As summer comes to a close, I thought I’d end with a personal post for those of you that don’t know me. My name is Lexi, I’m a 35 yr old, mom of four, photographer, and as of June of this year I’d never ridden in an RV.  My kids were insanely jealous of my husbands biking crew that rented an RV every year for the Saints to Sinners relay race.  So inspite of knowing absolutely nothing about RV’s (and really no desire to), I acquiesced and started researching places I would actually want to go in one of these “car houses”, as my 3-year-old calls them.  A good friend of mine recommended Bear Lake which I decided would be perfect- a three hour drive is not too far and my kids would love the beach.  My goal was to have my kids form good memories this summer as a family and this experience fit the bill. While I don’t plan on doing it again, I’m so glad we did it once.  Inspite of 6 loud people in a very small space, we actually really enjoyed ourselves  (warning: do this at the beginning of summer when your kids aren’t sick of each other yet, I think that was really helpful).

While I never had the energy to get my camera out during the hours of the day with decent light, I decided to document this trip the best I could with the light I had available and I’m so grateful for these images.  The first night the RV was in the driveway, and my kids couldn’t help themselves.  I slept outside in it with my oldest three in 90 degree heat.  After sleeping in the sauna-like conditions, I decided the next morning we probably wouldn’t need too many blankets at Bear Lake (rookie mistake!).  Tony and I spent the next two nights freezing.

The fist day we got there we headed to the North Beach.  We inflated some toys and the kids were off playing in the water and sand/mud.

The next morning, after a super healthy breakfast of Fruity Pebbles;) we drove over to Garden City to ride wave runners (not pictured).

We spent the afternoon on the North Beach again. Water-play, dirt-clod throwing ensued.  The boys found a big rock in the water and had some fun with that before throwing it back in the water for someone else to stub their toe on. Um, maybe we should have carried it out of the water now that I think of it.

And then some set out for calmer activities like hunting for sea shells and building sand castles.

My oldest started jumping waves and I may have ended up in a water fight after he drenched me.

This little firecracker was happy to chase birds and try and squirt them with water guns
My boys each brought a nerf gun and I was surprised they actually used them on the beach.

Everyone was ready to go right when my favorite light was started which hurt my heart a bit, but we set off for our “camp” ground anyway (it’s not really camping, ha) and everyone fell asleep. And it was actually quiet….for longer than like five seconds….and I was happy.  After a little trouble lighting our fire we roasted marshmallows and sat around the fire and talked.

Good memories (check), A new adventure (check), very little and uncomfortable sleep (check, check).  I’m not going to lie there were a few times Tony and I looked at each other and burst out laughing because we both thinking “we chose this for our vacation?!” at the same time. That being said, I highly recommend renting and RV and driving to a nearby lake.