WELCH FAMILY: Welch Reunion - Day at the Lake/Beach

Monday, June 29, 2015

Welch Reunion - Day at the Lake/Beach

On Tuesday we spent the day at the shore of Bear Lake. This is actually the third time we've been to Bear Lake for a family reunion and it was by far, the best time we've ever had there. The first time we went we spent time on the shore further north and it was not soft or fun to walk on and the water was choppy and filled with floating pieces of bark that stuck to your skin. The second time we went, 2 years later, I didn't even go to the Lake. I didn't really like the JetSki the first time or the 'beach' so opted to stay at the condos while everyone else went to the Lake.

The house we stayed in had bikes to use, including this tandem bike. No, we did not ride it to the beach, someone else did, we just borrowed it while there. :)

Still hard to make sure I get in some pictures....My kids are so much cuter!!

This time, 12 years later, we found the perfect place to play on the beach. If you go to the little city park in Garden City and park in that parking lot, there is a boardwalk from that parking lot to the lake. We found a big sandy piece of beach and set up our 3 popups for shade. The water was very shallow for a long way out and therefore, was nice and warm and fun to walk in, splash in and play in. The shallow area was huge and provided plenty of space for all the kids to play. To get on the JetSkis you had to walk out a ways to deeper, colder water. Dennis (Medea's husband) also rented a paddle board to use, and there were plenty of squirt guns and other toys.

Our base camp on the beach. Even Grandma and Grandpa made the effort to come. Grandma was having some back issues and we had to wheel her back to the parking lot on a bicycle. Thankfully she has lots of big strong boys to help!

So fun spending relaxed time with cousins and getting to know them all better. Some we don't see often since they live soooooooooo far away.

It was easy to spend the entire day there. We actually ordered pizza and ate it on the beach. People came and went as their needs dictated. Those with little kids didn't spend as long as those whose kids are grown. But it was really the most perfect beach day I've ever had. Wishing we had had another day to spend there.

This is the younger crowd of cousins, mostly boys...

I had fun watching James play and getting his picture. In this picture you can see all the shells they picked up on the towel. That occupied their attention for quite a while.

He was pretty intent on whatever he was doing.

It took him a while to get used to being in the water.

Such a sweet boy, enjoying his first warm day on a beach...

There were lots of seagulls, who were very hungry.
They kept trying to steal our pizza. They were
successful a time or two when a little guy didn't
keep a good eye on his plate.