Bear Lake 2015

Last time I wrote, I was wistful. I was not ready for summer vacation to end. I am slowly coming around to accepting that it pretty much has ended. A couple of trips to one of my favorite places, Bear Lake, helped.

Bear Lake is the place I camped when I was a teenager after we moved to Utah. We stayed at a campground in Idaho that allowed us to pitch our tents on the sandy beach right next to the water. We had a ski boat, a jet ski and four wheelers. We rode the four wheelers up and down the sand at the water's edge and were amazed every single time at the magical turquoise color of the water when we got out on the lake on the boat or jet ski.

Some years, we have taken our family to a cabin with my extended family and I have been so incredibly blessed in my life to make a tradition of joining my friend Heidi at a lakeside cabin every year since Sophie and Ian were babies (twelve years). It is the perfect arrangement! The cabin is located right across the street from the Garden City KOA so we can stock up on ice or groceries conveniently. It is also down the street from all the places that sell raspberry shakes and, the cutest candy shop "The Chocolate Bear" that sells chocolate dipped raspberries and other treats -- mmm-mmm!

This year, Heidi invited us to join her family at the cabin on the exact dates we were in Disneyland -- Boo! I was worried we wouldn't make it to Bear Lake this year, so on Isaac's birthday halfway through August, we decided to take a day trip.

We left at 8 a.m. to drive to Montpelier for the Bear Lake County Fair where our talented friend Terresa was performing songs with two other ladies. It was fun to see the goats, chickens, pigs, cows, steers, sheep and rabbits. We also enjoyed the performance and let the kids ride a few rides (giant slides and house of mirrors) before we headed over to North Beach.

We went with another family and it was fun because it was my friend Amber's first time at Bear Lake! I hope she loved it. Packing everything into one day was worth it and I would do it again, but it was exhausting.

We played in the water and the sand, had a picnic on the beach, and lounged around in the shade and the sun before we packed up for the day. On our way out of town, we stopped at Zipz, a new restaurant with outdoor seating that boasts having the "least famous shakes." Haha! It's funny because every place in Garden City advertises "famous" Bear Lake raspberry shakes. We ate our shakes, burgers, hot dogs and tons of food in an old fashioned ski boat built into the patio with a large table down the middle. Good times!

I think Isaac had a fantastic day, but at the end he proclaimed it his worst birthday ever (only because he didn't want to leave!).

As we were enjoying what we thought would be our only Bear Lake day of the summer, we got a text from Heidi inviting us to join her for a last minute jaunt to the cabin the following week on Tuesday and Wednesday.

That turned out to be a fun way to begin bidding our summer farewell. Brian had to work, but on Tuesday morning, I headed back up one of the most beautiful canyons in the world (Logan) with my kids and one of Ian's friends.

We arrived at the beautiful lake to enjoy a day of perfect weather that turned into night games under the stars for the kids while Heidi, Paula and I sat visiting in the cabin (just like old times when the three of us spent a week together at the cabin every summer). Listening to the kids having a blast outside felt like the purest joy.

Here are some pictures. They actually start near the end of the trip and don't go in any order. Katie and Isaac played non-stop in the water and sand (we can walk to a nice sandy spot and the water right from the cabin) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday evening, we were packing up when Heidi suggested we stay one more night and leave in the morning, which, of course, we did. Wednesday night, right after we made that decision, we celebrated at a Mexican restaurant down the street with this hullabaloo (Paula and Ian's friend had already returned home):

Tons of food and fun times!

The kids had fun on the kayaks and paddle boards. If this picture doesn't say "perfect childhood moment" I don't know what does.

I couldn't get enough photos of these two on the swing.

A sandcastle built by Katie and Isaac on our corner of beach looking out on the captivating lake. This is the view we see when we look out the windows from the cabin.

Katie ended up with a mermaid tail a few times.

This guy could never get enough of building dams and canals connecting this enormous land-locked puddle to the lake. It made me so happy to see Katie and Isaac playing in the sand and the sun for hours on end each day the way Sophie and Ian did when they were younger.

Could they be more happy?

On the last day, Heidi and I remained with these six kids. We took this traditional photo by the swing right before we left.

Thursday morning we were working so hard to pack everything up. When I finally sat still for one second as I started the engine to the van and got ready to pull out, my eyes stared out at the lake seeing the same view I have seen every year for twelve years. Suddenly my mind was overcome with all of the memories of my babies and all the good times we have had at this very spot! I could see five-year-old Ian zooming up and down the steep gravel driveway over and over on his red bike and making circles in the dirt with his fingers. I could see little Sophie swimming in the freezing lake like a fish all day and begging me to join her. Sometimes there was an amazing ski boat for us to ride in and other times we sped across the lake on jet skis. I could see Isaac and Izzy as toddlers when they use to be best friends laughing around the fire. Katie when she was one and Brian was her favorite parent. The kids singing along to Rock Band songs. Arts and crafts galore. There have been so many outdoor movies under the stars on the giant lawn and crazy dancing and games on that lawn too. We have enjoyed so many delicious meals together in the cabin and napped under the endlessly blue sky in the hammock. Ugh--so many memories it makes my heart swell and my eyes get all blurry when I think about it.

I have been so blessed in my life with good friends to help our family make these memories. What a perfect way to work out the end of summer blues.

