Teton National Forest

On Memorial Day, we headed over to Jackson Hole and Teton National Park to explore and hike to Jenny Lake. The weather ended up being cooler than we expected, but it was beautiful and it was a great day! 

I bought this Kelty backpack on the garage sale page on Facebook and I'm so glad I did! Kayla thought it was pretty great. 

There were a ton of people there and it was hard to find a place to park!

Kayla saw this rock and asked me to take her picture on it. She knows the drill!

We took the boat across the lake and the kids thought it was great!

Part of the trail up to Inspiration point was blocked off for trail repair, so we went just as far as we could. The trail followed a stream the whole way and it was beautiful!

 

 

We made it as high as we could go and stopped to have lunch. The kids had fun chasing a chipmunk! I was a little nervous eating there because a ranger told us a mama bear and her cubs had been sighted nearby! Luckily, there were so many people there that we were fine. 

 

The view of the lake we boated across was breathtaking with the mountains in the distance. I've grown up around mountains my whole life, and I'll never tire of their majestic beauty. 

Brett carried Tyson most of the way, but on our final walk up, Tyson got out and hiked for awhile. He did awesome! He even learned the word steep. We joked that was a word he might not have learned in South Texas. There wasn't much change in elevation there. :)

 

 

These kids love their daddy!

Kayla is a great hiking buddy! I've always been a slow hiker, probably because I've never been in great shape! haha! She gives me a good excuse to go a little slower. :)

Since it was colder than forecasted, we didn't have pants for Tyson. I had an extra pair of pants for Kayla in the diaper bag in case of an accident, so we put them on Tyson. We got some interesting looks from other people! He didn't care at all! I'm glad we were able to help keep him warm enough though. 

 

That view is just breathtaking!

My two favorite boys!

This was our view from where we ate lunch. It was perfect!

On the boat ride back, Tyson couldn't stop looking at the motor and Kayla diligently held on to my hat, just like the driver told her to. :)

It was nap time by the time we got back to the other side and Kayla was done. I carried her from the boat to the car. I had to get proof that I carried someone in the pack. Its comfy, but not easy! Good thing Brett is so much more strong than me. 

We found a driving road up to a peak when the kids fell asleep. It was perfect and Brett and I were able to get out and enjoy the view while the kids continued their nap in the car. It reminded us of being on our honeymoon and all the beautiful outlooks we stopped at then, since we weren't distracted by the kids. 

 

We stopped in Jackson Hole and wandered around. Of course, we headed to the town square with the famous antler arches. Kayla was really excited about the horse pulled stage coaches too. The driver let her pet the horses and she was in heaven. She's a little animal lover!

 

It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun! It was a great way to spend Memorial Day, together as a family, especially because it was the first time Brett had the holiday off since we've been married. I'm so grateful for his new job schedule!

Yellowstone!

I'm a little behind on blogging! Last month, we got up one chilly morning and headed to Yellowstone with Grandma Betsy. It was rainy in Rexburg and that quickly turned to sleet and even snow up in the high altitudes of Yellowstone. We were prepared thankfully and it was still a beautiful day! The clouds made for some uniquely beautiful scenery on the drive up there. I LOVE that we live 1.5 hours away from one of the most beautiful parts of the country! And thankfully, we know how to follow the rules, so no injuries were acquired. :)

By the time we made our first stop, Tyson was itching to run around. He loved the board walks!

Kayla loved Grandma's umbrella, which we got a lot of use out of!

Our first waterfall vista was a hit! We all loved it, even though I was constantly filled with a little bit of terror that the kids would fall somewhere dangerous!

Mammoth Hot Springs was fun to walk around. I think it looks so out of this world! 

At one of the places we were walking around, Tyson slipped and fell down and slammed into a step. He bit right through his lip! It was so sad! He only cried for a few minutes but it bled quite a bit, as mouth injuries often do. He had his binky for most the rest of the day because I felt bad for him and any time we'd try to take the binky out for a picture, there would be a ring of dried blood around his mouth!

Part of the loop we wanted to take was closed, but we took a little hike up to a beautiful outlook instead. Kayla was feeling particularly sassy, apparently. She made funny faces in EVERY photo we took up there. It was pretty hilarious actually. 

We had a great trip, animal wise. We saw multiple bears, a few with their cubs, lots of buffalo, elk, and a fox. The only thing we didn't see on this trip was a moose. 

You take a toddler to the most beautiful part of the county and he's fascinated with the water drain.. Go figure! Haha! He did like the waterfalls too though. :)

Kayla was a good big sister holding on to Tyson so he didn't fall. It warmed my momma heart. 

Kids know how to make a photo perfect....haha!

These two are so cute together!

The sun came out when we went up to the giant waterfalls! We even walked along a trail for about a mile. The kids were getting tired though, so we headed back to the van, just in time for a huge hail storm to hit! It was crazy!

It was a beautiful, fun and adventurous day for our family! We bought a pass and plan on getting some great use out of it. We loved having Grandma along for the trip too. Its such a blessing to live so close to our family!