Our next big item on the summer trip list was Bear Lake. Boy, what a gorgeous drive. Our family was the first to arrive at the house and were pleasantly surprised by the amazing view and the house itself. My favorite part was the huge porch on the second level--so fun to sit out there and watch boats on the lake! The tiny driveway made things interesting, and there wasn't a backyard, but there was plenty, plenty, plenty of room for our big crew, quick access to the lake and town, and all the amenities we needed, including a key to the neighborhood pool.
Some highlights from Bear Lake were:
Being with Sheens!
Visiting on the porch
Golfing for Jason and Wade
R-A-S-P-B-E-R-R-Y milkshakes, oh my!
Sheens, Beans, and Macaroni t-shirts
TALENT SHOW
Driving the boat at Bear Lake--Uncle Brant let Rhiannon take a turn and she was ecstatic!
UTV experience--thanks, Traci and Derrick, for talking us into it! And thanks for treating us, Grandpa and Grandma!
So. Much. Good. Food.
Sitting on the porch late at night watching a lightning storm come in--a family favorite moment
Horseback riding--again, thanks to the Houston and Denton Sheens' encouragement!
Field Day games
Bear Lake walk by the house
The house at Bear Lake!
Swimming with Amelia, GPA and kids
Card games and squishing the two big tables together
Again, I took v-e-r-y few pictures, but I'm thankful to family members who took some AMAZING ones to document our time together! Here are a few (of many) favorites:
Red Rock Canyon is just a quick 30-minute drive down the road from us. We'd never camped there before and decided to try it out. The views and weather were perfect. Since we were there on a Monday night-Tuesday morning, we practically had the place to ourselves, too. There wasn't a perfect flat spot for the tent, but we made it work. We were close to a bathroom and running water, too.
Dessert--roasted Starburst candies and marshmallows (for s'mores)
Breakfast--pancakes, sausages, oranges (we skipped the hot cocoa because it wasn't cold outside!)
We played a few rounds of the Great Dalmuti card game that night in the tent and went to bed. There wasn't a lot of sleeping with the dogs sharing our tent, but all things considered, the dogs did okay, too, haha! In the morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and went for a little hike in the area. It was a blast!
We had a great time and enjoyed each other's company. It was great to relax together and get away for a night!
Saturday was a nice day. Rhiannon had a total blast on a special field trip to the California Science Center with a group from school, and Jason was golfing on the base in a tournament with friends.
So Wade and I were at home most of the day by ourselves. We both slept in, which was heavenly. Ah, sleep, how I love thee, haha! I slept in until 8:15 and let Wade sleep another hour after that. Not a usual thing for us, but it sure was great!
I gave Wade 30 minutes to chill and eat breakfast, and then we went to work. We did all kinds of chores, worked on Boy Scout merit badge stuff, and mowed the lawn together. Then we got Taco Bell for lunch and watched Guardians of the Galaxy together after that. It was a fun day that flew by!
Thanks, Grandpa Rod, for treating Wade to a haircut when we visited in November. He was due for another one today--we were amazed at how much hair we cut off, haha!
At 2:30 that afternoon Rhiannon, Wade, and I picked up JenAi Evans and headed south on Highway 395 to get to Anaheim. We were going to see Imagine Dragons in concert for Rhiannon's 15th birthday present!
Traffic through the Cajon Pass was terrible, but once we got out of that, we cruised the rest of the way, arriving at the Honda Center with just enough time to quickly buy t-shirts and find our seats!
We saw two opening acts before Imagine Dragons came out--Halsey and Metric. They were fine, but the arena was pretty quiet, as if people were just patiently hearing them out before Imagine Dragons came on stage!
It was a night we will never forget. Here's what Rhiannon had to say about it the next day:
"The Imagine Dragons concert was one of the best nights of my life. I don't have a favorite moment...because every single second was absolutely amazing. In my opinion, they are even better live (If that's even possible) I knew and loved every single song. I sang my heart (and throat) out and enjoyed myself maybe too much. Imagine Dragons just won the spot of my favorite band. Which is pretty huge because Coldplay has been favorite since I was really little. Thank you Dad for the tickets, and for making one of my dreams come true! I ❤ Imagine Dragons!!!"