On Tuesday morning, before we left for the cabin, I woke up extra early and decided to fill out an on-line registration form to get Sophie on the waiting list for the charter school DaVinci Academy. I had no idea what our chances were of getting in or not.

On Wednesday, I got a call from the office saying school had started and if I would bring in Sophie's birth certificate, etc. they would put her in the lottery so we could find out Friday if she could get in.

When we got home on Thursday, I rushed the documents to the school before they closed for the day and -- wallah! We were the first to turn in all of the documents so we got the slot that was open.

Friday morning, I went from thinking that summer break was almost over to suddenly being dropped into a place where my oldest had already missed the first two days of school. We met with a counselor and got her registered for classes.

I have a really good feeling about this decision and she does too. Which is saying a lot because this is my daughter who normally resists every change no matter what.

Since then, life has been a whirlwind of buying school supplies and school clothes and getting everything ready. I have had to accept that summer is essentially over. 

But, I think we made the most of it.

Summer 2015 Winds Down

Looks like it's almost time to send these four back to school. It is with very mixed emotions, but I am trying to focus on the positive.

I feel a little sad that Sophie, my soon to be 9th grader expresses such a strong dislike for school. This is my child who absolutely loved school so much she couldn't stand to miss a single day right up until junior high began. It's not the academics she hates. All of her teachers love her, so I know she is respectful. I want to help her find a way to be happy. We have recently started discussing the option of transferring her to a charter school.

Ian, my soon to be 7th grader is excited to see what junior high is all about. I hope his experiences will be more positive.

Last February, I made the decision to pull Katie and Isaac out of their elementary school to homeschool them. The thing that surprised me most about this decision is all the FUN we had. We loved it and I was looking forward to homeschooling them for at least a full academic year.

I accepted a five-hour-per-week-work-from-home job that quickly turned into a fifteen-to-twenty-hour-per-week-please-come-to-the-office-when-you-can job.

I think when I said "yes" somewhere inside of me I knew this might happen. And, it did. And, it's good. It's a really good job and I think ultimately it is a better situation for my family.

It has been a summer of transition with the kids getting use to me being away more. Once school starts I can make my own schedule and work while they are at school (if you have to work, it doesn't get better than that). I absolutely love my office right on Historic 25th Street in Downtown Ogden. Every time I drive there I think about how blessed I am to have zero traffic on my beautiful commute. And, I work with the most incredibly positive, kind people I have ever met.

Awhile back (before the notion of homeschooling), I was looking ahead to the 2015-16 school year and wondering what I would do? I would only have one child left who was not in school (I am speaking here of a child I babysit). My income would drop. I kept wondering if I should go to work or enroll more children. For the first time in 14+ years since becoming a mother, all of my children would be in school all day opening the door to new possibilities.

After so many years of raising my kids and watching other peoples' kids, I figured the best skills I had were patience and nurturing. I had gone to the trouble to get my license. Lots of working moms need childcare. It seemed there were compelling reasons to go with growing the childcare business.

Then the decision to homeschool came along and that felt right. I figured it wouldn't be too tricky to homeschool two with a little friend (who I babysit) joining us. And, to write my weekly restaurant feature. And, when the opportunity presented itself, to work five-hours-per-week-from-home. I figured I could find one hour per day (but, definitely not two -- that was where I would have to draw the line).

At first when I saw the new job would be more than expected, I was determined to find a way to make the job plus homeschool work. I figured out how I could do it. It was nice to say to myself, "I really can do this if I want to and feel like it is the right thing." After I considered that for some time, I gave myself permission to not be the mayor of crazy town. To do that, I would have to decide to quit the job or send the kids back to school. Because, even though in theory my plan would work, it would only stay on track if everything went perfectly. There was no leeway for, let's say, illness, for example. If there is one thing I know about my life it is that it almost never goes as planned. Did I mention one of my greatest skills is also flexibility?

I thought and thought about what to do and I decided that, even though I didn't plan on this job, it is the direction I should be taking in my life right now. It was really hard to let go of the homeschool dream, but I am reassured by the fact that everyone has told me the teachers Katie and Isaac have for the upcoming school year are awesome.

I am so grateful for the few months we had together. I learned some things about them that I really needed to know. Like -- that the medicine Isaac was taking always made him fall asleep in the afternoon (his teacher had never once mentioned it and when I asked her about it, she said, "Oh yeah, he always falls asleep and I make him stand at his desk -- how miserable must that have been!?). We took him completely off the medicine and we have seen very little negative impact from that -- a huge benefit for everyone.

I also learned that Katie needs some extra attention when it comes to reading and math. I was cruising right along assuming she was getting everything she needed because that is how it went the first three times around. We have spent the past six months focusing on reading and just last month made some giant strides forward.

I am grateful for the extra time, the extra outings and for getting to see my children's brilliant minds at work up close and personal during a small window in our lives.

I am mourning the end of summer (I always do) and getting use to the change of plans. I keep telling myself that once school starts I will probably love it so much I won't even know what to do. Maybe these awesome teachers have something they need to give my little ones that I am not capable of giving them.

If we all hate it, I can always pull them out again and figure out how to make homeschool happen.

Time will tell. Meanwhile, I do look forward to fall which is perhaps my favorite season with its cooling temperatures, stunning sunsets and all around dazzling colors. Maybe my house will be clean again. Maybe I will renew my commitment to go to the gym. Life is one big present waiting to be unwrapped.