Bear Lake Hullabaloo

Bear Lake in October is cold, but still beautiful!

I'm not sure why our friends named this new tradition of renting out the lighthouse at Bear Lake The Hullabaloo, but I guess it is kind of a noisy melee. We were the only ones in our ward to go this year, but we had a lot of fun with all of our friends from the next ward over.

The first day of Fall Break was Thursday and we drove up to Ogden early and took Grandma Betty to lunch on our way to Bear Lake. We had a nice time, and it is always fun to see Grandma. The boys were especially good this time at sitting still and talking nicely to her. After lunch we crossed the freeway to the Bear River Migratory Refuge. There weren't a lot of birds there in October, but the boys checked out their Junior Ranger backpacks and had a lot of fun catching insects in the nets, dipping for bugs in the water, using their binoculars, and checking their field guides. We also spotted a long-tailed weasel which was really cool. He ran right across the bridge, and he was the prettiest auburn color.

Our boys always ask to visit Grandma Betty. I hope they will have lots of memories of their great-grandma.

Dax would not touch the nice little salamander.

Seth was a lot braver! 

The boys loved these backpacks. There is aton of fun stuff inside to use for adventuring.

Seth really wanted to catch something in his net, but it didn't happen.

This the picture I snapped of the weasel through the windshield as he ran across the road, but I'm pretty proud of it because you can actually tell it's a weasel even if it is blurry.

The refuge was beautiful!

Dax is trying to catch something in his net, but we decided he didn't need to swim.

The boys LOVE visiting this place.

After we finished up the Junior Ranger, we headed up to the lighthouse. After getting checked in to our basement room this year, we had pizza for dinner. Then the boys played and ran with all the other kids. There was bingo and face painting. Seth was painted up to be a dog, but Mark and Dax were painted in support of BYU, who lost as we watched in the theater. We allowed the boys to stay up late and play and watch the game until about 10 pm, but that was only halftime.

The boys all played a soccer game, and the sunset was amazing! 

Dax reppin' the Y!

Mark wasn't going to paint his face, but once he saw Dax's Y, he changed his mind.

Maggie seriously painted almost every kid's face in the house. She was awesome.

And Seth's dog face was adorable!

Seth LOVES Karina. He wanted to play with her the whole time. She was such a good sport and let him hang out with her. They even took selfies together!

After the kids went to bed, the guys played Around the World pingpong. You had to dash around the table, and if you missed a shot, you were out. The last two players had to hit and spin. The winner got to take a free shot at the exposed bellies of the losers. Mom and Dad stayed up and talked with the other adults until late, but they had to be up early to fix breakfast with a few other families for all 77 people that are staying here.

The next morning came way early, but our pancake breakfast was a success, and we got all cleaned up in time for some outside games. The boys and men played tennis and then wiffle ball. After that, Mom took the boys down to the lake. It was freezing this year, but that didn't stop them from going in the water, and they had a great time spending a few hours in the shallows. Best of all, on the way home they spotted a great-horned owl and two bald eagles! That was really exciting! They even got pictures.

The boys played wiffle ball. Mark is up to bat in this picture! 

Dax loves playing tennis.

Mark also loves to play tennis. They think having these courts by the house is the best part of the stay!

Dad always dominates during the tennis tournament. 

Seth is still figuring out how to hit the tennis ball.

Seth definitely has his game face on when he steps on the court, and he's got a really great batting stance!

We spotted this owl on the way to the beach!

The Bald Eagles were in the usual spot, so we found them easily!

The water was FREEZING!

But of course, the boys had to get in!

Dax went really far out!

Mark didn't stay in long. He made bird tracks in the sand for awhile.

After dinner of Cafe Rio pork, the boys played pool with their friends while Mom and Dad socialized. It was a much more relaxed evening until the kids got to bed. Then the adults had an all-out karaoke session. Dad sang Somebody to Love and tried to help Mom with her amazing version of Don't Stop Believin', but his voice was blown out by then. At midnight, the alarm that Seth had set (the alarm clock was nearest his bed, so it was "his") went off. Dax was evacuating due to "the fire alarm" when we finally got it shut off, and all three boys were wide awake. We got them back to bed, though not back to sleep, in time for a few more games of Screaming Feet and Signs. The night did end fairly early, if you call 1 am early!

I should have done a video of Randy because he rocked the karaoke! Everyone was amazed!

The final day was fairly uneventful. We had a continental breakfast of muffins and cereal, and packed our stuff up. Then we decided to drive up to the Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge in Idaho. That turned out to be a mistake as we saw almost no birds. We were hoping that the kids would fall asleep as we drove back down the canyon, but none of them did. After lunch at Angie's we drove home. We were so tired that we didn't even unpack! Mom and Dad took a nap and left the unpacking for later, which is the first time they've ever done that!

The best spot we had at the Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge was a Bald Eagle.