The many chapters of BEAR LAKE with the Maynes Family

I want to apologize ahead of time for how pathetic my pictures are. I was terrible at getting out my camera- partly because of the sand factor, and the hands full factor, but mostly just my laziness. But we had such a great time camping, and hanging out with the family. Also, beware, that title is not a joke- this post's practically a novel!

here's Noah from the view of my outstretched hand



THE DRIVE UP

On Friday we picked up Kelly and Charity (early) from school, and headed on up to Bountiful to get Nana. We then went over to Brent and Sarah's (they were borrowing my video camera), and I also got to see my sweet little nephew Charlie (once again, I apologize, no pictures), who is now a wopping FIVE AND A HALF POUNDS (probably more now, that was 4 days ago!)- he's been home for a while, he got to leave the NICU WAY sooner than anyone had expected, the little mircle-baby. So anyway, I got to hold him, he's so stinkin' cute (even if he does look like a clone of my big brother ;) it's okay Charles, the saggy, old man face look is totally in!! HA HA jk), I totally can't believe how much he's grown already though!!
So after we saw Charlie, we went to the store, got some much needed camping goodies, and then headed on up to Bear Lake. If you haven't already heard- my cousin Loni was getting married up at Bear Lake COINCIDENTALLY the same weekend that the Maynes family (no relation to Loni of course) had planned this campout!! Bonus for me! I got to go to Loni's wedding child-free (well, Noah came of course) AND spend a much needed relaxing weekend with my sweet in-laws. This is the reason I was driving up with Nana- which thanks again Nana (if you make it this far through this novel of a post) I had such a nice time driving with Nana. I really enjoyed her company. So anyway. We took a long time to get up to the campground. Driving around waiting for Bambi to call Nana back, bla bla bla..... But we finally dropped Nana off at the condo, and got to the campground around 7:30 (sorry again to everyone that worried about where we were and whether we were stuck somewhere or not!! I apologize for not calling and giving you the heads up on my slow-pokeness- I really do need to get a cell phone, I agree) I set up the tent and the fun and relaxing began. My kids had about 24 cousins to play with and keep them busy all weekend. They all played in the sand, played pretend (I so get a kick out of the way they play pretend, where they spend more time telling each other what they're pretending than they do actually acting it out, lol), ran around with no supervision- that kind of thing. It was a good time for everyone!

A DAY AT THE BEACH
Saturday was so nice. We all woke up to the sunrise, ate a really yummy mountain man breakfast, SO YUMMY! Then we slowly got suited up and went down to the beach (just a short little walk away) and the kids all played in the water. They found these little frogs (hopefully I can steal some pictures from Meg soon!), and basically just ran around and played to their little heart's content. It never ceases to amaze me how much my kids love the water, and how fearless they are in it. Must be genetic, but for some reason I'm always surprised. I had a good time hanging out with Meg and Paulette. They're always fun to hang out with. We all have kids the same ages, so there's lots to talk about. Plus it's always nice to just sit there and talk, I think.

Lukey and Grandpa Russ

Cute Kelly

Looking for Frogs

While I was at the wedding Saturday night my kids went with their cousins to the Pickleville Playhouse to see a fun play. They keep talking about it and saying that we "need to take Daddy up to the Pickleville Playhouse when he gets back because he would LOVE IT!" They had a great time. And it was nice to have a break.


MY SPARE!!!

This is strange, but it was kinda funny- when I was driving through the parking lot of the resort to get to the beach for the wedding ceremony I went over a (killer) speed bump, I heard a clunk sound, since my window was down, and when I looked in the mirror to see what that could possibly have been all I saw was a tire just laying there in the middle of the road. Funny enough the thought of "am I missing a tire? nope, feels like I've got all four....hmm....." actually went through my head :) lol, but then it hit me- MY SPARE!!!! So anyway. I got out and threw it in the back- thankfully I had unloaded everything from the back of my car previously and had room (although I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all back IN the car when it was time to go home Monday....but we'll cross that bridge when we get there). So yeah, THEN this guy at the wedding (I have no idea who he was) actually ASKS me if I was the girl that had lost a tire as we were coming in. He had driven by while I was awkwardly trying to pick up my tire without completely covering myself in dirt. I wanted to be like, "(sarcastically) Yeah, thanks for the HELP!" But anyway. Somewhat embarrassing.....yes, but I'm very relieved it didn't happen on the freeway or something, we'll call it a blessing.

