A little getaway

I'm not usually so spontaneous, but I decided to book a little vacation to Bear Lake over spring break. My family vacationed there most every summer after my parents bought a boat. I remember spending the week of the 4th of July there and watching the fireworks over the lake. Dh and I both went to USU, which is just on the other side of the canyon, so I spent some time there in college as well. I've never been there this time of year, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We came in from Wyoming to save a little driving time. When we came around the bend and saw the lake, I couldn't believe how blue it was.

It looks nice and sunny - but the weather was COLD! There was a bike trail next to our condo. On our 2nd day there, we took a nice long ride to the end of the lake. The kids were going nuts in the bike trailer. They thought we were at the ocean. LOL! Dallin took off full speed ahead - running as fast as he could to get to the water. I love this little happy dance.

He went right in the freezing water - shoes and all.

Gracie was more hesitant. She was grumpy because she was so cold. (We told her it would be cold, but she insisted on wearing her skirt and bare legs. I thought it was the perfect chance for a little love and logic parenting.) She stuck 1 foot in and rushed back to the bike trailer ASAP where it was warmer.

It was a long, cold, windy ride back to the condo. I was pretty pleased with myself that I made it the whole way without stopping. Dh is a big biker, but I left him in my dust several times. OK - so he was the one pulling the bike trailer, but still he's in way better shape than I am. He quizzed me later why I was pushing it so hard. Just when he thought we were going at a good speed, I would speed up. I decided to fill him in on my secret....all I had to do was picture myself in a swimsuit - that's all the motivation I needed.

Later in the trip he mentioned something about our "little" bike ride. LITTLE? What? He was sure it was only a mile or 2. My burning thighs were convinced he was wrong. I insisted that he clock the route in the car - "just for fun" and it turns out it was over 9 miles.

Anyway, I was so glad our condo had a fireplace. We warmed up with hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup before heading to the pool and hot tub. We couldn't have timed it more perfectly. We had the pool all to ourselves for most of the afternoon.

Here's a picture I snapped just outside our unit. The pool house is up higher on the hill, so it had a great view of the lake.

The little town was pretty much shut down since it's the off-season there. On Friday night we did find a cute little pizza place that was open for dinner. Other than that, I was glad I had packed enough food for our meals.

We decided to go the long way home, so we could stop in Logan. Dallin was born there and DH and I lived there for several years, so we decided to take the kids on the grand tour.

First stop.....First Dam Park to feed the ducks....

...and the seagulls...LOL! Dallin was trying so hard to keep the food away from the seagulls. He was feeling bad that they kept snatching it away from the poor ducks.

Next stop....the USU campus. Followed by a driveby of our first apartment, the Logan Temple, and a trip to the 25 cent carwash.

Then lunch at my favorite restaurant of all times, El Toro Viejo . YUM! They seriously have the BEST enchiladas EVER!!! I sometimes crave them so bad that I'm tempted to drive to Logan just to satisfy the craving. This place was a favorite college hang-out and it was also the first place DH and I ever went to dinner when we were dating.

We knew the kids weren't going to survive the long ride home without burning off some energy first, so our next stop was to the Willow Park Zoo. The kids wanted to play on the playground first.

We finally tore them away from the park and convinced them to go look at the animals. They were pretty impressed by the bobcat, and Dallin was so excited to see a "real turkey" LOL! He told me that he's always wanted to see a turkey...and a bald eagle. Well it turned out to be his lucky day...we saw 2 bald eagles. I don't remember seeing them before.

We had to make 1 final stop on our way out of town....to see our first house. It's where we lived when Dallin was born. The people who bought it from us took great care of it. They added a new fence and some nice trees and flowers. I was so sad to see that they had sold it to someone else since the last time I was there. The new owners have really trashed it already. There was a big trailer parked in front - next to the driveway, but still - right in the front yard. UGH! I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it.

The kids have already started begging to go back and do it all over again. We may have just started a new spring break tradition.