Camping Bear Lake

One weekend in June we decided to go camping. Actually, what really happened was Dan told me we were going to Bear Lake with friends and I readily agreed, thinking we would be staying in a cabin. When I found out we were camping I was not thrilled. Car camping isn't my favorite thing to begin with, but with two kids and a baby? We hadn't tried camping since Alta was six months old and I was worried to say the least.

We left on a Friday afternoon and met up with Kevin, Malorie and Beck, and Luke and Amy and their three kids. We didn't have much of a plan so we decided to go boating even though it was already getting late. The girls were excited to be on the boat but were in for a little shock when they tried to go swimming in the 57 degree water. It was freezing!!! We played on the boat while the boys did some free diving. We eventually realized how late it was and decided we'd better get dinner. We took a while finding a place to eat, and then our food took forever, so we didn't end up getting to our campsite until 10:30. It was dark, all the campers around us were asleep (what?!?) and we were trying to set up our stuff as quietly as possible.

Without getting into the details of the whole night, it was pretty horrendous. Olive would wake up and cry every time we tried to put her down, so we had to hold her ALL NIGHT (most of the time either standing or sitting, not laying down). Alta and Ellie kept waking up crying because they were uncomfortable/overtired/cold/etc. It was incredibly windy and our tent collapsed at 3 in the morning. Should I go on?

But somehow, in the morning, everyone was happy.

Alta waking up:

And then Ellie, whose first words were: "I had so much fun camping!"

Morning cuddles:

 Our campsite. We inadvertently parked our cars about 5 feet away from someone's tent, who left first thing in the morning without a word to us. I'm sure they were so annoyed with us!

 We cooked breakfast and took down all the tents. Alta and Ellie had a lot of fun with Blake and Callie while we were busy. Here they are taking turns holding a butterfly:

 And little ducklings in a row walking down to the beach:

Dan paddle boarding with Alta:

Beck eating dirt:

 Despite the cold water, the girls played all day. Amy and I are in the background on the paddle boards. It was such a beautiful lake!

 In the afternoon we went on one last boat ride before we left. I noticed Ellie starting to nod off while sitting up in the front. Dan helped her lay down so she didn't fall off the boat, and soon three of them were sound asleep in the most uncomfortable-looking positions:

 Starting the drive home. She was tired:

Alta and Ellie both slept all the way home while Olive cried the whole way.

But overall it was a good trip. We learned a lot about what not to do and are determined to try again. The girls keep talking about how fun it was so that means it was a success!