jackson hole

Over Labor Day weekend, we took a quick trip to Jackson Hole since we hadn't been able to do anything all summer, AND to try out the new van. We really spent most of our time at Grand Teton Nat'l Park though -- those mountains are just so gorgeous! This is Jenny Lake.

We started our adventure with a hike around Jenny Lake to the water falls.

Along the way, the kids had to stop and climb a few huge boulders. Jacob & Ryan felt like they were on top of the world.

Of course we can't go anywhere without someone whining or complaining about something, its just that I caught this little guy on my camera this time.

One of the highlights of the hike was finding this little spot to throw rocks in the water and take a little break.

Ryan and Matthew on one of those great climbing boulders.

Jared & Jacob checking out the falls and glad to be at the end of the hike.

For the boys, the whole purpose of the hike around the lake was to ride the boat back across -- here we are!

So many tourists miss out on the beauty of the area by taking the boat both ways to the falls. We totally enjoyed the hike --it's pretty easy and only about 2 1/2 miles one way -- and we were by ourselves for about 95% of the time. Bliss in a tourist hotspot!

In the afternoon we went back into Jackson to take a ride on the Alpine slide, but it was getting stormy and they closed the slide for awhile. We decided to wait a bit to see if it would open up again, so the boys entertained themselves by rolling down the grassy mountainside for awhile.

After the dizzyness wore off and the slide hadn't reopened, we headed back to the park to explore more stuff. We found a nifty little spot where you can ride this pulley ferry across the Snake River.

The ranger let Jacob wear his hat and man the ferry for a minute.

After the ferry ride and exploring some old buildings, we called the Alpine slide and found out they had reopened. We headed back up to Snow King and took a fun ride on the Alpine slide. Jacob rode with Mark and Matthew was just old enough to ride with me while Jared & Ryan took their own sleds. The slide is always a blast and just too darn short! I guess that's why it's always fun to go!

After our slide ride, we headed to my parents house for the rest of the weekend. Several of the cousins were there for the weekend as well, so that made things extra fun. On Monday morning Ryan & Jared helped Grandpa saw up a load of firewood while the rest of us gathered produce from my parents garden and my brother's greenhouse. We had a wonderful hot dog roast for lunch with fresh corn toasted in the coals -- yummy! What a way to spend a weekend!