LONI'S HAWAIIAN WEDDING

Loni is the cousin from my dad's side of the family who is my same age. We were total buds when we were little, but have obviously seen less of each other as the years have gone by. I have memories of Loni and I making up lame dances to commercial jingles while playing in Lake Powell every summer. And holding onto the water weenie for dear life, while Loni yells to her Dad to go faster. And of course laughing at every single joke she makes at Nana's every Christmas Eve. Loni is THE FUNNIEST person EVER!! She totally cracks me up! I seriously can't even look at her without laughing sometimes (not how she looks, just me). She's hilarious! Even during her wedding ceremony she kept crackin' jokes and being her funny self, so anyway. It was really neat to see her get married. I have never met Tyler (sadly, I still haven't since I didn't get to go to the reception), but he seemed like a perfect match for Loni. They have a 1 year old daughter, Kaya, who is just adorable (even when she was in her grandma's arms bawling for her Mommy, she was cute!) Loni and Tyler were married on the beach (just down the beach from where we were camping out- how weird is THAT!). And even though Loni was an hour late- it was a really cute wedding. Nickole sang a parody about how they met, it was hilarious. I'm really glad I got to be there for the ceremony- I was sorry I didn't make it to the reception, but I hadn't planned on leaving my kids for that long. Just a random picture of everyone waiting for the Bride to show up.
Here she is walking down the aisle (I thought the outfits she chose for everyone were very fitting for the beach setting)

This was while Nickole was singing
My cousin Nickole (I so wish I could write songs like she does, they're hilarious!)

SATURDAY NIGHT

After I got back from the wedding I was surprised with the news that my children had done fine at the play and had been either sleeping, or very obedient for their aunts and uncles (PHEW! *sigh of relief*) Then we enjoyed playing around, sitting by the fire, and eating another yummy meal- I seriously didn't prepare any meals (according to the menu schedule, I was not required to prepare any of them since it was just me and no one to watch my kids in the meantime) but can I just say what a PLEASURE it was!!! I mean, don't get me wrong, I felt a little moochy, but hey- it was in the plan :)- thanks again everyone! The food was seriously amazing. Maybe they just didn't want me screwing things up :) they know how I am in the kitchen (who knows what I cook like OUTSIDE of the kitchen). Bradley and Luke had a total blast hanging out with their Uncle Darren. I think it's safe to say that Darren is one of their favorites. He's a jungle gym. Hopefully they didn't wear him out too much. And I think this would be a good time to point out that my children did EXCELLENT with the whole sleeping in the tent thing the whole time we were camping. They went to bed WAY better than they ever have at home. I really couldn't have asked for better in that area, which was a HUGE blessing and relief. That was one of the things making it hard for me to decide if I wanted to go camping. They sure showed me.

playing with Uncle Darren

DAY OF REST OR COMPLETE CHAOS???

don'tcha just love the puffy-faceshere's Lukey waking me up as a Tigerone of the few shots of Noah camping

Sunday morning was one of those times where I wasn't sure I still wanted to be camping. I had wanted to go to church, but wasn't sure about GETTING READY TO GO to church while camping. I decided to suck it up and just do it, and it sure turned out to be a hectic choice. The kids were hideous. Smelling and looking. They hadn't been bathed in a week (including the last 2 days camping) so I HAD to bathe them. We were blessed to be camping in a campground that had bathrooms, showers, running water, etc. So I stripped them all down and showered all four of the big kids (Noah and I had showered the day before) all together! It was a little chaotic. I totally forgot their towels, so luckily Ali was in the the bathroom (enjoying our little circus I'm sure) and she was able to entertain them while I ran and got the towels. Overall the shower, getting dressed, and doing hair went alright, just not at ALL how I had pictured. I was exhausted and embarrassed (I'm sure their screams in the shower could be heard from miles around)afterward, but they were clean, and ready to go- that's all that mattered.

