That's what memories are made of... Day 1

I almost didn't go. The thought of being cramped inside two trailers with 11 people and hoping I could keep my kids warm because the weather forecast was looking cold, wet, and miserable was almost too much for me to bear. It didn't help either that the day before we were to leave for our Memorial Weekend getaway, I planted flowers at 9:30 p.m. because the weather was just perfect.

We've had our fair share of rain at Bear Lake. Wind and cold too. But there was always a break in the storm and a small glimmer of hope that I could pull out the flip flops and sunscreen, even if just for a couple of hours. But this weekend was going to be different. I didn't pack a single pair of shorts, sandals, or even a swimming suit and was just hoping we didn't need snowsuits to keep us warm.

So when I gave Jeff that "please don't tell me this is really going to happen... let's just stay home...." look, he told me - and I quote - "Get in the truck! We're going! That's what memories are made of... bad weather!"

Well, if that's true and memories are in fact made with bad weather, then this was one memorable weekend!

Sure enough, on our drive through Logan Canyon the temperatures began to plummet. My anxiety started kicking in and I kept thinking what in the world are we going to do to a) keep warm and b) keep two - well three if you count cousin Ruby - rambunctious kids who think we are going to play on the beach all weekend entertained? The "property" just isn't designed to entertain large crowds when the weather isn't pristine. I fully admit that I had a terrible attitude about this trip. I just was in no mood to be stuck inside all weekend with no escapes. But Jeff keep reminding me "that's what memories are made of... bad weather." And besides, we probably would have gone just as crazy, if not more, had we stayed at home and been stuck inside our house all weekend with no change in scenery.

Friday just happened to be the best day weather wise all weekend. The lake is already really high, with the water covering all the willows and muck. There is only a tiny strip of beach, that I'm guessing once the snow melt is underway will disappear. Not wanting to miss out on any sunshine, we took the kids down to the beach to fly kites. We had two new kites to break in and Pearl was very helpful telling Jeff what the instructions said. Step one "throw the kite in the air." Step two "fly the kite." Too funny but it worked. Her Buzz Lightyear kite flew way better than the fancy dragon kite Jeff had. Buzz even went out two strings (Jeff tied to sets of strings together), almost high enough that we couldn't see him anymore.Cole had fun with the dragon kite. He was the only one who could make it fly... if you look very closely, you can see that indeed it is off the ground! And when kite flying gets old, just plop down in the sand. Even with the cold, Bear Lake is still one of the prettiest bodies of water I've ever seen. During our exploration of the beach, Pearl pointed out all the pretty flowers. She didn't care that Jeff kept telling her they were weeds. She was mesmerized by them and picked a big bouquet of them to surprise my mom with when they got here the next day. Am I on the only one who thinks this looks like a wedding pose? Freaking me out here!!!Pearl did not like all the deer poop though. She screamed every time we got near a pile!At one point Pearl was complaining about being cold or bored or hungry or something along those lines and I refused to let her go inside. I told her we had to stay outside as long as we could because it was going to rain or worse yet, snow on us the rest of the weekend. She didn't like that answer. I'm not sure if it was because she realized I wasn't kidding around when I told her before we left that we couldn't go swimming because it was going to be too cold or because I was delaying her movie marathon plans.

When we did finally go inside, I was ever so grateful for four things. First, my mom buying us a bazillion toys as kids because now we can just take some of her toys for Cole to play with. He absolutely loved the box of dinosaurs. He'd always grab two of them - one for each hand - (usually the yellow/green T-rex looking one first) and run around the trailer with them growling and saying "ARRRRRRRHHHHH" as he hit them together. Second, for a husband who is willing to sit outside in the freezing cold to cook our dinner. Thanks babe.

Third, for an awesomely talented dad who the previous fall converted my grandpa's gasoline smelling shed into a luxury bedroom! Since we were the first to arrive at Bear Lake, we got first dibs on where we wanted to sleep. Having an entire room away from the trailers, where we could put all of our stuff, put Cole to bed at his normal bedtime, that just so happened to be insulated and warm was a huge blessing! Jeff had even left our spare T.V. and DVD player there last year so had plush accommodations. Well, minus the taco bed we had to sleep on.

And fourth, warm water and a place to give Cole a bath at night. I'm so glad my parents took the time to pull their trailer up to the property a few days early, even though they weren't coming up until Saturday, so we had somewhere to sleep, eat, and hang out. And the tub is just the right size for Fern. He had a blast in his pint-sized tub. And better yet, it helped us keep him on a somewhat normal bedtime routine!