My Favorite Family Tradition

This past week we went to Bear Lake with my family. It’s sort of a family reunion, although I have never thought of it as that before this year. When I think of family reunions I think of tons of relatives that you have never met before. I know everyone that comes up to Bear Lake. It’s my mom’s sisters and their families. No weird extended family members. Just a lot of cousins and their kids, along with aunts and uncles, and Grandma, and Great Aunt Annie. So many people that when we went to get ice cream shakes the entire place was packed, all with my family! Every year I always see new faces, which really are not new because they are just the faces of cousin’s kids that are getting older. One day at the beach we had put up our canopy and made our home for that day. We went to play in the water and came out to get warm and notice that there were three new canopies set up next to ours. Gordon made the comment, “Gees, could those people set up their stuff any closer to us,” to which I replied, “Their part of my family.” He was a bit embarrassed, and said that he didn’t recognize any of them. I don’t blame him. There are a lot of us, and we keep growing!

Kind of a dark pic but that's my family outside of La Beau's

I love going to Bear Lake. I have been going since I was one month old. I was born to be a beach bum. We didn’t have a boat or owned our own waverunners until 6 years ago, so the beach and the lake was all I had to enjoy. I now enjoy the beach more than the lake, but that’s only a recent change. I like to go for a waverunner ride every once in a while, at least twice a day when I’m up there, but I spend most of my time laying out on the beach. Our days up there usually consist of the following:

7:00am Wake up
7:30am Walk/run/ride bike (that’s a new addition starting this year)
9:00am Breakfast
10:30am Head for the beach
5:30-6 pm Come back from the beach and get cleaned up
8:00pm Eat dinner, hang out, tell stories
12:00pm Go to bed and wait to do it all over again in the morning

We usually spend a full week up there when we go. I love having a full week of absolutely nothing to do! It’s heaven! Gordon couldn’t wait to go this year. He had just finished up his summer semester of school the week before we went, and he couldn’t wait to go on the waverunners and do nothing.

This year was a bit different because we brought our dogs. But they did great. My cousin’s little girls (which by the way are Gordon and I’s favorite little girls ever) fell in love with them immediately! They use to have a Yorkie but had to get rid of it and Maddie kept saying how much Briggs reminded her of her old dog. Our dogs loved all the attention they got from them too. It was so cute because Sydney, whose three, heard Gordon call Abbi the “Abbinator” (like the Terminator, but with Abbi in front of the ‘inaotr’) and she went up to her Grandpa and said, “Grandpa, the Abbinator kissed me!” It was adorable! She has the sweetest little cartoon voice. I just love to talk to her.

Maddie & Kaylee with Abbi & Briggs

Gordon and I played with the girls for the few days they were up there. We had so much fun with them. Last year they buried Gordon in the sand, and he did the same with them, so we kept the tradition alive and did it again this year. One difference: they buried me this year too! I have never been buried before so it was fun. (side note: I think that Kaylee and Madisen both have crushes on Gordon. It’s fun to watch them interact with each other. I love to watch Gordon with them. He kept saying how cute they are. We missed them when they left.) We also begged my Uncle Larry to tell ‘Beef Woman’ stories. ‘Beef Woman’ is a character that he made up so long ago. I don’t even remember how she became to be ‘Beef Woman’. I only remember one story about her, and now there are so many stories that it was fun to hear them all. They’re scary stories. Some of them are so ridiculous, but somehow I still got scared and was worried Beef Women would come and get me in my sleep.

Even Tim couldn't pass up the chance to bury Gordon

The girls wouldn't keep their hands off Gordon...

and he loved every moment of it.

We did NOT build this. We just thought it was amazing. Almost the real size of the Bear Lake monster I'm sure!

This year was also different because my dad was up there the same time we were up there staying at my aunt's cabin so we made a trip up to have a BBQ with him one night. It was a lot of fun. We played volleyball and let me just say that team Hardcastle rocked the court! (ok not really, but none of us are very good so there was really no competition, just playing for fun) My nephew got a very big surprise that night. My dad's girlfriend invited him and my dad to go see the Green Bay Packers play the Denver Broncos in a preseason game. I have never seen him so excited in my life! Green Bay is my dad and Skyler's favorite NFL team. It was all he could talk about the rest of the trip. They are also going to see a Rockie's game too. I'm jealous, but mostly because I want to go to Colorado too.

My dad manning the grill

He fell in love with Abbi

We had such a blast on our vacation. It was fun, and needed, to get away. I could stay up there all summer long if my life would allow. I can’t wait to go back next Thursday (while Gordon is backpacking, I decided I should get away too, even though I hope he is back by Thursday and can come with me!)