Papa's got a brand new boat.

On Friday of our Toquerville week of fun, my parents took us to Sand Hollow Reservoir which is a State Park within 15 minutes of my parents home.

Dad got a new boat this year. He's always wanted one and so a couple months ago he found the boat he wanted and went for it.

This was a pretty exciting development in our vacation plans. I mean do we ever need to vacation anywhere else but Toquerville?? We've got Zions 30 minutes away with an Aunt and Uncle who are very familiar with trails for advice and trail guides... We've got a Papa with a boat and this beautiful lake nearby among others I am told... We've got Grandma/Papa's cabin up the mountain only 90 minutes away, if we have a hankering for mountain weather. The possibilities are endless. There are comfortable and plentiful beds in the basement and the best dog in the world! I say again-- Where else in the world would we want to go?

The first night we were there Jacob gave up a bed to sleep all night on the floor with Charlie.

The water is so clear & beautiful. The kids were so excited to see fish flitting around in the water as they sat on the dock waiting to get their turn in the boat. Dad ferried us over to a beach in groups because there were quite a few of us. Besides my crew & Mom and Dad, My brother David and SIL Jena and SIL Emily and her 3 girls were there. I took this picture from the boat as we left the dock.

I loved the orange sand next to the blue water.

The kids got in the water right away and started calling for me to come out too. The beaches were so clean. There were some spiny, rough plant remnants in the water from sagebrush type plants that had been growing there before they damned the river to make the lake that were hard on bare feet so I kept my Teva's on. But other than that, there wasn't much debris or slimy plant life in the water which suited me just fine.

We'd been there about 2 hrs when the wind came up. We'd all been swimming (glad I didn't wait) and were just getting out the lovely picnic we'd prepared when it started. It was no slight breeze and towels were flapping, plates flying through the air and wet kids shivering. It turned our lovely day at the lake into no fun at all. We felt blessed to get 2 good hours though. Dad started to worry about the whitecaps on the lake and he took off with my brother in the boat. Luckily my mom had driven her car around so she would be parked near the beach we were enjoying so he didn't have to ferry us all across. He had some trouble docking as the wind was knocking them about. It got a little scary for him. There was another couple with a boat that were struggling to dock as well. They decided to combine their efforts. They helped each other and both got their boats in safely.

Mason & Bethany playing on the beach

Samantha Grace (dubbed "Sammy G" by her auntie Jena)

enjoying the waves

Carly and Grandma Carla

Rachel found these 3 perfectly round stones on the beach as we walked away in the wind. We thought they were pretty cool. They looked like that porous volcanic rock, is it basalt? Anyone know what it might be? My college geology class, interesting as it was, was 18 years ago. PLEASE... No one tell me they're petrified poop of some kind. That will just take the fun right out of it.

I LOVED the contrast of the light green color of the plants on the shore with the orange sand. I don't understand when people think desert landscape ugly. I grew up in it so I've had a lot of time to find beauty there. The desert landscape of my childhood is different than this, more Joshua Trees and Yucca Plants and such, but pretty too. I love the Wasatch front with it's seasons and grass and I am grateful to have more grass than dirt in my yard for the kids to play on but I love this more barren look too. There's nothing like a starry night or a full moon night in the desert. Those are some of my favorite things that I miss.