Bear Lake

On the 4th of July, we packed up our stuff at Megan's house, ran some earrands, and then made our way over to Bear Lake for the Monk Family Reunion at Christian's aunt Diane's lake house(which was the main reason for our trip to Utah). We arrived late afternoon and the boys could hardly wait to head out to the water. What I love about their house, is it's right on the water and the water isn't very deep, making it perfect for kids! Daniel and Kasi and their kids joined a little later, along with Christian's cousin Madison, her husband and new baby.

4th of July by the lake!

The view from the deck. The water only came up to Travis's waist at the dock.

Christian riding the jet ski.

There were a lot of carp in the water, so the kids had fun looking for them while they rode on the jet ski.

The view from the lake back at the lake house.

Daniel and Kasi brought fireworks to light off that night. We had a pretty good show between the ones they brought and everyone else's around the lake. It was fun to watch them all.

The boys all had fun getting to shoot roman candles off the deck into the lake.

Thursday we spent the entire day in the water. Grandma Asay and Grandpa Monk arrived, so did Matthew and Charlene and their kids and Christian's aunt Renee and cousin Peyton.

Because the water so high, there was a little bit of a mud/muck issue. We had to walk through black mud that came up to our mid calves for a couple of yards before the water.

Chrsitian's uncle Richard trying to get the wave runners through the mud so we could use them out on the water.

Landon wading through the muck.

Christian and Carson heading out on the jet ski.

Maddie and her husband, Tate pulling Carson, Travis, Landon and Britt on the tube.

The 5th was Paige's birthday and we celebrated with a piñata!

Family dinner out on the deck.

 That night after dinner, we made a trip into town and to get milkshakes for a treat. We got three to share and it was more than enough. We ended up freezing what we couldn't eat and having it the next day.

The sunset was beautiful that night!

Three cute boys on their way to get milkshakes.

Waiting around for our orders.

 Friday, we started out the day with a boat making contest. We were put into 3 teams and given a large carboard box and two rolls of duct tape. We had an hour (although I don't think anyone took an hour) to make a boat and then we had to put someone in them and race them down around the dock and back. It was fun to see the different designs and then names of the boats were the best!

Measuring how big Travis was to see how big we needed to make our boat.

The end results:

Our (me, Diane, Travis, Tate and Charlene) boat, Baby Shark. Travis was our captain. Tate even made Travis a shark fin hat to wear.

The shark hat!

Group #2: Christian, Britt, Daniel, Chloe, Maddie, Richard and Carson. They named their boat the brown trout (since they were group #2).

Tina (the llama) the silver bullet was built by Renee, Peyton, Ian, Matthew, Jan and Landon (who was also their captain).

Once everyone was done, we lined up our boats and Diane counted down. After the count down, we had to put our captain in and could give them one push. Team #2 decided to cheat and had cut leg holes in the bottom of the boat and Carson ended up trying to walk around the dock and back! Travis and Landon give it a valiant effort, until Landon capsized. Uncle Matthew rescued him and pushed him the rest of the race. Travis, and Baby Shark, actually did really well. He was cruising along until I yelled for him to move back in the boat and then he went over too. Tate went out to help him (and try to hinder Carson from going any faster). It was a fun activity!!

And the race is on!

Landon's going down!

Man overboard.

Uncle Matthew helping  Landon race back!

Tate trying to slow the cheater down!

This picture cracks me up. Travis had tipped over and Tate had helped him get back in and helped push him. But in this picture he is almost submerged in water!

Tate and Peyton helping Travis out.

After the boat races, we spent the rest of the day playing in the water and visiting.

Britt and Landon playing on the hot dog

My boys had a blast looking for fish and shells with their snorkel gear.

Tate and Travis paddle boarding. Travis was actually on a youth kayak (which we ended up buying one for ourselves because they were such a great deal and the boys loved them) but was able to use it as a paddle board.

I went upstairs after lunch, and found Travis asleep on the floor. The boys had played so hard (until almost 9 one night) outside that he zonked out!

Saturday, we woke up, got ready and loaded our stuff up to head home. Travis was trying really hard to get us to stay just one more day. He was definitely not ready to come home! But, we needed to head home so that we had a day to do some laundry and pack Carson up for scout so he could leave on Monday. We had a group pic before everyone split. Some were staying for the big Monk reunion, and some were heading home and to other places. We had so much fun and are so thankful for the family we are a part of!

Peyton, Renee, Brad, Christian, Jill, Sherrie, Dave, Richard, Maddie and baby Benson, Tate, Matthew, Ian, Charlene, Chloe, Jan, Diane, Grandpa Monk, Landon, Travis and Carson. We were missing Daniel, Kasi and their kids. They left the day before and we didn't get a picture before they got there.

Renee, Dave, Jan, Diane and Grandpa Monk.