Our Fourth of July Weekend

A little blog catch up. This didn't get published because I was having problems loading pics, and then I forgot. So you get it now.
Enjoy:)

We like to go camping over the fourth of July.
My family likes to camp over the fourth of July.
I try not to think about what they are doing, with out me.

It's hard
not to think about them
when we leave FOUR HOURS LATE
because someone can't get off work.
I'm not good at being understanding, when I'm being impatiently disappointed.

But luckily, for Billy and the kids, I recovered.
By the time we were setting up camp at 8pm I was completely relaxed again,
almost.

But really we had a great time.
We went to Grand Teton National Park and it was beautiful. We didn't see any bears (although it was as bad as if we had for Princess. She cried every time we went to the bathroom because of the bear signs and pictures. Also she thought the toilets sounded like bears growling. It was great!). Although it did sprinkle off and on it was warm and the rain was never too heavy.
The kids ate most of their dinner with out having it shoved down their throats.
Then we had s'mores. They were great.
Princess didn't want more than one bite of hers. Her brother's didn't have a hard time finishing it off.
When we put them to bed at 10pm, it only took them another 30 minutes to go to bed.
We were exhausted.


The next morning after breakfast, and packing all of our food, and most of our gear in the cab of our truck to keep out of the reach of bears, we headed out to hike around Jackson lake. It was really beautiful and we had some great views of the Tetons from the edge of the lake.

It sprinkled a couple times while we hiked. But that was ok, cause we had jackets, or some of us did. Taz had to borrow mine.


He also had to be carried by his dad because he shoes got wet. We were standing near the lake, when suddenly he jumped (or fell according to him) in. We don't know why, or how he did that - actually that applies to nearly everything Taz does. So his dad carried him while his shoes dried a little.


The next day, after a late morning, and packing up camp we stopped for another great hike on our way out of the park.
When we realized the hike was going to be about 5 1/2 miles we stopped to decided if we thought we could do it with the three crazy kids. We decided that yes, we could. So I packed some extra snacks and juice, and made sure our water was as full as possible, cause it was pretty warm. We were all set when I asked, "should we bring jackets, just in case?" Billy was tired of my over preparation and was ready to just hit the trail, so my motherly concerns were over ruled and we were on our way.

After over a mile the thunder started to roll. Not soon after the rain started. It wasn't too bad, except that we had no jackets (we were all in shorts and T-shirts). During the heavy cloud bursts we would hide under a tree for a few minutes until things lightened up.
It wasn't too bad.
Until the temperature stated to drop.
Princess, whom I was carrying, was getting cold. So I decided to solve that problem.

People hiking past us, kept laughing. It was great, kind of.
Soon the boys were too cold to go on, and then the rain picked up.
We were only a short distance from the waterfall that was our destination, but we just couldn't get any closer. Once we got close to the waterfall the temperature seemed to drop with each step we took. Remember this was a hidden water fall in the Grand Tetons, probably completely glacier run off, basically free flowing ice. The wind was blowing, it was raining, and it was getting cold. And we were wet.
So the kids and I huddled under a tree to keep warm while Billy ran up to get a picture of the falls.


He wanted to know, was I sure I didn't want to see it? We had come all this way!
Yep, I was sure.
My kids were cold, I was worried.
And perhaps this was the only mother bear we were going to see on this outing, but it was a serious one.
The wet freezing kids and I weren't going one step closer to the falls.
I was disappointed, but I was honestly worried about those tiny little bodies in their wet clothes, and that long hike back in the cold.



When Billy got back the kids were troopers. Well WG was anyway, Taz and Princess got carried.
After we ran about half a mile away from the falls the temp warmed up considerably. It still drizzled off and on, but not bad like it had.
So we made it back safe and sound, although considerably crumpled and dirty. No one even got sick, and apparently Billy endangering us all in scary, yet fruitless ways, is our new fourth of July tradition :).


We wrapped up the weekend with fireworks. We stayed up for the great show by the river in town, and then we set some off with friends on Sunday. It was a great time.

Our kids were REALLY happy the next day :).
Good Times!