Our Mini-Vacation

I have even less pictures than I thought. I'm just not good at remembering to pull out the camera. Anyway, for anyone who was confused, we went to Bear Lake this past Saturday. There's a little town nearby called Paris, Idaho, so we, of course, had to stop there.

Joel had a Quick Wits show (improv comedy) at Bear Lake and I've never been, so Kaylee and I tagged along and we made a mini-vacation out of it. It was a lot of fun!

First we had to get a "World Famous Raspberry Shake." Pretty much every business had a sign saying that when you first drive into Garden City. It was yummy. I really should have taken a picture of Kaylee eating it. She was a mess, but oh so cute!

Kaylee was our navigator. She didn't do very well. She mostly just pointed to letters and told us what they were and then sang the song "Lollipop."

Next we went to the "private beach." Joel's cousins have a cabin up there. We had just planned on going to an open beach, but they were crowded, so we called them up while we were up there and asked if we could use the beach behind their cabin. They were very nice and said yes. They had a gate around their property, though, so I'm sure it was quite a sight to watch this nearly 8 month pregnant woman climbing a chain-link fence! At first I pretty much forgot I was even pregnant as I hoisted myself up... until I was at the top and trying to get down. Then my belly felt huge and completely in the way. Good thing I have a strong husband who helped me down.

There wasn't really a place for Kaylee to just sit or wade in the water (the water level was up to our thigh from the get go), but she didn't care. SHE LOVED THE LAKE!!! She kept wanting us to put her down so she could splash around. It was seriously the cutest thing ever! She wanted to swim on her own so badly. She thought it was the neatest thing. We did find a spot that was more shallow (it went up to her shoulders) and we let her sort of walk around on her own. The water was actually really warm (and this is coming from someone who isn't a fan of swimming even in most heated pools because they're too cold). She was quite upset when we had to leave.

Hanging out after swimming. I absolutely love the colors at the cabin! This bench is so cute!

Afterward we went to Paris. We were too late for a tour of the neat tabernacle they have there, but we stopped at it anyway. It amazes me what the pioneers were able to create so long ago!


Across the street from the tabernacle is a cute little "Paris Cafe." We had wanted to eat dinner in Paris anyway, and "cafe" made it even better. It was actually kind of funny. We saw the sign from across the street and I wasn't sure I wanted to go... until I saw the cute vinyl lettering at the bottom. The main sign looked too "Harley Davidson" to me and, unlike my husband, I'm not a fan of dives. But the vinyl lettering made it okay to me and it was. Inside it was quite cute.

Kaylee knew exactly what she wanted.

We had to rush through dinner to make it to the show on time. It was at a place in Garden City on Bear Lake Blvd. called Growlers. I think it's a pretty new place and the owners are really nice. They had a bunch of family at the show and we chatted for a bit afterward.

The show went well. I, of course, forgot to take pictures. Though it probably would have been difficult with Kaylee anyway. At first she was loving the show, dancing and cheering. But then Joel started yelling during one of the games and Kaylee did not like that. At all. Her little lip went out and tears started pouring down her cheeks. It was so sad! Yet kind of cute. She didn't just cry. She was saying, "No.... noooo... No." She really did not like it when her daddy yelled. She's not used to it, I guess. We went outside for a walk and then sat at the back of the place with headphones and an iPod for almost the rest of the show. Towards the end I was able to get her to dance to some of the song games and to cheer for Joel. Funny girl.

Anyway, we really had a great time. It was a bit of a long drive for me and we got home really late, but I definitely want to go back to Bear Lake. It really was beautiful! And it was fun to spend time together as a family.