended up bringing her into bed with us.  That quieted her down for a little while, but then she cried for a minute again and she woke Stockton up!  Yikes!  So, we had to bring the little buddy into bed with us too.  So we were all sorts of snuggly warm- all 4 of us in a sleeping bag.  :)  The boys didn't budge through the WHOLE thing though- so there was a plus to it all.  All in all- it was a great time!  We did some makeshift Smith family Olympics complete with some hammer throw, javelin, and we were going to start up with the sprints, but we decided on a hike instead!  The hike we went on was VERY fun, and we got up to this beautiful little Glacial Lake (don't know what it was called!) and took some pictures.  We were even lucky enough to witness one of the BIGGEST BLOWOUTS in baby history!  There was poop ALL OVER Stockton!  And when I say all over, I mean ALL OVER!  Of course, we didn't bring any sort of wipes or diapers or a change of clothes up with us, so we just had to hike back down covered in poop.  Adds to the experience right?!  That's what I say!  We got there on Friday night, hung all day Saturday, and Sunday morning, we packed up our car again, and were on the road to Bear Lake!

Hangin out by the lake!  So cute down there.

This lake was cold.  And by cold, I mean FREEZING!

SHe wanted NOTHING to do with more than her little toesies in the water!

He was LOVING this paddle boat!  It was so cute...when they were at the store, he was so excited about it, that he even asked Cole if they could go home so that he could get his money out of his piggy bank so that he could pay for it.  How cute is that?!  Cole was nice enough to foot the bill for this one. 

Paytons legs were a little bit short, but he managed to tool around as much as he wanted to around the lake

Just hangin trying to get warm after swimin in the lake!

And lest you think this little dude wasn't there...Ta-Da! 

Proof that Cole braved the cold water and swam with the kids!  What a stud!

Stockton and I did a lot of this...

Payton did a lot of this!  Shocker...I know.

The 4 cutest kids on the pLANET!

He's into the "I'm gonna pull a funny face just to make mom mad" phase every time I pull out the camera.  Charming, I must say!

She's just starting to hike on her own, and she is fast!....NOT!  But she looks dang good though.

We love climbing trees

Cute in a field of wildflowers.  Such a sweetheart!

We found a log and the boys were SOOO excited to get some single shots of themselves up on this log.  So funny.

Into the ninja/warrior/hit anything that is in front of me- stuff

Best family shot we got....dang piece of grass that got in the way!

This little princess LOVES her Daddy!

Proof of the mega-blowout

He's happy now!

Morning sunshine!