Bear Lake Family Reunion

*You don't have to read this entire post because it is very long and I am mainly doing it for me and my family that wants to know what's going on. Just look at the pictures if you want. :)

In the middle of July we had a huge family reunion on my dad's side up at Bear Lake. My Grandma got us all condos and just about everyone made it up. My dad has 3 sisters and 3 brothers and almost all of them, their spouses, and their kids were up there. There are 20 cousins counting me and my siblings which I didn't realize until recently how many of us there are. It was a huge party all week! The last time we all went up together as a family to Bear Lake was when I was around 10 years old and it was so much fun to be there with everyone again.

We left Monday afternoon and of course there was Utah road construction. It's always awful and Logan Canyon was especially bad. We went 20 most of the way and of course there are people that like going slower anyways but we eventually made it! And oddly enough, we were a couple cars behind my parents and sister the entire way. Monday evening was the big family dinner. I was assigned to bring up Scott's Soccer Practice Bars, which I have to put the recipe on the blog, and I decided to bring up my baked caramel corn because it's always a hit. Funny enough my aunt was actually hoping I would bring it up. We had a great dinner and then walked down to the beach and skipped rocks. It was an incredible sunset and we took a family picture.

Greg and I at the beach.

Sunset over the lake. So pretty!

Looking back at our condos. The sky was amazing!

My parents, siblings, and nieces.

Nice action shot of Greg skipping rocks.

We got all settled in that night and got ready for the next day at the beach!

On Tuesday we got up pretty early. Partly due to the fact that Greg and I slept on the Murphy bed in the main part of the condo so when my nieces woke up they came to cuddle with their auntie. Well we got ready and headed down for a fun day at the beach!

It was a bit stormy but still pretty nice. The water was cold enough that it took me at least 15 minutes to get all the way in the water but once I did, I didn't want to get out. We played frisbee in the lake with my family, skipped rocks and just hung out with each other. Greg even tried paddle boarding for the first time!

 Bear Lake is one of my favorite places partly because it's one of the only lakes that I feel comfortable swimming in. I'm not a fan of deep murky water that I can't see in. If something touches my foot I would rather see what it was that touched me. My imagination makes things much worse than they are. Bear Lake is beautiful and blue and clear that I don't mind it.

After swimming awhile we had a big family lunch, I took a siesta partly due to the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes open and also I was freezing cold and couldn't get warm. After that it was too stormy to go back to the beach so we just hung out with family. We had a great day!

That evening Greg and I took a walk down to the beach. It was so quiet and peaceful. There's something about sitting by the water at night when no one's around. It's just serene and so nice to have time to just be together. It was a great first full day.

Dad and the nieces on the balcony. :)

My nieces playing in the sand.

Abby building a sandcastle.

It's kind of hard to see but that is Greg (sitting on the left) and my Uncle Matt (standing on the right) out paddle boarding.

Wednesday morning Greg, Uncle Chris, and my grandma's husband Mike got up early and went golfing. When the rest of us woke up my nieces came and cuddled in bed with me. Not long after my brothers Benjamin and Christopher also came and got on the bed too. Funny that my now-teenage brothers still like doing that. :) It was a special day because Benjamin turned 16 years old. To celebrate he ate some of a giant piece of jerky, funny kid. Evi and Abby, my nieces, were very amazed that jerky of that size even existed.

Bubba and the biggest piece of jerky in the world. Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Eventually we got ready and went to the pool for a couple hours. We always have a fun time when we all get together. After lunch we went down to the beach and I got to try paddle boarding for this first time! I loved it! I really want to buy one now. It is a work out but so much fun at the same time. When we weren't paddle boarding we were skipping rocks and playing frisbee. It was a beautiful sunny day!

Look at that beautiful sky! Couldn't be happier!

A great place to be with my best friend. :)

After lunch we rented seadoos for a couple hours. We all got to take turns. Greg and I went out with my dad and we all got a turn driving it. I made sure not to sit on the back, advice given from my brothers, and I'm glad because it is bumpy. It was so much fun! When it was my turn to drive, I was very hesitant at first but then I got more confident and I really liked it. It was fun being in charge and all the power! Those things are powerful. It's addicting. I was nervous about hitting a fish though so when Greg yelled that I did, he was joking of course, I freaked out and stopped. But oddly enough just after that I really did see a huge brown fish right at the surface and I did almost hit it.

