Grand Teton National Park - Jenny Lake

Day 1 of our vacation consisted of a little bit of a late start (despite allll the planning haha), 14 hrs on the road, lots of electronics for the kids,  Hank the Cowdog book on CD,  fast food and medium fast Qdoba, rest stop races, about 10 magazines for me, and a roadside Lincoln Memorial before everyone fell asleep.  Whew.

Day 2 we woke up and the kids played at our hosts playground (we stayed 2 nights in the guest house of David's friend Brad.)  They were honestly just as thrilled with the trampoline as they were with the fact they were on vacation :)  We drove in to Jackson Hole and then on to Grand Teton.  It felt great to hike around Jenny Lake and play in the water after all that driving.  I also loved having a low key agenda.  And being in such a different landscape than what they are used to was super fun.  The kids oohed and ahhed over the mountains and all the details they were seeing. (AND 60 degree highs and NO humidity in August!)  They had binoculars and water bottles and maps full of information, they took it all so seriously.

I love to see these kids out in nature, they are in their element.  We decided kind of last minute to make this trip.  Spurred on by a few things, one of them being our day in the nature sanctuary.  They really enjoy being explorers, and the imagination and teamwork that happens in these kinds of places is amazing.  We knew we wanted to do it on a much larger scale.  Also, back in July we watched a documentary on Yellowstone.  David was like, we are going. (he had never been) And I'm more, uh, that requires an insane amount of planning for a family our size.  And him, what?  no. easy.  I'm gonna make it happen.  So I agreed. Ha!  If he would plan everything.  And he totally did, down to roadside attractions and restaurants.  Although, I'm sure those details were strictly to satisfy me.  Honestly, it was just what our family needed, after years of working straight through the summer, it felt so good to end this summer with time together.