THE GLARES

Church on the other hand was a complete NIGHTMARE!!! I know that sounds terrible, but it really was awful. We showed up a few minutes late, only to find that the ENTIRE church was FILLED with people. The chapel was full all the way back through the gym and all the way to the back of the stage. Then all the rooms were full of people watching the meeting on tvs. There were even some people lining the hallways. It was NUTS!! (pretty cool, though, if you think about how many of them must have been visitors on vacation for the holiday) So we ended up in the Young Women's room watching the meeting on tv. At first I thought- "wow! This is great, there are only like 30 people in here to be distracting from the meeting, how nice!" But I think the differentness of it just threw my kids all off. They started out alright, but after the first, oh, 3 minutes, it was all downhill!! Luke and Brad took turns being naughty, and Noah would squawk during all the quiet moments. The girls were okay, but they were quietly rebelling in their own little ways. There was this lady sitting just in front of us who just could NOT help but turn around and look back at us EVERY SINGLE TIME someone would make anything more than a peep. It was driving me INSANE. Seriously, I was sitting there preparing my chew out speech for when she decided to finally say something. I was SURE she was sitting there planning out how to ask me to leave. This was obviously not what I should have been thinking about, but you can't tell me you've never been there :) Eventually we did end up out in the hall, which Bradley and Luke took turns laying down in the middle of the hallway, and banging doors, and screaming (of course). To which that same lady had to look out the door anytime something abnormal happened (I had to stay right by the room since the girls were still in there- against my will of course). So anyway. I had COMPLETELY lost any sense of control, and sanity. I was sweating, and I was ready to cry- pathetic, I know, but it had been a crazy morning already, this was just the icing on the cake I guess. So I stood there angry at my kids, that dumb lady that kept staring, and myself for even thinking that going to church was a good idea. Eventually the meeting ended. I'm told it was shorter than normal, but I NEVER would have known that. Near the end of the closing song the husband of the "rude" lady (who at this point still hadn't said anything- even though I was SURE she was plotting to have me committed) came over to me and quietly asked if I "wanted him to type up the notes he had been taking on the meeting since I didn't get to hear any of it". Now how nice is THAT?!!!! I seriously had no idea what he was getting at, and was still waiting for a rude comment before he finished what he was saying. I gave him my email address and thanked him for his thoughtfulness, and then sat there in awe..... and guilt. I hate it when I think the worst of people. And his wife never did say anything to me, I don't know what she was thinking every time she turned around and glared, but maybe she just couldn't get enough of my cute, adorable kids :)jk. Or maybe he was just trying to make up for her "rudeness". But I just couldn't believe someone would be so thoughtful. I was also glad to know that HE was able to hear the talks over my roudy kids' and their crazy antics and take notes :) Maybe my kids aren't as much of a distraction as I always think they are. So, ya win some ya lose some- I'm learning. Another Sunday without Nate down. The ward was so full, and there were so many visitors there that we all decided not to stay for the last 2 hours of church. It was for the best- I don't think Brad and Luke would have scored too many points with any teachers that day either. But anyway. I'm glad we went, hopefully we will receive SOME blessings (more than I cancelled out with my negative thoughts about that lady) for at least making the effort (do you think you get more blessings if it's more effort???? hmmmmm??- I'm totally kidding by the way, I don't really think it works like that :))

A LONG WALK ON THE BEACH

Sunday evening Nancy (Nate's sister) and I took a bunch of the kids out for a walk along the beach. Malisa watched Noah for me, thanks again Malisa! It was SUCH a nice walk. It was really great to have some time to talk with Nancy. I really admire Nancy, and look up to her in so many ways. It's always fun to talk with her. For some reason it always reminds me of the old days when Mark and Nate worked together and we would spend a lot of time together. I miss that. But anyway. We had a good time. The kids were way cute. They started doing this thing about every two steps on the way back, they were doing like a team cheer, but they would just yell out the most random words while standing in a huddle, it was funny. We got a good laugh, and they were all (all 8 of them) getting along surprisingly well. It was fun. On the way back Luke and Brad were getting tired, I ended up carrying Luke. Overall it was a totally relaxing, much needed breath of fresh air and adult conversation-- I LOVED it!