We had to cut the fun short though when it started getting really stormy and choppy. And then the lightning started. And the rain just dumped on us. Good thing we were all in our swimming suits because we got soaked! It was great. We were going to come back around 5 or 6 to finish our last hour of seadooing but it didn't clear up in time so our last hour was going to be the next morning. Once it finally did clear up we played a bunch of lawn games and then I helped my mom and sister get my brothers cake ready.

My sister made the top cake with the car and I made the bottom one.

It's the Bear Lake Monster eating Teddy Bears floating on their floating mattresses. This is classic 5th grade Amanda.

Another angle of the Teddy Bear massacre.

It started pouring again so we had to have the ENTIRE family in our little condo. It was tight. And loud. And not much personal space. And fun.

This was the only way we could get everyone in the picture and it still couldn't get me and Greg.

Here we are! One plus of being crowded, I got to sit close to this hot man. ;)

The rest of the evening we hung out with family and stood on the balcony watching the bats fly around. Side note, we named one of them Hank Aaron and would say "Hanks up to bat!" Get it? Up to BAT? Ha ha we are so funny! Anyways, after that Greg and I took another walk down to the beach. We were smart this time and brought a mat to sit on. It was just great again to have along time and be in that kind of peaceful setting. Loved it.

For our last day Greg, Chris, and Mike went golfing again, those that wanted a turn on the seadoos went down to the beach and then the rest of us finally made it down too. It was the perfect day. Perfect weather and so much fun. A lot of family was already going home at that point but it was still fun. Greg, Christopher, and me all went and swam in the pool forever. Then my cousin Nathaniel came down and they my other cousin Sydney came too. Apparently they were supposed to come get us to go back up to the condos but that didn't happen. Also my cousin Davis was supposed to also but he never even showed up. At least the other two did. We had fun.

We decided to go up to the condos and it was good because everyone was getting ready to go to the Minnetonka Caves and we barely got ready in time. I'm glad we all went to the caves because I haven't been since I was maybe 10 or so. It was the last time the whole family went up to Bear Lake. It was fun to see what I actually remembered. We had to wait for maybe an hour for our turn and while waiting we saw a momma deer and her twin babies and lots of chipmunks. There were some surprisingly fat ones. Abby loved them and called them "chickamonks." :) Super cute!

Look how fat he is!

Me, Greg and Abby. Abby and Greg are best buddies.

Look at those cheesers!

We got to the entrance and it was surprising how cold it was just standing at the opening of the cave. Greg held Abby almost the entire time and when he needed a break I held her. She didn't want anyone else. :)

Me and Greg!

From left to right: Greg, me, Abby, Evi, and Benjamin.

It was a lot of fun, cold, amazing, lots of walking, and one section that has an obscene amount of stairs. 

Pretty awesome rock formations.

The Seven Dwarves!

That red light you see in the crack is another cave called the Devil's office.

That line you can see across the middle is the fault line. Yeah. Crazy. Luckily there hasn't been an earthquake!

Huge cavern with amazing rock formations.

 At the end, at the very bottom of the cave they turn the lights completely off. It is really unnerving because you can't see your hand in front of your face. Abby and Evi didn't like the total darkness either. Greg was holding Abby and she started getting nervous so we had her and Evi keep their eyes closed until the lights came back on.

Love this man!

By the time we were done with the caves it was dinnertime. We all met at the Bear Lake Pizza Company. We got the Old Ephraim which is a 28" pizza. They even ring a bell when they bring it out. It is that exciting and impressive. And we ate the whole thing between us and my aunt and uncles family. It was great pizza. I was a champ and ate 3 pieces. Only Greg, Christopher and Benjamin did that too.

My cousins showing the actual size of this monster.

Again, it was a beast.

Look at that slice! It didn't even fit on the plate!

Auntie and Abby excited for pizza!

Evi was so excited. When she saw the pizza she said "I want that! I need that pizza!" :)

These three pictures were taken all in a row. Evi is such a character!

Look at that funny face! She loves having her picture taken.

It was daunting but we triumphed!

Greg and I were leaving that evening so after dinner we went back to the condo, finished packing up our things and stopped to get famous Bear Lake shakes! Delicious and amazing!!! We got going and surprisingly traffic and construction were not that bad like it was coming up.

Classic Raspberry and Mint Oreo shakes!

It was good to be home but I definitely miss going to the beach everyday. We had an absolute blast up at Bear Lake but it is always nice to be home and sleep in my own bed.