Bear Lake

Recently we were invited on a moms and kids quick trip to a friend's parents' cabin (read: lake house) at Bear Lake.

It was beautiful. The house, the view, the lake, the drive, the friends -- we all just had the best time.

There was room for each mom and her kids to have a bedroom or two. And a huge kitchen to cook all together.

James wanted to live in the swing.

Or scare me by walking down this spiral staircase.

The big boys played the Wii, ping pong, soccer and tag.

Andrew found a Hulk costume in the dress up box and was in heaven. See how he's trying to sleep in it in the picture below? That first night was rough because all the boys just couldn't settle down. See James's jubilation.

Also, a note about the dress-up box -- I walked into the house, and pink poofy princess dresses were strewn all over the floor. It was a shock to my eyes. So much pink! So much princess We have nothing like that at our house. The other 3 moms who were there have all girls except one other boy.

Andrew and James got along with the girls just fine at the beach the next morning.

Max and Ben just took to the kayak. They loved it. I, the scairdy-cat anxiety-ridden reporter mom, thought they should just stay in this nice mini-pond (big puddle).

But they ventured out into the lake and did just fine. It was chest deep for a quite a ways so there wasn't much danger.

I got some cuddles and a picture of me to prove I was there.

Back at the house all the kids piled into the hot tub.

They slept much better the second night. I felt relaxed, I read a whole book, I talked and laughed with friends. The only thing that would have made it better was being with JB. So many things he would have enjoyed. We would love to go back some time as a family.