Fall. Break.

I love fall break.

It always seems to come just when I start thinking, "Our family could use a break from the rigorous routine we run every day." Also, as the weather cools down I love nothing more than to snuggle up someplace away from the constant distractions of life that pull us all in different directions and reconnect with warm drinks and slow nights.

I scheduled a time share in Garden City, Utah to visit Bear Lake.  I've never been and the kids have never been. Scotty had been years ago.  We've been doing some planning in preparation for our getaway.  We picked secret friend names to do secret service for while we were away, we planned some games to play and planned our menu.

We loaded up the van on Friday, Oct.11th. Our first stop is always the folks in Farr West. They had new bunnies and my kids were dying to see them.

As we headed for Sardine Canyon we stopped in Brigham City to see the newest temple in Utah. It really is stunning.  We also drove by Grandma Stallings old house before heading on our way. 

 The foliage through the canyon was so fantastic I stopped multiple times to snap pictures.

 Here we are headed down the other side of the mountain into Garden City. You can see Bear Lake shimmering in the background.

 We stopped here to read signs about the area. We were trying desperately to find out how Bear Lake got its name, but never really found an answer.

 I snapped a few shots of our awesome room. This is Scott and I's room. It was huge with a king sized bed and an accessible bathroom.

 Aidan and Cole slept in this room.

 Chloe and Grace got the murphy bed in the closet there and Asher took the couch.

 Within a few minutes of unpacking the kids hit the pool. We were the only ones there for the night. It was plenty warm and they had a great time while I made some clam chowder for dinner. That night we rented So We Bought a Zoo. It was a fun family movie and the we all really enjoyed it in  front of the fireplace with snacks.

 There was a bit of craziness that night however. When the boys were headed to bed they noticed a spider in their room. Being terrified of spiders I called maintenance at 10:00 at night and had them come get it. The guy happily grabbed it with a tissue and thought he'd be on his way when I questioned him as to what kind of spider that was. It was unfamiliar to me.  Just a little hobo he says. WHAT?!!!
Hold it. Those are poisonous.
I'm crouched on the end of my bed now. Kids are laughing. Scott is snorting.
You'll have to go get some poison spray and come back sir. I'll be going through every inch of this place and you'll be following with poison. I checked all bedding, searched the boys room for points of entry. Had him spray the closet and around windows and exterior doors.  He had a good laugh, but I felt better about going to bed. Kind of. I reassured the boys they were safe and then went to bed and slept on top of the covers. I just couldn't get over the feeling that something might be down in my sheets.

The next morning we decided to walk the boardwalk down to the very receded lake. The boardwalk was beautiful and very accessible, so a win win for us. Kind wish we'd had a photographer and gotten an awesome family photo right here.

 Having never been to Bear Lake before we didn't know any different, but this lake wasn't too exciting. We walked the beaches and the boys collected items and ran and explored. They came back with mud sprayed up the back of their pants, so job well done.

 We decided to drive around town a bit.  It was a quaint little town. We drove south to Laketown and decided this would be a great town to live in if you wanted to be able to explore the land and have a lot of space. It really was beautiful. We stopped at the candy store and Scotty bought us all a treat. He also bought his secret person some chocolate covered raspberries. She loved them!

That afternoon Scotty and I discussed some options with our free time. We decided it would be a great memory to drive back into Logan Canyon to Beaver Creek Lodge and do some horseback riding and ATVing. Grace was too young to ride the horses, so Scott, Chloe and Grace rented a razor and headed for the hills.  They were so excited for the adventure.

 I took the boys over to the horses for a ride through the mountains.
They were skeptical at first, assuming the horses would be lead by someone else and you'd go round and round in a circle. Not the case. Our guide picked us each out a horse.
I got Captain, Asher got        , Aidan got        , and Cole got.

 We had a quick lesson on steering a horse and headed out. Our guide was the owner of Beaver Creek Lodge. A very nice guy and smart entrepreneur.  The boys were just silly with excitement over the complete control of their horses.  They commented every time a horse went to the bathroom or sneezed, or trotted.  It just made me giggle.

 Our ride followed trails, but it wasn't just flat terrain. We headed up hills, over rocky plains, through a creek. It was beautiful and serene, and so wonderful on a horse.  I think I should've been a horse girl. We had the guide dog following us too.  The boys kept a close eye on him and he wound in and out of the horses without getting stepped on.  

 Our guide complimented how well the boys did on their horses. It's true. They were great. No fear.
After our awesome afternoon we all headed back into town and stopped to pick up a famous raspberry shake.

 Cole and I got up early the next morning and went on a walk. It was cloudy and a bit rainy. I had a great time chatting with my boy.  We all headed home and stopped to hike the Timber Pine Trail. It was beautiful and misty and chilly.

 We saw a couple of really cool trees, and read about how the elements can affect the trees.

 Wasn't this a huge tree root!!!

 We stopped for one more goodbye to the horses we loved. This was their last day on the trail before they're put away for the winter.

 When we got home that night Scotty and I dressed up in our best country garb and headed to the Elder's Quorum party.  Needless to say I won best mustache on a female and Scotty won best overall!
Winner winner chicken dinner. The speaker was Brad Wilcox and he spoke on sense of humor. It was a great talk that reminded me the importance of not being too serious when things get hairy.

What a fantastic fall break we had. I cannot wait for next year!