Bear Lake

We went on our first vacation with the kids! We took them up to Bear Lake with my family. We rented a 3 bedroom condo at Ideal Beach Resort. It was a really nice facility, and we enjoyed our vacation.

We had our own bedroom, and the kids did really well for being away from home. The condo could sleep up to 16 people, but we decided it wasn't set-up to feed that many people. The kitchen and dining area were small, but we managed.

The resort was a really nice place. They had playgrounds for the kids, swimming pools, tennis/basketball courts, big grassy areas, mini-golfing, and of course, beach access to Bear Lake. P1 liked collecting all the little seashells on the beach.

Breakfast time at the condo! The kids would wake up at 6 because it was really bright outside.

One day we went to Rendezvous Beach because we had a boat rental there and they had a nicer beach area. We ate lunch and played in the sand.

P1 is the only boy I know who loves dirt but hates being dirty. He would keep crying because he would get sand on his shoes and toes. Finally we convinced him that it was fun by burying his feet in the sand.

Then we went for a long boat ride. P1 was excited to go on the boat. P2's life jacket was horrible, and I don't think she could breathe in it when it was buckled all the way. In hindsight, one of us should have just stayed on the beach with her. She tolerated the boat ride surprisingly well, but I don't think she enjoyed it all. Oh, and we lost P1's hat during the boat ride, he was really sad about that.

 We went tubing for a little bit, and P1 called it a balloon. So we were riding the balloon. I think we lasted about 5 minutes, and that was good enough for P1.

 

 

A tractor pulled our boat out into the water, so when some of us wanted to get off the boat, we rode the tube back in. We had fun, but next time I would only do the boat for an hour with the kids, and then play more on the beach. And then maybe I wouldn't have gotten sunburned.

   

 For dinner we got the giant Old Ephraim pizza. I had prepared my own grain-free pizza crust before-hand, so all I needed to do was throw on the toppings and pop it in the oven. I even bought a can of pre-sliced olives so it would be easy (and a can of mushrooms instead of using fresh mushrooms). Unfortunately, there was only a cheap, broken can opener in the condo. So it was quite the hassle getting the cans opened.

P1 loved mini-golfing. He was too cute! I would help him hit the ball correctly the first time (once he got a hole-in-one), and then I would tell him to hit his ball in the hole when it was his turn again. He would then pick up the ball with his hand, place it right next to the hole, and push it in with his club (more like shuffleboard). He really enjoyed it, and wanted to play again, but we were done since P2 would only let me or my mom hold her.

PE took P1 and they set-up a hammock. That was PE's goal for the vacation, mine was to play catch which I was able to do with my brother and dad. I haven't used those muscles for a while, but it was fun to throw a ball around.

The last night we were there, we went to the Pickleville Playhouse for dinner and a show. The kids went back to the condo with PE after dinner. The food was good, and the play was enjoyable. We saw "The Drowsy Chaperone."

All in all, it was a pretty good vacation. Exhausting, but good. Traveling with kids is hard work, and it's good to be back home!