Camping Week - Part 4, Grand Teton

After Independence Rock we drove up to Grand Teton National Park. Bryson got his first highway driving experience - he drove for 2.5 hours! We arrived at our campsite and got set up - Brandon and Tamsin met us later that evening. I had to get in the camping mode...at first these feet made me really disgusted:

Grannie and Grandpa came to our site for dinner - the boys are playing in this picture, not making faces at Grannie...haha:

It rained ALL night that night - it sounded really cool inside the tent, but I was a little worried that we were going to wake up soaked! The boys just cuddled into their sleeping bags and stayed warm the whole night and our tent kept us dry. In the morning, Brandon and Tamsin made hot chocolate and Parker guzzled as much as his little tummy could hold.

Then Brandon taught him to use a hatchet....lovely:

We decided to go canoing at Colter Bay. The views were breathtaking:

Brandon decided to take both boys in the canoe - I was sure they were going to flip because the boys have zero balance, but he did a good job keeping them even. Look how far the front end of the canoe is out of the water! I guess Landon's weight doesn't quite stack up to Parker and Brandon :)

We pulled ashore on a little beach to let the boys through rocks. They even waded into the freezing water - I don't think kids feel the cold when they're having fun!

Good thing we wore swimsuit bottoms:

Bryson and Brandon started throwing the big rocks - Landon and Parker were amazed at the big splashes:

The water was so clean and beautiful:

Siblings!

On the way back we decided to have Bryson go in Brandon's canoe to even things out. Parker just wanted to be dipped in the water:

Tamsin and I ALMOST beat the boys back to the dock. We totally would have won the race had we not pulled into the wrong place at first! You boys were lucky this time....

Camping Week: Part 3, Independence Rock

On our way to Grand Teton we stopped to see Independence Rock. Of course, the first thing Bryson did was climb it....which made the boys completely determined to make it to the top like Uncle Bubba. Bryson took some pretty cool pictures at the top:

I turned around to see Landon halfway up the rock - I told him he may as well climb the rest of the way up! I helped Parker climb up, too. They loved being so high up and were acting quite macho :). Landon's favorite part was seeing the names of the pioneers inscribed on the rocks:

We got a picture of all of us - I was running back from the camera to get in the shot, hence the strange position I'm in!

Parker figured out the bum-slide technique on the way down:

Funny Sunday

Today at church, Landon drew a picture of our family. Interesting number of people in that picture....when I asked him who the little one floating above our family was, he just grinned and said "Oh, nothing". Like he has a secret that I'm not in on!

On another note, the young men at church sang "Called to Serve" since there is a missionary leaving this week. The song goes "Onward! Ever Onward!....". Well, my boys were singing this after church "Awkward! Ever Awkward!". Scott and I think a parody is in order....although I guess that would probably be blasphemous.

Camping Week: Part 2, Martin's Cove

Part 2 of our week began in Alcova, WY at the cutest little cabins. Bryson and I drove with the boys up to meet my wonderful Grannie and Grandpa. I hadn't seen them in a few years so we were all VERY excited to spend some time together. When we arrived, we had a few hours to kill before dinner and we were lucky enough to have little friends to entertain the boys:

There were hundreds of grasshoppers out in the drive - Landon caught a ton of them and put them in our empty bottles.

Then came Peaches. Such a sweet little kitty! We didn't know her name at first and Parker wanted to name her "Lisha". She came and played for an hour or so and I think we were all in heaven to have a fluffy little thing to cuddle. Parker loved teasing her with the stick.

After having a fun night at the cabin, we set out in the morning to Martin's Cove. They have original homestead buildings there that are now museums and shops dedicated to the pioneers - specifically the Martin Handcart Company. It was amazing to hear the stories and experiences of those people. I seriously don't know how they survived! It was especially touching because my ancestors passed through here. They were in the Willie Company, so they didn't actually stay here at the Cove, but still. It was amazing to walk where they walked so many years ago!

In the museum we saw this amazing fireplace - the family made this out of all the local rocks they could find. I was amazed at how beautiful it was!

