Bear Lake

This is the little vacation we took with my family to Bear Lake. It was a lot of fun, with beautiful weather, and great company. Here are some pictures of our get away.


We didn't want Abbi to disturb everyone, and our room was a little cramped (you pack a ton of stuff when you have a kid!) So Abbi was confined to the closet as her sleeping quarters. She acutally did quite well.

We bought a floater for Abbi with a cool little canopy. She LOVED the water. Her little legs were just kicking like crazy! Reminded me of a duck, don't see much going on above, but crazy down below! Swimming tuckered her out and she slept a LONG time, so we tried to go swimming every night!

This is the north beach at Bear Lake. The Malmstrom kids and Chris Condie playing in the sand. It was a beautiful day. We also did our traditional water games, which the Welch clan DOMINATED! (as Mark gives me a smirk as I type that!)

Abbi didn't enjoy the beach as much, because the farther out in the water, the colder it got. So we had to keep her close to the beach, and she couldn't kick like she wanted to, plus she got sunscreen in her eye. We took her out of her floater and let her sit in the water. She liked the feel of sand on her feet, but quickly got bored. So off to grandma who was more than happy to take her and to give her warm loves.

This is Abbi all ready to go spilunking (cave exploring) We went to Minitonka cave. It is constantly 40 degrees inside. I thought Abbi was cute peeking over the side of the backpack. She didn't like when we stopped because she got bored quickly, but she liked it. However, being dark, she did doze off in the middle for a little bit.

This is Dad walking on the "boardwalk" that you have to take to get to the cave. On one side solid rock, the other side a 50 ft. drop. Mom was nervous whenever Mark got close to the open side.


Abbi peeking out right before we go into the cave.

These are steps made in the 1930's during the Great Depression. It gave men work for 9 months to make the trail for this cave. There's about 9 million stairs! Most were carved from the rock.

Apparently there was something on the ceiling. But this is most of the family in the cave. It was hard to take pictures as you can imagine it's kind of dark inside.

This is at the end of the trail, called the Wedding Room. There was acutally a couple that got married down here. Why, I don't know. It's muddy and cold. (Mark liked the temperature) The stalagmite (don't know how to spell) is called the bride, and there is a stalactite above it that is the groom. Hence the Wedding Room.

Sorry about the sideways picture, But this is when we got out of the cave. Abbi was good just chillin in her seat.


This is Mark and the baby on the "Boardwalk" We thought the scenery was pretty.

Mark and Abbi ready for a bike ride. It is Abbi's first bike ride. She seemed to like it. Abbi seems like anything that is outdoors. Even with all the bumps of a bike ride, she still managed to doze off.

Abbi in the bike trailer. She's still too small to sit alone in it, so we shoved the car seat in and strapped it down. It worked and she liked it. She has a screen in front of her, which she likes to feel.

This is when we first arrived. All of us are putting our food we brought away and making lunch. The condo we were in was very nice. Thanks mom and dad for putting it all together!

This is the beautiful view from the upstairs bedroom window.

This is Whitney catchin some rays reading her book on the balcony.

Overall we had a great time. It was perfect because it was a vacation that when we came home, we didn't feel like we needed ANOTHER vacation to recoup. Thanks mom and dad again for putting all this together. We love you!