GETTING BLOWN OUT

On the way back from our walk the clouds started moving in. Gray ones. We could tell it was going to get stormy, but I had NO idea what was in store for us :) The wind just picked up and just about swept away our whole campground! HA! Just kidding. That's how my kids were acting though, it was hilarious. They think every ounce of different weather is a natural disaster. Charity was running around screaming and yelling, "what do we do?!!!" She and Sydney were swapping theories about what was going to happen next and what the "blizzard" (As Charity was calling it) was going to stop us from doing. Like driving home and such. I had to laugh. It was pretty bad though. We ended up packing up most of the camp so it didn't get blown away, and then we ditched it all to go up to Nate's parents' condo for dinner instead of trying to rough it in the wind. We had a fun time there too though. This was when I finally had a chance to get out my camera (it felt like). We all sat around watching the last half of Jurassic Park, and then the yummy dinner that Paulette made (Paulette's my idol when it comes to cooking- I aspire to cook like her someday), and then watching the Pixar Short films. It was a really nice time. While we were there I got really homesick for Nate. It's weird to hang out with his family without him, and all the things that they all do alike make me miss having him there. I had a nice time talking to Becky though, and watching the kids all play together is fun too. I am always amazed at how well they all get along and how much they all help each other. I love it when the little girls want to hold Noah too- it's just fun, family is fun.

Charity's lounging on Malisa
playing with Uncle Darren again- Luke just loves him, it's so cute

PLAN B

So after a nice family prayer at the condo, we all geared up to venture out into the soggy, wet, dark world. It had been raining for about 3 hours (guessing. I didn't have a watch the entire weekend and I rarely looked at a clock or watch), and my tent is not the most waterproof tent, so I knew it wasn't going to be too good, but I was hopeful. I was however planning my course of action in the event that things were completely unsleepable. A 10 minute drive later we arrived at our campsite, I pulled up to the tent, shined my headlights on our tent through the pouring rain, and I hopped out to assess the damage. Sure enough our tent was completely drenched (duh), and inside all of our clothing (in the bag on the edge of the tent), pillows (also next to the walls), and most of our blankets were completely soaked!! There is no way we could have spent the night in there, not without some major fits from my kids about it being wet and cold. Seriously, I had no desire to sleep in it. So it was on to Plan B. This plan involved sleeping in the car. Not the most comfortable idea, but dry nonetheless. I must say that never in a million years could I have pictured myself sleeping in a car with 5 small children all on our own. And I should point out that EVERYONE was offering help, and concern about our situation. Thanks again Lynn and Jared for that. There really wasn't much else we could do, so it was all good. So I proceeded to arrange things so that we could be semi-comfortable. The girls, in the back row, just happened to be asleep at the time, so I was just going to leave them be. Noah was in the middle of the front row sleeping as well. My plan was to remove the boys' seats, fold down the front row, and let them lay on the floor of the car. That seemed the most comfortable. But when I was almost done with the arrangement Luke started freaking out. He was hysterical at the sight of his carseat shoved up in the front of the car! How dare I move his car seat. So after talking things over with Brad we decided they would sleep in their seats. Not what I had pictured as the way to go, but they seemed fine with it. So I put their seats back. Keep in mind it is still raining. Not pouring, but raining the whole time I am trying to get things situated. (just making sure the stage is set :)) So I am running around from side to side of the car, then back to the tent to get dry(er) blankets, and buckling in seats, then getting drinks, and tucking kids in. It was an ordeal. So, finally things were settled. I hopped into the passenger seat, aka: my bed for the night, and started to get comfy. It was impossible to get comfortable with my pants so soggy, so I decided I would just take them off. Of course once I finally had my wet pants pried off, I hear the sweet little sound of Bradley's tired voice saying, "Mommy. I need to go potty." Yep, it was time to squeeze myself back into my cold, stiff pants. And of course we didn't get him out in time, he was all wet and cold in a few seconds flat, and (not calmly) requesting some new clothes. Well this was a trial in and of itself since all of the clothes in the tent (most of them anyway) were wet, and it was pitch dark outside. So I turned the headlights back on, made my way to the tent and through our huge bag of clothes, found Bradley some pajama pants from a few nights before (of course it was the dirty ones that were dry) found some underwear (coincidentally they were wet from the rain, so I was replacing his wet ones for some other wet ones, go figure), got him dressed and back in his seat. It's funny how I work in these kinds of situations, because it's almost like the more stressed out I am the calmer I get- I don't know what it is. Well, I shouldn't say that, it's like a bell curve. I peak and then it just goes down- I think I was on the down side of it because I was handling things (as I look back on it) rather well. So I got back into my spot, and got comfy. I had found some pants for myself as well, while I was in the tent, so that turned out to be somewhat helpful in the long run. By this time the girls had woken up, and were kinda whiny/crying. They weren't sure what was going on and were VERY bummed that we weren't spending our last night camping in the tent! But we fixed things up all nice for them, got rid of their seats, and they got all snuggled up with each other and after a few songs were all asleep. The night went about the same as the first half hour had. Bradley woke up about every hour and a half screaming. I assume it had something to do with his legs being numb or something, he was just sitting up in his car seat. He was cold too. So we turned the car on for the heater, and while it was heating up we watched a movie on the DVD player :). Once we were warmed up we would turn the tv off, sing some songs, and fall fast asleep. Bradley's such a creature of habit, he had to do this everytime he woke up. It was fine though. At least the screaming was minimal :) Luke woke up one time talking, and I looked back to see what was up and he was turned around, kneeling up in his seat, resting his head on the top of it. It was HILARIOUS!! If only I had taken a picture of this whole ordeal- what fun that would be. Noah woke up his usual two times, only this time I was not able to sleep while he was eating, so the feedings seemed SO LONG. About halfway through the night Bradley wet his pants (yes again, must have been the capri suns), and we went through the whole searching for clothes and underoos again. That was fun. In the rain still. Charity had her potty trip, which I must say, that campground was totally eerie at night, in the dark!! I didn't have a flashlight, so I'm sure that was part of it, but I was a little creeped. We ran back to the car like two frightened little girls. It was nice that we had the heater. We didn't get too cold that night, not like the first night camping in the tent. And while the passenger seat wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, I didn't go numb as much as I thought I would considering how much I do in my own bed at night. I definitely don't think I would ever choose to sleep in my car with my 5 kids ever ever again though :) Not something I wish to repeat. OVERALL- not too bad.

