Bear Lake 2010

We spent the weekend in Bear Lake with our good friend Greg and his family. It is so beautiful there and we had such a nice, relaxing weekend together. The lake is gorgeous and we wanted to grab a quick picture of it while we were there.

So we've been to Greg's cabin 4 or 5 times now and have always talked about driving up to Bloomington, Idaho and hiking to Bloomington Lake and spending the day there. We have actually tried a couple of times and for some reason or another the road to the lake has been closed and we have never been able to get inside the gate. This year we really wanted to try again and made it part of our weekend plans. The forecast called for rain in the afternoon so we headed out early Saturday morning. The drive up is about an hour but the whole way is beautiful and we enjoyed hanging out with just us.
When we got there, Josh loaded Rhen into the backpack...

And then loaded Rease onto his shoulders. (I wasn't much help as the pregnant tag-along.) The hike up to the lake is only about 20 minutes but as you can see it is AMAZING! The weather was perfect and the scenery is breathtaking.

We got to this little lake and I thought we were there - I soon found out that this is just a stopping point and the real Bloomington Lake is even better.

I love the mountains surrounding us.

This is our group that went; Greg, Morgan, Afton, Miles (Greg's nieces and nephew), Josh, Rease, Rhen, Brenda and John (Greg's parents) We had a great group.

As soon as we found the lake, we parked ourselves under this big tree to eat our lunches.

This is the last picture of us at the lake - I'll tell you why. As soon as Greg and Josh got their shirts off and jumped into the lake and we were got ready to pull our lunches out, we looked around and noticed that dark clouds had suddenly gathered. Seriously a minute after we noticed the clouds, it started to rain and then thunder and lightning. I guess it came on so fast because we were in the mountains, but whatever it was, it took us all a little by surprise. We gathered under the tree for about 30 seconds and then realized that wasn't such a good idea with the lightning and all. So after being at the lake for a total of 5 minutes, we made our way back to the cars. It was no quick trip back to the car with 5 little kids and the rain and hail coming down harder and harder. Josh loaded both girls back onto his back and headed out singing as they went. I think I heard "You are my Sunshine" and "I see the moon" but I'm sure there were plenty more along the trail. Good, they were set. The 3 others kids, on the other hand, did not think the rainstorm was so much fun and were doing the opposite of singing. So I grabbed Miles, Greg had Afton and Morgan and we made our way out as quickly as possible.

It took us a little longer than we hoped with the rain making things slippery but we finally made it back to our warm, dry cars.

This is how the girls looked after our adventure. We stripped them down to their suits and cranked up the heaters.

Even though we didn't get to spend much time at the lake, I'm sure this is one trip we will not forget.

Later that night, we went to Garden City for dinner and raspberry shakes.

Josh entertained the kids while we waited for our table.

And the kids found other ways to have fun while we waited for our shakes.

We had such a great and memorable trip thanks to Greg and his family. Thanks for inviting us along for the weekend!