Bear Lake, Part 4

Notice Claire's feet are off the ground. She was quite proud of herself for lifting herself up:

We were lucky that some friends of ours who moved to Provo last December were able to come up for the afternoon and play with us at the beach...and go and get some shakes!

Because of all the demo at the cabin, my Father-In-Law has gotten to know the locals a little bit. They told him that the best shakes in town were at the Chevron station- I'm not joking. We decided we had to try it out. I think they were right- those shakes are really good! They make the shakes out of real ice-cream, not serve, so it makes them a lot thicker. So, next time you are in Bear Lake, go to Chevron for a locally famous shake! There was no line, so the secret has not yet gotten out!

Then, we went for our last night at the cabin. Even though it was different this year because we weren't all staying together (Ben's extended family had to get a different place to stay), it was actually quite nice to have a quiet household. We would have preferred if we were all together, and especially if my MIL had made the trip, but it ended up being a great trip despite the odds. I'm glad we figured out a way to make it work. Hopefully next year it will be more seamless and there won't be any floods, but we I'm glad we took advantage of the opportunity to go this year, and now we are looking forward to next summer!

Bear Lake, Part 3

 After a long day at the beach the day before, we needed a day to recuperate. We had a lazy morning, then headed to the pool.

Then, to Le Beau's for dinner and Zipz for shakes! I love this picture of Camille eating this huge burger. We were all surprised, but she ate the whole thing!

Yummy shakes! But, not the best shakes (more on that later).

Bear Lake, Part 2

We LOVE the beach! We had a great time.

As usual, Ben commandeered the canoe.

"No, don't take a picture, mom!"

Fun with cousins!

A much needed break- his canoe finally couldn't handle him anymore!

Bear Lake, Part 1

Bear Lake ended up being quite dramatic this year. A week before we were supposed to leave I got a phone call from my mother-in-law that the basement of the cabin was completely flooded and the cabin was unusable.

The girls cried. It was very sad.

But then Monday we got another phone call saying that possibly, through a series of complicated maneuvers, it seemed we might be able to go.

Hope arrived! There was much rejoicing!

It was not easy, but we pulled it together and headed out.

Of course, we had to stop at Little America.

We finally arrived. We were all glad when the drive was over!

It always amazes me how beautiful Bear Lake is!

Lair O' the Bear

One of our favorite hikes is Lair O' the Bear. Of course, I have said that about a lot of hikes lately- it's just so wonderful to live in a place where there are so many incredible hikes nearby! We are truly blessed, and we enjoy taking full advantage.

The girls were upset that it was friends instead of Dad going with us. They really want to do "Family hikes." Admittedly, we have been gone A LOT this summer, and dad works a lot, so we have not done very many family hikes. We will need to change that come fall when dad has his Fridays off.

Anyway, the weather was perfect today- cool, with even a few raindrops, while we walked about 4 miles, and then warm and sunny when the kids got into the creek.

Can you see Camille in there?

Fair, Fair, Fair

This week was ALL about the fair!

Claire was almost mostly done with everything- as a Cloverbud, she didn't need to do any kind of record books or anything. She just needed to bring something- anything- to show the judges. She chose to bring the skirt that she made, so we ironed that and were done. However, she was the club historian, which means she was in charge of the yearly scrapbook. So, she got to finish that up, which took quite a bit of time.

Audra, however, had much more than just ironing and a scrapbook. She had 5 projects she was turning in, which meant she had 5 record books. Each record book takes a couple of hours to complete- she has to write an essay, list everything she did for that project for the year, include labeled pictures of her working on the project, and more. It is pretty intense. Then, she had to make sure each of her projects was perfect- ironing, cutting loose threads, and putting them on hangers so they display nicely.

Because scones are much better fresh, she had to get up early on Saturday to make her scones in the morning before judging.

Audra worked incredibly hard, and by the end of the week she was quite exhausted. But, she also did awesome. I really couldn't be more proud of her.

Five projects also meant five interviews for her. Claire had one. They were both nervous- but Audra was really, really scared.

In truth, because of all the stress of the week of getting everything ready, we did not prepare for the interviews, and it showed. Audra said there were a lot of questions she couldn't answer or got wrong. It isn't the end of the world, but it does show that she didn't prepare as well as she should have.

Then, we really got unlucky with the scones, which is a huge bummer because Audra worked so hard all year on scones! She must have made over 20 batches of different types of scones. She modified the recipe to be lemon scones instead of vanilla scones because she liked the taste better (judges like it when kids take a recipe and make it more to their liking). She tried different ways to cut and to cook scones to determine which was best.

But, unfortunately, on the ride down two of the four scones (you have to turn four scones in) crumbled a little bit so they didn't show well. Then, the judge only takes one bite, and she happened to take a bite that had baking powder that wasn't all the way mixed in.

At least we got to enjoy the rest of the batch- and we thought they were amazing.



The pillow that she made was overstuffed. I knew that it would be- she made the pillow form and then the outside cover, and the cover was too small for the pillow. But, she was so tired of sewing that she refused to make another pillow so we stuffed that too big pillow into the cover, and the judge was not impressed. It really is a bummer, because the pillow cover is so cute and she did a fabulous job of matching the corners of the pattern up perfectly. If by some chance she makes it to state with her pillow, she will need to make another pillow that fits better.

Her doll dress did turn out fabulous. She said the judge for her doll dress was the nicest and was very encouraging. Audra was most excited about making the doll dress, and very sad that she didn't get to bring it home (all the projects will go on display for the week of fair). Hopefully the judge liked the dress as well.

Even though Audra made the above outfit she is wearing, she did not turn the shirt and skirt she is wearing into fair. Those were her practice items. I didn't take pictures of the final skirt she made or the pillowcase she made (she didn't make a second shirt to turn in- she was too exhausted from all of her other projects).

It was a long day on Saturday as both girls went through their interviews. Audra was frustrated, and unfortunately disappointed that she didn't do better. But, both girls have worked incredibly hard, and both greatly improved their sewing skills. They both can make their own clothes now! WOW! How many 8 and 10 year olds can say that? Plus, Audra can read a recipe and made basic foods.

I love that 4H teaches very practical skills that they will use the rest of their lives. We won't know how they did until the actual fair starts in 2 weeks, but I couldn't be more proud of these girls! Even if they didn't win any ribbons, they did learn a ton, and that is priceless.