A Weekend at Bear Lake

This weekend Sarah, Anna, and I were at Bear Lake, UT. Jordan had to work, so we left him and had a girls vacation.


Wow, was it wonderful! We left Friday afternoon and met Mom and Becca there around 4:00pm. Sarah didn't take her nap, little stinker!, so we all decided to launch the boat and go wakeboarding.

Of course in the early evening hours the water is really choppy. So we went out on a ride, came back and spent some time on the beach, and then Mom left to make dinner. Becca, Anna, Sarah, and I decided to catch minnows in the marina. It was a hard task trying to catch little fish with sand buckets! But, alas, we did. Becca and I got into the water and were the ones catching while Anna and Sarah sat on the dock and supervised. Becca and I also caught a crayfish as well. It was pretty neat.
After dinner, we decided to get back in the boat and off we went wakeboarding! It had been over a year since the last time I wakeboarded, so I was a little leery at how well I'd do.

Well, they got new boots last year for the wakeboard and needless to say, they were really tight on me! I could barely get the board on, even with slime! My little sister took the liberty of taking this blackmail photo of me while I was trying to put on the boots without breaking my foot.

Here is some footage of me wakeboarding. It isn't anything fancy, so don't expect any jumps or tricks or anything. I'm not Becca or Rachael (my cousin Rachael took 2nd in Nationals in wakeboarding in her division and is now heading to Worlds in Florida! Go Rachael!!)

Becca was next to go. She's really good at wakeboarding and really shows me up. Then again, she can make it to Bear Lake more often than me and has more time to practice. Regardless, Roo is great!

Sarah doesn't take after me. She loves the boat! When I was little I hate the boat. I hated turning, going fast, or doing anything but sitting still in the water. You couldn't get me out of the water, but I wanted nothing to do with boats. Mom always joked around that I'd died on the Titanic in a previous life and that's why I was deathly afraid of boats. I was the only child/baby she knew that would scream the entire ride and want out.

Well, Sarah loves the boat so much that she was more than content to be on the boat. She loved it! She wanted to drive it, honk the horn, and do all Nana did. We had to hold her down too, we thought she was going to jump right in the water all the time. She is one fearless child!!

Nana let Sarah 'drive' the boat around a little bit. Soon, however, Sarah would throw Nana's hands off the steering wheel and want to drive all by herself! She even reached for the throttle so we could go faster. Talk about a stinker-roo!! And people wonder why she has the nickname 'Miss Independent'.

I asked Anna if she wanted to try and wakeboard, but she told me she had a bad experience when she was a child and would never try water skiing or wakeboarding. Tubes, however she was fine on. The problem was, we couldn't find the tube.

Later that night Dad finally came. We stayed up playing games till way too late. Sarah was pooped out, since she missed her nap, and went straight to bed. It was a wonderful Friday evening.

The next day we woke up and quickly ate breakfast. We had waves to catch! I helped Gabe with a few computer issues (he's the maintenance guy at Bear Lake) and then we headed back out. It was a little choppy, since the wind was blowing, so Becca and I didn't last too long on the boards. It's hard on your knees when you have to absorb the shock of the waves.

But, we had fun cruisin' around on the boat. Sarah had her sippy cup with her and soon the boating excursion was called, "Sip and Cruise'. It was pretty fun how comfortable Sarah felt on the boat! She loved it! Before we left in the morning I told her we had to wait for Nana to get ready to go out. I told her to tell Nana to come so we could leave. Standing next to the door, she turned to Nana and said, "Nana! Boat! Now!" It was so clearly said, there was no mistaking her words. We got a kick out of it.

After boating, we decided to head back to the beach and have some fun in the waves. It was so warm and nice out, despite the clouds, that we couldn't resist. The water was even nice! It was perfect!!

After we got back from our boat ride, I saw a 3-point deer running down the side of the hill. It was very large and very beautiful. I thought about snapping a shot, but the deer was running too fast and my camera shutter time is really delayed. So, I just watched it. However, at the base of the hill was a large cat. Becca and I saw it and began chasing after it. We'd seen cats before around Bear Lake, but we'd never been able to take a picture of it. I swore it was a Lynx. Becca thinks it's a domestic cat that's gone wild. However, if that was a domestic cat, it must've been very, very large. That cat was at least 30lbs or more. Like I said, I thought it was a Lynx. Just as I was about to take a picture, the cat round the corner on the trail and disappeared. We should've tried sneaking up on it instead of running towards it.

When we got to the beach, Sarah plowed right into the water, fearlessly so, and wanted to join Anna and me. We could resist her pleas, so we brought her out with us. She was splashing, laughing, and giggling all the time! She loves the water and I'm so glad that I'll have a swimming buddy!

Becca had to head home in the early afternoon on Saturday to go to work. We had a blast with her and Sarah missed her Auntie Roo. Hopefully next time she can stay the whole time like we did.

Later that evening, we all piled into the boat, Dad included, and went for a drive to the State Marina to see the boats. We love doing this. We normally go on Sunday's, but since we had to leave early Sunday morning to make it back for church, we went Saturday night. It was neat seeing the boats, but the best part was the ride. It was so peaceful and tranquil. It was almost as if everything in the world, even for a moment, was at peace with each other.

On Sunday we had to wake up early, pack, and head home for church. Anna and I had to sing in the choir at church since we were the only 2 sopranos. I also had to teach the lesson in Sunbeams and Anna had to play the piano. So, we were needed at home and our fun vacation was at an end. All in all, this trip was a much needed vacation!

Here's some footage of Becca wakeboarding. She's much better than I am, I admit, so don't make fun of me!!!