Hike

The great thing about Bear Lake is that if it's a cool day on the beach, that means it's a great day for a hike!  We opted for a shorter hike (I think it was 3 miles round trip), which was about one mile too long for the big kids, and two miles too long for Britta.  But you know how a little struggle is supposed to build character in kids?  Turns out it's true!  (Well, not with Britta, she was just plain done.)

Britta started out all smiles.  This lasted for about 10 min.
She then wanted nothing more to do with the backpack.

The hike started in high spirits, and independent walkers.

 We found some cool places for pictures along the way.

 And there were some beautiful, albeit windy, summit views.

 More cool trees to sit on and contemplate life.

 At some point, most of the littles began to get tired.  So, they got rides.  I was so impressed and thankful for the big boys' willingness to carry their younger cousins.  (This was the character-building part of the hike.)

 Poor Britta.  I had to hold her and hold her and hold her. And she cried quite a bit bc she was tired.  So, eventually I nursed her while walking (and she fell asleep zipped up inside my sweater).  Poor girl.  Emily and Reagan walked ahead of me, singing Primary songs, which actually helped her to calm down enough to start nursing.  My admiration for all pioneer women grew exponentially during this short hike.