Surprise!........ Another Year at Bear Lake

The day after the fourth of July we traveled up to Bear Lake for our yearly reunion with Grandma and Grandpa Woolley and all of the kids, grand kids, and great-grand kids. Most of us arrived in the early afternoon, but a few were able to make it that morning. This year the Martin family was a little sparse. Cameron and Jill's families weren't going to be able to come along with Darren, Chelsea, and Ben. Then Brett, Russell, Nicole, and Nicholas were only going to make it for the last two days. As we sat at the dinner table we all realized how small our group was this year (7 adults and 2 babies). We could all fit around one table. When we mentioned to Carol that we were a small group she began to cry. It was so hard for her not to see her whole family there. Well, her spirits were soon raised when Jill and the kids came stomping through the door. Dy and Tina started having suspicions that they might show up just moments before so it was good they came when they did. Michelle, Nettie, and I knew they were coming so we made sure and got this video clip of the excitement.


On Tuesday morning we had our first taste of the beach. We rented wave runners for a few hours, but with the wind and how cold the water was there weren't as many wanting to take a ride. By early afternoon we were done with the lake and ready to hit the hot tub, take a rest, and have some dinner. Before we left for Bear Lake, Michelle and I were having a debate on whether or not Drew would be able to get in the water. I agreed the lake would be too cold, but I figured he should be able to go into the swimming pool. Luckily I was able to talk Michelle into it and Drew was able to have his first swim Tuesday evening.

He was still a little small for the floating device that we had for him, but I think he really liked the water. He has always loved his baths, so we figured it wouldn't be a problem. Bracken was also joining us for the swim, but it took him a little longer to warm up to the idea.


Just like most of his firsts we made sure to take a video of Drew having fun during his first swim. I must admit he really doesn't show emotion very often, but believe me he was liking it.

That night before we Drew to sleep, I was able to get him laughing pretty hard. By the time we got the camera out to record it he had settled down. That always seems to happen.

On Wednesday we spent some more time at the lake just hanging at the beach without the wave runners and by the afternoon we were already for the pool once again. Believe me, I did get pictures of us at the lake, but they will be coming later. Here are just a few more shots of us playing at the pool. Ethan was trying to play it cool by getting in the water without his life jacket, but he soon realized he couldn't swim.

As another surprise, Chelsea ended up showing up for the last few days of Bear Lake. After we told her that Jill and the kids were here she couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them.

Before getting out of the pool all the kids decided to make a whirl pool along with a wave pool. They decided to put Carter in the middle of the wave maker and he was having the time of his life even though it might look like he's scared out of his mind.

On our last full day we made sure to spend lots of time at the beach. We rented wave runners once again and added the addition of the water trampoline. Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took of our beach fun.

As a perfect end to our trip we made one last run to get some shakes and fries. I don't know what it is that makes us think that we must have shakes when we come to Bear Lake, but we had one every day.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Woolley for giving us another great Bear Lake adventure. We are looking forward to next year.