Lakes and Caves and Trains, Oh My!

On the way to Bear Lake, we stopped and visited friends. Three of these children have PWS birthmarks and all four of them were adopted from China by single mothers. It is so fun and so important to make connections. I wish they lived closer so we could see them more than once a year.

Erin Joy sure looks tall in this picture. The girl in the glasses is 6 years old, Rachel is 7 years old, and my 5 year old is taller than both of them. No wonder many people think Rachel and Erin Joy are twins.
Camping at Bear Lake was so much fun! We were so excited to try out our new tent. I really love our tent. I love that I can stand up in it. I love the light, the rolling windows, the hinged door, the screened room, and the large size. I love sleeping on an air mattress. We were definitely camping in luxury.
The sunsets at Bear Lake were absolutely beautiful. The beautiful sunsets made up for the powerful wind that came every night and all the mosquitoes.
The kids played in the lake all day and again the next day. They had a blast. It was fun to watch my girls enjoy time with their cousins. We used massive amounts of sunscreen and still managed to get burned. Between the mosquito bites and sunburns, we were looking a little ragged at the end of our camping trip. It sure was fun, though. We made a lot of wonderful memories and had a great time.

We waited 1 1/2 hours to go through the Minnetonka Cave. There were a lot of people there and they only allowed tour groups of 20 every 30 minutes to enter the cave. It was well worth the wait. I thought my father had taken me to every place in Idaho, but I had never been to this cave. It was very impressive and a lot of fun to see. My girls were a little nervous especially when we saw a bat, but they enjoyed all the stalactites and stalagmites and other formations.

The golden spike museum and monument was a very interesting and fun place to visit. We especially loved watching the steam engines go down the track and blow their whistles. I am excited to share what I learned with my fourth graders when we study the transcontinental railroad in school.

We are camping again tonight and tomorrow in Utah. Today we are going to the Oquirrh Mountain temple open house and tomorrow we will enjoy the Fourth by watching our cousin/niece get baptized (the second baptism of our trip). We will then watch fireworks and enjoy time with our family. Monday, we are going to Lagoon (an amusement park in Utah). We will then spend a few days visiting my sister in Idaho and begin the long journey home.

We are really enjoying our time with our cousins and family. Thanks everyone for making our trip so fun and memorable!