Pickleville Playhouse

One of our most favorite things to do in the summer when we go to Bear Lake is to go to a play at Pickleville Playhouse. A truly unique, fun family experience that you don't want to miss.

Especially if your name is Pearl.

That girl LOVES Pickleville Playhouse! I took her and my niece Ruby to Beauty and the Beast this summer. {I am not above bribery to win favorite parent/Aunt status} Kurtis and his date tagged along too... well, we tagged along with him, 'cause he drove.

And then the highlight of Pearl's summer, our family went to "Who Shot Juanito Bandito." Oh my heck {as Fern says}! I was in tears - tears people! Even Jeff giggles during Juanito. Of course I find it super awesome because I know Juanito personally... he was our Student Body President at Sky View. Every year, Juanito Bandito gets rewritten for a new adventure and there's even Christmas shows. My kids leave telling Juanito jokes and saying, "I'm gonna choot you!" to everyone.

Epic hilariousness! Epic.

So if you're ever in Bear Lake, you have to go to Pickleville.

British Invasion {Bear Lake}

After driving non-stop for three days, we headed up to Bear Lake for three days of relaxation and fun in the sun! 

I'll admit this trip taught me something about myself... I am way more controlling than I realized. It took all my mental strength to not completely lose it because we didn't have a set plan for meals in Yellowstone or Bear Lake. Well, I wrote a menu for three days but Jeff wouldn't let me buy the food. I wrote a huge list for Glen to go to the store and purchase and bring to Bear Lake. It about killed me. I had good reason in my mind for just doing everything myself. Like the fact that the only grocery store up there on a holiday weekend is the last place I or my wallet want to be. 

But he told me to relax and let go.

We only had a slight food mishap with some key ingredients being left in Logan but it was fine. We had a great time doing nothing. And only driving the ATVs when we felt like it, not all day long!

We read on the beach. Well, Aurelia read on the beach. The rest of us swam, played in the sand, and played fetch with Blu.

We made my father-in-law do a dutch oven dinner and cobbler. Yum. That should happen way more often!

{Grandkids from left to right: Ty holding Ashyln, Shelby, Cassie, Aurelia, Alexis holding Cole, Samuel, Pearl, Jacob}

We went on "side-side-side" rides and prayed Alexis didn't kill anyone on the 4 wheeler. Even Jeff said he was a little scared riding with the speed demon! But oh, did she have fun... said it was the best part about coming to America!

We sat around the fire and made smores. 

We went moose hunting. And the mooses did not disappoint. We saw two bull moose run right in front of us. 

And with a raspberry milkshake, our 1,500+ miles trip with the British Invasion is over.

 

 

Bear Lake

We went up to Bear Lake for the 4th of July. I'm getting really lazy with taking pictures up there because we do the same things every time {but my kids get bigger so yes, I know I should take pictures}...

Get sunburned. Oh wait, that's just me. But as my cousin, Missy, says, "tan fat is better than white fat!" Right?

Play on the beach.

Go on 4 wheeler rides.

Take an epic family picture fail to document said weekend of fun. Blasted. This time it was my fault! My eyes were closed. 

And drive home totally exhausted, covered in sand, and hoping we have some milk for cereal the next morning.

Pinterest made my kid cry

There is a lot - I mean a lot - of pressure on the perfect everything for every holiday thanks to Pinterest. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I admire those women I really do. They are mighty creative and come up with some pretty impressive stuff. But the problem comes when I send my daughter to school for her first Valentine's Day party.

Pearl was so excited about Valentine's Day. {So was Fern boy... although he didn't fully understand the whole giving his Valentine's away idea} I took the kids to pick out their Valentine's at Walmart. Pinterest fail #1. Writing names on those Valentine's darn near sent me to the nut house. Cole was such a moody little turd! Thankfully Pearl can read and write so she was able to write her classmates' names on all of her Valentine's by herself.

They also decorated their own Valentine's Day boxes. Cole decorated his at school so there was little pressure to have some fancy decorated box. Plus, the kid's three so just the fact that he was able to glue some paper on the actual box... I'm happy. 

I found a box for Pearl {I knew if I saved that box long enough it would be put to good use} and asked her what she wanted it to look like. She said she wanted it white and to decorate it herself. So I found some white spray paint to cover it and let her get all her art stuff out to decorate to her heart's content. 

I thought her box looked perfect. She was so happy with it and very proud of her work.

Until she got to school and saw all the other kids' boxes. 

I remember those days.... my boxes were never that creative either. I guess I was hoping things had changed and Pearl wouldn't feel the pressure to bring a box that looked like a toilet {we saw a kid walking into school with a toilet box... it was pretty funny} or whale or whatever the Pinterest rage was. But she came home and said she liked her box until she got to school. She said her Valentine's box was the ugliest box in class.

It broke my heart. I didn't know what to tell her. I kept thinking, please not yet! Don't let her face this yet. We tried explaining that her box was special because she did everything herself but she just hung her head down and cried. I hate Pinterest. 

Luckily, we were able to cheer her up a little with a Valentine's Day surprise. I bought these mailboxes at Target last year and have started a tradition of filling them with a very small treat for the kids. They seem to love it. This year, Jeff and I decided to really surprise them though by taking the entire family to Pickleville Playhouse's Juanito Bandito Rides Again in Downtown Salt Lake. That perked Pearl right up! She loves Juanito Bandito! And... she knew she could probably talk me into a new mustache scarf. Especially after the stupid Pinterest tears earlier in the day. 

Poor Jeff though. He had been so sick the days before. With a fever and aches and sinus crap. He was miserable. I even made him stay home from work. But after getting turned down THREE TIMES by different alternative "dates" he took pity on me, put some clothes on, popped a few pain pills, and came to the show with us. He's a good man. {Plus, he likes Juanito Bandito}

I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. There were definitely tears from crying so hard. Pearl laughed and smiled and got that new mustache scarf she wanted. It was a perfect Valentine's Day date! 

And that's coming from a woman who doesn't expect {maybe hopes for a little} anything on Valentine's Day... my flowers come Presidents' Day.

Tony Grove

On the way home from Bear Lake we decided to stop by Tony Grove. It's been years since we've been there. In fact, I think the last time I had been to Tony Grove was when I was 16 and my uncle took my pictures up on the rocks and in the fields of wild flowers. 

It was gorgeous just like we had expected but man was it FREEZING! Tony Grove is a deep mountain lake surrounded on the side with these huge rock cliffs jutting from the mountain. It's beautiful. But cold. Especially when you're a little boy who got woken up from a nap in the warm truck a few minutes earlier. 

We walked around just one side of the lake {because it was about 40 degrees not including the wind chill factor} and took some pictures of the autumn leaves.

I kept waiting for Jesse and one of the girls to fall in the freezing waters and cry the entire way home. I think that tree has been there for eons. It's kind of iconic of Tony Grove. 

Logan Canyon wasn't as spectacular as I remember it last year, but there were still patches of reds and yellows to look at. 

It's scenery like this that makes me want to enjoy hiking.