Sunday night I realized that we have been really lame this summer. Other than our Nielson family reunion, which was lots of fun, we have been a boring family and haven't played much this summer. To remedy this lameness, we decided to go to Bear Lake for Labor Day since the kids have never been there. We planned to play in the water and do lots of sightseeing. At least that's what I told the kids my goal was. Really, though, I have been craving a Mushroom Burger and tater tots at Merlin's Restaurant ever since I had one for the first time when I went there a few weeks ago for work. Mmmmm. It was heavenly, and I've wanted another one for weeks, so I talked Del into spending the day driving around the lake just so I could enjoy that juicy, savory burger again. My mouth is watering just typing these words.
We stopped on the way to Bear Lake for a tour of the Paris Tabernacle, which is a beautiful old building built by the early LDS people who settled the area. The ceiling inside the Tabernacle was designed by a shipbuilder who wanted it to look like the hull of a ship.
Next we went to the lake. I had just had a 3 hour tour of it by the head of the BLM in the Bear Lake/Montpelier area, so it was fun to be able to tell them a little bit about it. The lake is so much bluer than it looks in pictures. It's called the "Caribbean of the Rockies" because the water is bright turquoise (because of limestone runoff) and the sand is so soft. I learned that the Idaho side is best for families because it's shallow and there is a long shoreline.
This picture shows Emma wading in the water. She is about 50 feet from the shore and it's only just past her knees. This makes it nice for little kids.....or for walking on water like Maren did. There are fun little sandbars all over in the water.
There is a spot near the border where people like to scuba dive because it's so deep, and on the Utah side there is a marina where you can rent sailboats, which look beautiful on the bright blue water.
After we played in the lake it was time for dinner. I told everyone that they should all try the Mushroom Burger because it was so divine, and then when I ordered the girl said, "I'm sorry, but we ran out of mushrooms earlier today." I nearly cried! I said, "I drove all the way from Pocatello just for your Mushroom Burger," but still no mushrooms magically appeared, so I ordered a Pastrami Burger. If I had never had the Mushroom Burger I would have thought it was the juiciest, best burger I've ever had, but unfortunately I knew there was one that was even better. Oh well, now I'll have to go back again! We did try the famous raspberry milkshakes there and they were yummy! The chocolate covered fresh raspberries are so good, too. I had those on my last trip and I've been making them at home ever since. Mmmm.
Our last stop was Soda Springs to see the nation's only man-made geyser. It goes off every hour on the hour and we came racing up to the parking lot just as it started bubbling. It's a pretty impressive little sight and we got to see a rainbow through it, which seemed to top off our fun day.
Overall, I decided that we should definitely have a family reunion here in a few years. There are places to camp for $20 a night or very expensive cabins to rent. There are parks that can be reserved, but they fill up a year in advance in the first 10 minutes the phone lines are open. We should go on a Thursday and Friday, though, if possible because te BLM guy showed me a picture taken the Saturday before I was there. There were 800 vehicles on the Idaho beach. I was there on a weekday and there were about 25-40 cars. He said that is how it usually is, so if we want some space we should pick a weekday. A fun spot for a future reunion!
Madeline even let us do some mini-makeovers on her. Here she is with an updo
and with some "big, fancy hair" (and some really cute tights!).
We had a great time watching "Annie, Get Your Gun" (at Madeline's request) and singing along with the songs we knew. We especially loved singing, "No you can't, Yes I can, No you can't, Yes I can" over and over and over! Buttery popcorn and yummy chocolate-covered raisins (plump Costco ones...mmmm) added the finishing touch. What would a Girls' Night be without chocolate? Madeline looks like she overdosed on chocolate raisins but it was probably just past her bedtime!
For the record, we really did invite Chris to our party, but about the time he saw that styling hair and watching musicals were involved, he decided he had important things to do.
What a strange way to start a day! We're thinking of posting a sign in our backyard to warn Peeping Toms and burglars of the potential hazards of sneaking around our yard. Moose can be quite dangerous, you know.
I think we're going to do it again soon and do hair! My girls are really good at styling hair. Here's a style they created a few months ago involving an empty water bottle:
Aren't we cute? We could also do a Girls Night Fashion Show! Sunday, Grandma Nielson made my kids watch our old slides and the girls had lots of fun laughing at my 80's clothes! They decided they want to be Sally and Becky for Halloween. Great. Their clothes are good, but we'll have to work on 80's hair. They need some side ponytails or big bangs or something.
Our next night should be lots of fun! Call me if you want in on it!
I love the group of friends Devin went with! They are fun and practical, so they decided to have dinner at Andrew Bringhurst's house (the boy in blue), which saved us all lots of money! Good kids! Andrew was an exchange student in Italy for a year, and he makes great Italian food.
Several of these friends are theatre students, as you can tell from the way they posed in the last picture. They decided to look crazy, but there's no change in Devin. He told me he's crazy in spirit! 
