Jackson

We went to Jackson this past weekend with my parents and had such a great time. I redeemed myself by taking tons of pictures on this trip...a huge selection posted below...feel free to quit reading now. I lived in Jackson from the ages of four to nine, so I have a lot of great childhood memories there. I have been back many times to ski, camp and run the river...and now it is so fun to be back with my own kids. The kids were all so good, and it was a really fun end to the summer. Luke starts school at the end of the week...yikes!


We began our journey with a stop at Lava Hot Springs. The kids had a blast, especially Luke. He has gotten so much braver in the water this summer and was quite the little fish. He is so stubborn and resistant to being taught things by his parents though. He did not pass his level at swimming because he wouldn't float by himself even though he swims underwater by himself a little. I tried to have him practice it at Lava, and he wouldn't even listen to me. I took a break with Seth and came back to the pool to see him doing front and back floats like a pro. He met a little friend in the pool, and she taught him how in about 5 minutes. Of course, this process involved him actually listening to her!


We stayed in a condo at Snow King and put the wet swimsuits back on to head out for a day's adventure.

We spent such a fun afternoon at String Lake. This was one of my favorite places as a kid. I spent hours looking for and catching frogs, and my kids did the same. Seth just liked to wander around in the water but Luke was a serious hunter.

This little boat was pretty fun. Be prepared for Jer's "old man hat" in all of today's pictures. The sun is not his friend.

Ian was so good as usual. The weather was constantly changing from sunny to slightly rainy and chilly, so his sweatshirt was on and off a lot.

Eating lunch during a slight shower.

Ian's nap spot in the weeds.

Just cute. Seth made a lot of trips to the cooler seeking "more turkey."

Jer and I way out in the boat. My parents took a spin too. There is only one set of oars, so I just sat back and let Jer do all the work.

Hunting in progress.

We decided to go on a hike that turned into a little more than we bargained for. We left from String Lake and hiked over to Jenny's Lake then up and down to Inspiration Point, to Hidden Falls, and to the boat dock. I didn't realize how far it was the way we went, and we didn't have the backpack for Seth. He was so sleepy tired from the partying he did our first night at the condo that he actually fell asleep riding on Jer's shoulders. He was all hunched over on Jer's neck. He was out. When he woke up from that he was a total champ hiking the steepest part of the day with Jer's hand for help. I carried Ian for about 3 hours in the front pack, and he hardly fussed at all. Luke is a great little hiker, but I kept promising him we were almost to the waterfall. When we finally got there, they had it blocked off to preserve vegetation and you could hardly even see it. Seriously? I think by that point Luke had forgotten about the initial goal, and the ring pops were reward enough. By the time we got to the boat dock it was time to feed Ian and we had already gone over 3.5 miles. I was a little concerned about meltdowns from the kids so Jer and my dad hiked the 2 miles back to String Lake, and we took the boat across and waited for them to pick us up. It was a great little adventure, and the kids could not have been better. (Good thing Luke has his fake cell phone along.)

Here we are at Hidden Falls, which truly were hidden...almost completely. Oh well.

Jer and I at Jenny's Lake. (I thought it was named for me as a kid.) It was nice to have time to actually talk to Jer while we were driving...in the mini van...which was awesome for a road trip. We also made ourselves go running Friday and Saturday mornings. I'm not usually much of an exerciser on a short vacation, but I'm signed up for this silly half marathon in a few weeks so it was not optional. It was nice to have a partner for a change.

My mom bought the kids cute cowboy t-shirts but getting them to pose was another story. This is at the Jackson Lake Lodge. That night Luke got to stay up late, and we headed over to the condo swimming pool with him at about 9 pm. He thought he was so cool being up late with mom and dad alone. It was cold so I was a wimp and stayed in the hot tub, but he had Jer making lots of trips to the cold pool with him.

On our way out of town we stopped for a few pictures in the square. These boys love their grandma. They are so lucky to have her.

Me and my boys.

One last family photo op. Seth was pretty done with this process!

Thanks mom and dad for inviting us on such a fun trip. We all made some great new memories at one of my favorite places!