CALM AFTER THE STORM

charity read to Noah while I was putting things in the car.

I just love this picture, I don't know why :)

Monday morning was nice- the rain had stopped. I just loaded everything up (surprisingly it all fit in my car even with the spare tire in the back), I think I threw my back out though, when I carried everything from the tent all at once, wrapped up in the bottom blanket. Seemed easier but apparently not the least strenuous. Everything was so wet still I didn't want to do anything with it till I got home and could hopefully dry it out. It felt really weird to be the one loading everything up at the end. That's usually Nate's job. I usually do all the packing myself, and that seemed normal for me, but the cleanup, man, sorry Nate! I have just always taken that for granted, not anymore. We had breakfast with everyone and then it started getting windy and rainy again. My kids got cold, and needed cover, so we made our way to the car. By the time I had them all loaded up and ready to go it was hailing! We said goodbye to everyone and headed on out.

THE DRIVE HOME

The kids were angels on the drive home. Can I just say it was incredible!! I was a little freaked out driving through Logan canyon on wet roads, but we sang songs, played I-spy, talked about EVERYTHING all the way home- it was heavenly. The kids got a kick out of the snow "in the SUMMER?!" And we talked about how much we love our Daddy and all the things he would have liked about our camping trip, and all the things we want to do with him when he gets home. It was fun. We stopped at the Logan temple for a picture, but stayed in the car because it was still a bit drizzly. I love that temple. Kelly was disappointed that there was no Angel Moroni, and Charity said it looked big enough to fit a Princess, a Queen, a King AND a Prince in it! (whatever that's all about :)) They all took turns sleeping, and needing to potty off the side of the road, and we stopped at Brent and Sarah's again to wish Sarah a happy birthday (sorry I forgot to before Sarah!! Hope it was wonderful though!). We got home, cleared out the car, laid it all out to dry, and had our Hot Chocolate that I had bribed them with earlier that morning :) (even though it was pretty warm outside here in Eagle Mountain :) a promise is a promise). I can't believe how quickly I got things unpacked, and how much I got done yesterday, minus the laundry of course, (that'll take weeks to get caught up on) everything is done.

What an awesome camping trip this was. It was a lot of work (relatively speaking), but we survived, and I REALLY had a great time. I'm pretty sure my kids did too. I love the Maynes family so much. I know I say this too much, but I don't know what I would do without them. They have made this time without Nate bearable, and have done so much for me. I couldn't ask for better in-laws. I hope that someday (soon) we can become more of an asset to the family than a liability like it feels now, but I do appreciate all that was done for me this weekend especially. All the help with my kids, all the meals, the conversation and good times..... The campout was a blast. Thanks again everyone! Can't wait for next year's.

***A SPECIAL THANKS goes out to ANDREA and her husband JOHN for making this trip possible!!!!! THANKS AGAIN SO MUCH for fixing my car-- I would have totally missed out had it not been for you guys!!!! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!***