Today was such a fun day!! Janelle and Jaiden had gone to the new Reservoir in Ivins (Firelake Park) with our friends, the Purdys, several times, and Josh had gone once, but Jenna and I hadn't been yet. I told the kids that as soon as my summer interpreting job was finished then I would take them and today was the day! It was SO much fun! (Jared is gone to EFY this week in Orem and so he was gone and Rick was gone to EFY in Virginia). Ivins is so incredibly beautiful and the lake was just the right size for kids to swim in and had perfect soft sand all around the lake -- perfect for squishing between your toes and for building sand castles!
The lake was just the right temperature and felt delightful on a HOT July day. We were there for FIVE hours -- and I still had to drag the kids away when it was time to pack up. Josh brought his little tent so we had a little bit of shade for our little cooler and other supplies. I thought about bringing our canopy (many people had them) but I wasn't sure how to set it up and couldn't find an instruction manual. So we will practice at home and bring it next time.
The girls told me about the spillway on the boating side of the lake and how it was perfect for jumping off. They assured me that it was deep water and that there had been several people jumping off (including them) last time they were here. So we checked it out and I took some pictures of them jumping off several times. We went back to the swimming side of the lake where we all swam and played in the water. The kids made sand castles and little rivers in the sand and searched for clay.
The girls finally convinced me to jump off the spillway too -- and I did. It was fun! Josh started off on the smaller ledge but eventually tried the higher one too. Jenna jumped off the lower ledge too. I was nervous about her trying. They have to climb under the bars and over a metal lip and down to the little ledge to get to where they can jump off. It looked a little tricky -- especially for a seven year old. But she was insistent that she could do it and so I was on top helping her down to the ledge and Janelle was in the water for after she jumped. She was nervous, but she did it! After that she jumped several more times. We all had a great time. The only drawback is that we all got really sunburned -- in spite of using sunscreen. We definitely need to take the time go back a couple more times before school starts!