Minnetonka Cave

One of the main reasons for our Utah trip (and the sole reason we took said trip so late in my pregnancy) was Matt's family's "reunion" at Bear Lake.

The use of the term "reunion" regarding this annual event is a point of playful controversy between me and Matt. See, this event involves simply his parents, siblings, and their young children -- no extra cousins or crazy great aunts or any of the characters you might expect to find at a family reunion. In my mind, it doesn't count as a reunion unless there is someone in attendance whom you do not immediately recognize. Therefore, I maintain that it should be called a family vacation, party, trip, or something of that sort -- especially considering the fact that Matt's family gets together rather often throughout the year. (Besides, doesn't "vacation" or "party" sound so much more fun than "reunion" anyway?) Matt insists that because they are all together on these designated days, it qualifies as a "reunion." Naturally, that opens up the door for me to tease that any time spent with my siblings is a reunion as well. Agreed?

Anyway, whatever you want to call it, our Bear Lake adventure was a great time all around. Day 1 was spent setting up house, getting the boat in the water, enjoying delicious Dutch oven peach cobbler, and just hanging out. We kicked off Day 2 with a tour of the nearby Minnetonka Cave, which had low temperatures, lots of stairs and zero bats. The cave itself was pretty cool but the highlight for me was finally learning a good way to remember which is which between stalactites and stalagmites ("Stalactites hang tight to the ceiling!"). Yeah, apparently I missed that day in second grade science.

Matt and I asked Andy to take a picture of us and he did... just as the lights went out. So we tried again.

Side note: I used to giggle a bit when I'd see families wearing matching shirts in public on vacation. Then I married into one that does. Turns out, it's not so bad after all.