Bear Lake, June 2013

We took a fun trip to our family's condo in Bear Lake back in June.  This trip was probably one of my top 2 Bear Lake trips to date, and that's really saying something.  (Although there was some major drama too.)  I've been going to Bear Lake since I was a baby, and we usually go multiple times a year!  I love Bear Lake!

 It's always so fun go to up with cousins.  My parents set it up so that whoever in the family wants to go, can go when it's my parent's week at the condo.  They divvy up the rooms by necessity first (obviously if you have a baby you'll get the room with the crib, etc.) and then it's first come, first served.  For the most part it seems to work really well.  I love that (for the most part) our family gets along well enough that we don't have to assign who can go when.  (If we all want to go, we can.  And if for some reason someone doesn't want to go when someone else is there, they don't have to.  But everyone is welcome.)  I think that's how it should be with families.  Over-regulating always causes more problems than it prevents.

This time, I was the first to go up.  It was just me and the littles and I brought my niece Hannah along with me.  The kiddos woke up bright and early at 6 AM and I thought I was going to die.  Hannah woke up too and we went out and got the kids situated watching a TV show and eating some breakfast.  I told Hannah she should go back to bed but she insisted she wouldn't be able to sleep and I should go back to bed instead and she'd watch the kids.  I didn't require much convincing.  About 45 minutes later Melia came into my room and woke me up saying, "Mom!  Mom!  Hannah lost Evera!"  I thought she must not know what she was talking about and I was so groggy I hardly knew what was going on.  I rolled over and fell back to sleep.  About 10 minutes after that, I was woken up by Hannah who seemed a bit flustered and whose eyes were a little red rimmed.  Poor girl.  She had fallen asleep on the couch watching the show with the kids.  She didn't think anything bad could happen.  But apparently Melia (being the crafty little goose she is) decided she and Evera should go ride their bikes.  She unlocked the back door with the key, went outside, and one at a time, carried each of their bikes down the big cement staircase to the sidewalk so they could go riding.  Then off they went.  After riding for a few minutes, Evera disappeared.  Melia, frightened, and knowing she would be in trouble, ran back to the condo and woke up Hannah crying that Evera had disappeared.  Hannah, of course, was in a panic!  She ran around in her PJ's screaming his name and looking everywhere.  Melia told her that he'd turned the corner towards the lake--which only made Hannah panic even more.  This was about the time Melia came back to the condo and woke me up.  Right after that Hannah turned the corner by the playground and there he was.  Riding his bike.  COVERED IN POOP!  

Luckily, the poop was his own.  But I don't know how he managed to get it all over the OUTSIDE of his pants and ALL OVER his bike.  It was DISGUSTING!

Shortly after that everyone Kristy and my mom and all the kids arrived.  But, unfortunately that was not then end of Evera's escapades!  I was working on a project that had to be completed within the next 48 hours.  I had to do it on the computer and it was very time consuming.  After dinner my kids were playing happily and I told my mom and Kristy that I was going to go and work on my project in my parents' room (because that was the only place that had internet access).  I'd been working on the project for about 20-30 minutes when I heard a child crying right outside the porch door I was sitting by.  The blinds were all closed up and the door was locked though.  At first I thought, "Wow, that sounds so much like Evera.  But there is only one other entrance/exit to the condo and it is in the livingroom/kitchen area where Kristy and my mom had been the whole time.  Just when I thought maybe I should check, I could hear the cry dissipating as it sounded like the child was being carried away.  It couldn't be Evera. Around 9PM, after about an hour of me working frivilously on my project (and about 30-40 minutes since I'd heard the cry), Melia came into the bedroom whining that she just really wanted to play with Evera and that she couldn't find him anywhere.  That was odd.  I tried to maintain my calm as I walked into the livingroom to see.  I asked Kristy and my mom if anyone had seen Evera and they both said they thought he was with me.  That's when my heart sank.  I opened the back door and ran out.  My mom called after me that they'd been sitting there the whole time--he couldn't have gotten outside.  And she went to look upstairs in the condo.  My thoughts were twofold.  1) If he was inside, he was safe.  So there was no point in looking inside for him.  2) I know my boy.  He's like a magician.  I don't care who was there or how close they were standing--the kid knows how to escape.  I started running and yelling his name.  I turned to run towards the lake but then remembered the crying on the porch.  At that point, I KNEW it was him.  So I ran towards the parking lot, fearing the worst.  Right then an older woman approached me.  "Are you looking for a little boy?"  "Yes!" I replied.  "Like, a really little boy?" she asked. "YES!!" I cried.  "Like a LITTLE LITTLE boy?"  "YES!" I yelled.  (For crying out loud lady, where is my son?!)  She then gave me "the look" (If you're a mom, you know the look.  The one of utter judgment and disgust.  Like you are the most horrible mother in the world.)  And then STILL BEFORE TELLING ME WHERE HE WAS, she tells me, "He was out here for a long time!  Some ladies found him crying and carried him over to the grass to wait for his parents."  Then finally she tells me, "Then they took him to the store and now the sheriff has him."  OH.MY.GOSH.  I thought I was going to die.  I wanted to barf and cry and scream all at once.  Without listening to another word, I started running for the store.  I ran in the door, and there was my sweet boy, in the arms of the store manager while the sheriff was taking notes.  I ran to him and Evera practically jumped into my arms.  I stayed calm.  No tears.  The manager told me how adorable he was and how much fun they'd had with him.  The Sheriff told me that this happens at least 3x a summer at the resort and that it was not a reflection on my character.  (It sure didn't feel that way though.)  He took my name and information for recording purposes, and then let me go.  When I got back to the condo, I quickly and calmly gathered up Melia and took the two of them into the bedroom.  I set them both on the bed, climbed in the middle, and layed down pulling them both down with me.  And then holding them both in my arms as tight as I could, began to sob.  I sobbed uncontrollably for a good half an hour.  Melia loves Bear Lake and was so excited to be there with her cousins, but seeing me this way, she begged to go home.  She just wanted me to be happy and kept saying we should go home so I could be with Daddy.  After a while, Mike called me (he had been out of town), and I told him the whole story.  He wasn't planning on joining us at Bear Lake but he came up the next day to be with us.