And I wrote this on Facebook:
"I don't even know where to begin. Drove in traffic for an extra 2.5 hours, but it was worth it to see Imagine Dragons in concert last night! WHAT. A. SHOW!!!! Happy Birthday present to Rhiannon! We screamed a lot and danced and stood on our feet thru much of it. It was also fun realizing we weren't the only ones who knew all the lyrics...the whole arena was helping with the music, haha! My favorite part was when the room erupted to get them back on stage for an encore. Wow, wow, wow! I may have some permanent hearing loss from that, but, again, so worth it!"
The concert ended around 11:30pm and then we drove an hour up to San Bernadino to Brant and Chris's home where we crashed. We sure appreciated that!!! It was fun to hang with Chris, Greyson, and her niece Karlee. They were very patient listeners as we reported on all the fun we'd had!
So thankful to Jason for springing for the tickets. It's not something we would do every day! but it was wonderful to make that memory for Rhiannon and be there with her. At first I wondered why Jason didn't want to go with us. But after going, I understood. Imagine Dragons isn't his favorite band, but he knew we loved them. And I acted like a crazy 10-yr-old fan girl at the concert, haha! I was kinda glad my husband didn't have to witness that.
Here's a great video that Rhiannon took of Imagine Dragons performing "Radioactive." I absolutely love her little excited giggles in the beginning! Then we all start screaming, haha!
The concert t-shirts are like gold! Both kids sat me down and begged me to be careful with these if I happened to be doing laundry! (they do a lot of laundry, but they were both going to be gone the day after we got back from the concert and were worried I might do something to them!)
Wade finished up a tremendously exciting basketball season with his 5th grade team the first weekend of May. Their team won the St. Ann's tournament that weekend, beating out 7 other teams.
Their school principal, Mrs. Glennon, came to every game and was a wonderful supporter. At a school assembly later that month, she praised the kids on their sportsmanship and skills and said that, to her knowledge, it was the first time Richmond had ever won that tournament and brought home the trophy to the school.
WOO-HOO!
The secret, besides the boys' efforts and good attitudes, was their coaching duo, Mark and Becky Anderson. Friends of ours and members of our stake, they focused on teamwork, fairness, playing hard, and having a good attitude.
One example of this was the awards ceremony at the end of the tournament. Coaches had to choose MVPs from their team, but they let the boys vote instead. Miguel, Nick, and Tucker were chosen--and they were right on the money there. Wade would have won the Best Defensive Player if such an award existed--he was SO GOOD at sticking to his man and not letting the other kid do ANYTHING but try to get away from him, hahaha!
Wade learned so much and had a BLAST doing it!
Excited to bring home the trophy to their school! There's a story for me about Usman holding that bigger trophy in the middle. Throughout the whole season, he hadn't been able to make a basket yet. Well, the last game, he made this HUGE basket. I told Coach Becky that no matter what the score had turned out to be, that made the game for me, especially since it was the first and only game that both his parents had been able to attend. FUN!
Riley's Farm was the perfect spot for Wade's big 5th-grade field trip. I am so thankful for his school teachers and staff and volunteers who put it together!
This place is about 2 hours away (3 if you have to follow the school bus like I did as a chaperone). We had gorgeous weather! The kids were great! And even though the grounds were P-A-C-K-E-D with several other school groups, the experience and rotations were managed very well. I probably loved it so much because it reminded me of another favorite place--Mount Vernon from our Virginia adventure!
The guides were fantastic--all spoke in a colonial, British accent and kept the kids very engaged. They experienced what it was like for colonists and got an appreciation for why the Revolutionary War started in the first place.
I was so glad to be there with Wade and his friends. It was a neat place, and I hope we go there again as a family so that we can enjoy the good food they make there! My sweet friend Christian Speredelozzi rode down with me and Becky Anderson, and she bought us both these HUGE, delicious apple pies. Becky and Christian were great company--they kept me laughing and talking so that my 6+ hours driving didn't bother me one bit!!!
I've been on a lot of field trips, and this was probably one of my all-time favorites. We were down and back in a day before it got dark, the kids were well-behaved, I had wonderful adults helping me with our large group, AND Riley's Farm exceeded expectations!