Then we pulled handcarts. The boys were pretty surprised at how hard it was!

Then Grannie and Grandpa took the boys around to a few more buildings while Bryson and I walked up to the Cove. We made it to the halfway point and realized we still had 2.5 miles to go! The kids had been so whiny that morning that I didn't want my grandparents to deal with them for that long, so we headed back. Come to find out that all the whining stopped as soon as we left - figures!

They were excited to see us though:

We decided that we did want to get into the actual cove and since Grannie and Grandpa had the hookups (their good friends from Cardston are missionaries there right now) we got to ride up in a Rover. We decided to take a little rest while we waited for our ride up.

Here's Landon giving Bubba a back massage:

And Parker just wanted to feed Grandpa pretzels! I don't think Grandpa actually wanted that many pretzels....he was a good sport :)

We visited the blacksmith shop - the boys loved the tools! They got a "prairie diamond" ring from the blacksmith and loved the story about Roy proposing to his favorite gal with one of those rings a loooong time ago. As soon as we left, Parker came up to me and held his ring out saying "Mom, will you marry me?". So cute! I didn't even know he was listening!

The boys loved riding on the Rover (Parker actually slept through most of it - he was so tuckered out!). We stopped to see these statues that were dedicated in honor of the four men who carried women and children across the frozen river. You can read that story and more here: http://www.thefurtrapper.com/martin_handcart.htm (just scroll down to "Young Men of Sweetwater Rescue").

The Rover could only take us so far up, so we had to walk the rest of the way. Bryson pulled the boys in a rickshaw. As I watched him pulling, I thought about how he really would have been pulling his family across the plains if he lived then.

Once we got to the cove we listened to some pretty amazing stories. The survivors in the Martin company were brought here to be sheltered from a horrible storm. It was such a windy day when we were there and there was hardly a breeze in the Cove.

All of us in the Cove:

Bryson being a packhorse!

I'm SO glad we were able to stop here and see the sights - especially with my Grandparents who know so much about the history of our family. I have a much deeper appreciation for my ancestors who suffered here. My Granny actually bought me a book here called "Tell My Story Too". The author was actually there the day we visited. It's a compilation of stories from the two handcart companies and there are quite a few quotes from my line - the Reeders.

Camping Week: Part 1

Part 1 of our fun family camping week started with Uncle Bubba coming to our house to stay for a few days. The boys had so many things they wanted to do with Bryson that we couldn't fit them all in, but here are a few highlights:

First we visited the Butterfly Pavilion. They have SO many cool bugs and creatures to look at and touch. Landon and Bryson both had to hold Rosie of course:

Then in the butterfly area Bryson and Landon both had butterflies land on them. Landon likes to talk to them like they're little pets:

Swimming was next on the list - we visited this pool (Kristy, just pretend you don't recognize it...haha) and also the indoor pool at the rec. center (but I don't have any pictures from that). Bubba is the perfect pool playmate - the boys loved every second of it!

And since Bryson was playing with the kids, this is what I was doing....sigh:

Then the jumping began. These next two pictures epitomize my boys in the pool lately. Look at how much they love to jump in! I feel so proud and happy when I see them enjoying themselves SO much and being willing to do things that used to be a little bit scary. They're so brave in the water!

Legoland

I am loving Landon's new favorite toy: Legos. I always hoped that my kids would love playing Legos as much as I did as a kid (Brandon and I would build for HOURS on Saturdays) and now, my wish has come true. It's so fun! And this kid is creative with some pretty impressive fine motor skills:

My Mom passed on to us some pretty cool lego men that she got in Disneyland or something - we have all the superheroes and star wars guys. The boys love building ships for them (and jails for the bad guys) and then acting out any crazy story they can think of!

This ship was one of my personal favorites that Landon came up with (especially the gun at the front with the option of another one that rotates - very practical!). And I love how all the bad guys are on this ship: Darth Vader at the front, then a pirate, the Joker, the Riddler, Two Face and finally, Darth Maul. Awesome.