We did a little beauty salon, and these two little cuties both asked me to do piggy tails for them.  This was the best picture I could get of them both smiling!  ;)  I loved Ashy's hair like that.  I thought it was adorable.  Her mom just kept laughing at it though.

 How cute is that smiling face of Kali's?

 We did lots of puzzles and the Mercer boys were quite proud of these!  I had to get a picture before they got destroyed!

 We also played at the playground a lot.  And Evera managed to snatch someone's Doritos.  

 These 3 cousins are so adorable!  3 is a tough number sometimes, especially for girls, but they seem to be getting along better and better as time goes by!

Evera is such a monkey and he was freaking me out climbing up this thing all by himself!

Evera liked to peek out at the top of the slide.

And to stand up at the top of the slide.

But he did NOT enjoy going DOWN the slide--Hannah was a good sport taking him anyway though!

After that terror, he needed to steal some more Doritos.  :)

We also had lots of fun playing at the beach.

I built a sand castle with these crazies!

These girls had fun playing together.

And here is Ash playing with Ev and his dump truck.

They play so well together.

And they're so darn cute too!  :)

I just love this picture.

Kali and her momma built a pretty sweet sand castle.  They let Melia help a little bit too.

 The kids loved riding bikes all around the sidewalks at the resort.  I remember loving that as a kid too, and I have a million pictures to prove it.

I love Kali posing for the camera here.

This plasma car of Kristy's that Melia is riding was the biggest hit!  I wish I had one of those.  I ain't paying MSRP for one, but I'd sure love to find one at the DI!  :)

Matt was super cute playing with the kids out on the sidewalks.

Evera's favorite thing was to push Ashley's little pink stroller around with "Baby Arden" in it.  Evera has commandeered Melia's baby Belle doll and re-named it "Baby Arden" which is (oddly enough) the name of Mike's ex wife's (Mandy's) baby (who happens to be 1/2 black and is a boy...looking nothing like Belle...but whatever)!  He's obsessed with the dolly and sleeps with it every night and carries her around quite often.

He LOVED taking it up the ramp and then letting it roll down as he chased after it.  (That face is cracking me up!!)

I especially love this picture of Melia on her bike!

On Saturday night, Kim and Becca came up to the lake too.  My kids ADORE Becca and were so excited to play with her on Sunday after church.

Love this girl.  And she loves the swings, just like her mommy!

Peekaboo!

Silly boy!

And this kid could not do enough climbing!  He never stops!

But his sister on the other hand....
This picture CRACKS ME UP because this little girl climbed up just a few steps on the "rock climbing wall" but then got stuck and was screaming and crying because she couldn't get down.  I just think it's so funny in juxtaposition to the above picture of Ev.  Lol.  Crazy kids!

He might have loved the climbing, but...he STILL hated going down the slide.  

Poor baby does NOT like not being in control!

After my awful start to the vacation, Sunday evening was probably one of the best times I've had at Bear Lake in my entire life.  Mike had to back home to get ready for work in the morning but before he left he had promised Hannah that he'd take her down to the lake and teach her how to skip rocks (cause he's a PRO rock skipper).  So we told all the kids we were headed to the lake for some rock skipping and Mike got quite the audience!  Here are Kali and Melia running to catch up to the group!

Mike had quite the gaggle of adoring female fans!  :)

I freaking love this picture of Melia holding up her dress so it doesn't get wet and you can see her cute undie-clad bum.  

Here's my little Ev trying to skip rocks.  :)

Ev loved splashing around in the water.

Look at that face in the background.  Pure bliss!

And NOT BLISS...haha.  This picture is so funny!  Ashley had gotten super wet and then Aubrey had yelled at her for getting wet because Aubrey was "in charge" of her--which then made Ashley cry because she felt so bad--at which I yelled at Aubrey for making Ashley cry--which made Aubrey cry...

But I promised Aubrey that she would NOT get in trouble for Aubrey being wet and that I'd take all the blame.

So at that, Ashy ran back into the waves!  :)  I love how much fun all the kids were having.

I love this girl!

Wet little bum!

Here are all the kids skipping rocks and playing in the waves.

This has got to be one of my all time favorite pictures ever taken!  COUSINS!

And he was still skippin' rocks!  :)

A big wave came up and knocked Melia off her feet!  :)

THAT SMILE!

AND THAT ONE TOO!!

This wave SERIOUSLY knocked Ashley off her feet!  I love this picture!

Mike and I were the only adults down at the lake and when we came back up to the condo with 10 soaking wet kids, no one was too thrilled.  But the 12 of us had a blast!  Check out Ashy's soaked diaper!  Haha!

After that kind of an evening, we all slept soundly!  :)