Bear Lake Observations

We spent the long  July 24th weekend at Bear Lake camping again.  I know it was wonderful because the weather was perfect for camping.  If it had been stormy like so many times in the past, I could not have enjoyed it so much.

You've all seen this picture.  Uncle Aminal is in back row, middle

*Uncle Aminal (Animal, Joe)--Every family has to have an Uncle Aminal!  He is the uncle who loves to mix with the little ones.  With his large, thick, gentle? hands and loud, gruff, voice he will tickle, tease and torment to no end.  The children love it and if someone hasn't been tormented enough they will come and stand next to Uncle Animal until he has his attention.  Joe loves the lake and will spend countless weekends there with 2-3 of his grandchildren so they can learn to be at peace with nature.  Uncle Animal is also breakfast.  No body can do it better so we just don't try.  You can also find Uncle playing Gin with any sucker he can find to play.  There is so much more to Uncle Animal.  

*Remember the two trees that boarder the view?  You can witness up to 7 Joneses reading their favorite book, or newspaper or magazine.  This is what you do if you are over 50.

*We loved watching Andrew and Wes spending quality time with their children.  Andrew building sand castles and Wes on the Wave runner with Sophie and friends.

*Ethan (aka: Bubba) screaming and raising his hands in excitement while Caedan drove him around the area like he was on a roller coaster.

*Aunt Mary killing the battery in their Expedition while reading at night.

*Jodi getting the applause from the breakfast crowd after being observed going from her tent to the potty.  Lovely!

*Raspberry shake runs whenever the Merlin's was open.  This was always a guess.

*Scott and Kristens incredible fireworks.  Like Joe doing breakfast, we could count on them for the fireworks.

*Taking  an open-air shower run by solar.  Pretty neat when it has been 3 days or more.

*Little Lauren and Whitney who had to be the cutest and friendliest little girls I've met.

*Mama's new Colelman lantern (with 8 D batteries) and her MAX chair that let you relax and read comfortably.

*Cold, crisp water from the artesian well that was drilled compared to the nasty well water we drank when we were kids.

*Watching Uncle Richard and a neighbor mow the grassy land between the lots and the beach.  It was like watching a race from the movie Cars.

*Andrea taking care of many of the little ones.  She loves them and I know their parents love her for it.  She almost got Andrew's van stuck in the muck!

*Will, Nate and Sydney giving up their dinosaur collection to cousins Caeden and Zach. They were very generous.

*Alli preparing for her next marathon.  She ran 16 miles.

*Eric preparing just because.  He would ride his bike for miles every day taking his new dog with him.

*Suzy and Chris, Dave and Jill making a quick visit on Friday.  Maybe next time it can be an all nighter.

*Laurie losing every time when playing Settlers of Catan.

*Lee watching Laurie lose every time.

* Tare and Darren herding those 3 little girls around.  We have decided that they are just like Tara--all full of chatter and sassiness.

*Kris finally came up and decided she could like it now that the kids are getting older.

*Nothing funner than listening to KMER on the way home with Lee and Laurie singing their hearts out to the oldies like "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog", Twist and Shout", the Beatles and the Righteous Brothers.

*Picking up "Lil" Butt from his boarding pen.

*Happy 24th of July everyone.  Did you all recall that Mom has been gone for 37 years now?  Wouldn't she and Dad, Aunt Norie and Uncle Siegfried have loved to see us all  together at play?  I'll bet they did anyway.