4th of July in Island Park

Our family checked-out of Snowbird on Saturday June 27th, then it was off to Island Park early Monday, June 29th. Once again it was unpack, wash, and pack. I just keep recycling the same stuff! We are lucky that Dad has a job where he can make the quick drive to Salt Lake from Snowbird and work, and that he covers part of Idaho so he could also do some work while in Island Park.
On Monday, we left at 6:00 am because he had a case at the Idaho Falls hospital he was doing, on our way to Island Park. From experience, I know that these cases can take anywhere from 30 min. to 6 hours, and I wondered what in the heck I was going to do with the kids in Idaho Falls to kill time. Not to mention I was towing a huge trailer around town.
Surprisingly, the city has just about everything we needed. 1st we dropped off Daisy at PetSmart to get a groom, then we went to see "Up" in 3D at the new movie theatre (loved it), then off to lunch at TGIFridays, then to Albertson's to get groceries for the week at the cabin. We picked-up Daisy and she had 2 cute little bows on her ears. By that time, after killing 6 hours, Sam was finished and we picked him up. Whew, we made it. Now we could make our way to the lake house.
The next 6 days were pure bliss. I think that place has tied with Lake Powell as a favorite.
It is important to note that this was the 1st year since we have been married that we haven't spent the 4th of July in Provo. This holiday is like Christmas for the whole Clark clan. It is an awesome family tradition with the parade, wearing red white & blue, golf, BBQ, and watching "Stadium of Fire" fireworks from Grandma's yard. Dad and I were a bit worried about missing out on this and hoped that being away would be just as much fun. Indeed it was, everything turned out incredible! Even though we missed being with our Clark relatives, we really had an awesome time!
Beware for picture overload of all the activities we enjoyed, we truly could not have fit more into one week















To celebrate the 4th, Island Park has a "Regatta" which is a parade of boats. We heard about this late in the day and did some quick last minute decorating of our boat (we call the "Sea Bass") with blue streamers we cut up from a plastic table cloth. The kids had matching festive shirts so we called it good at that. We showed up for the event and soon realized we were the scrappy ones with weak sauce deco! At first Millie was embarrassed but regardless we laughed really hard, put on our smiles, and waved our homemade streamers anyway! Check out some of the other boats complete with lights, music, dancers, etc:







Then, about the time the parade ended, it was almost dark. Within minutes we were surrounded by hundred of boats floating in the lake anticipating the fireworks show. The show did not dissapoint, we couldn't believe how much effort they put into it. Apparently the memebers of the HOA of the cabins on the island plan and contribute to this annual event. It was fabulous.


Thanks to Uncle Shad for providing your cabin and helping us plan such a great vacation!