So usually every Summer we go to the beach, but for something different and for varying other reasons the whole Hansen group took a vacation at Jackson Hole, Wyoming this year. IT WAS AWESOME. I'm not going to lie- I'm not the biggest fan of the West- I mean I quite like it, I just like the East better- what can I say I'm admittedly an East Coast snob. But, Jackson Hole was stunning. It was gorgeous. And fun! I looove nature and being outside but I'm not the biggest outdoorsy/adventure/camping/REI person (surprise surprise) but I loved going on those hikes and being out in the fresh mountain air and canoeing and desperately trying to spot wildlife for my children to see. It was very refreshing and invigorating. Plus Jackson is relatively close to the Hafers in Twin Falls, ID so we were able to spend several days with Drew's family, which is always an absolute treat. My kids loved playing with their cousins Lucy and Greta and their sweet Grandma and it makes me so sad that we don't live closer. We also got to see my grandparents in Pocatello, ID. That was such a blessing to be able to see them and see how much joy my children bring to them.
While in Jackson Drew fulfilled a life-long dream of climbing the Grand Teton. He admitted afterwards that it really "kicked his butt" but it was a great adventure for him and I'm sooooo glad that he was able to do and achieve something so great and so meaningful to him.
First up here are Drew's pictures from his Grand Climb.
The top of the mountain!
Drew (and everyone else) claims that the Idaho side is much more beautiful. :)
Drew with his camping cup that Valentine decorated with Hello Kitty stickers before he left.
This is the picture I took of Drew when I dropped him off for the climb. I'm glad it wasn't the last picture of him I'd ever take. And yes, that is a multi-colored neon Chewbacca t-shirt from D.I.
Um, maybe the best part of the trip was that we all stayed at the freaking Four Seasons. Bill and Kasi don't mess around with their vacations. Our penthouse thingy that everyone was in was seriously amazing. They even made sure to leave us little tiny child-sized hotel bathrobes. Valentine and Moses thought that they were the coolest/funniest things ever.
Our first big adventure was canoeing on String Lake in the Teton National Park. The kids LOVED it.
After dropping off Drew for his mountain climb Page, Ted, the kids and I went on our own little hike on the other side of Jenny Lake. It was... 5 miles up and back? Maybe 4? Anyways, first we had to ferry across the lake to the start of the hike.....
Then we started up the trail, the first stop were some beautiful falls....
And we continued up to the first look-out where there were chipmunks abounding all over the place. Valentine and Moses were in Heaven and had an absolute ball feeding their flavor-blasted-goldfish to the very non-human-shy chipmunks.
This one even let Valentine pet it! I guess they really love flavor-blasted-goldfish. Hopefully those goldfish didn't kill them....
Here are my very pitiful and feeble attempts to get a picture with my children.
Mission failed.
We then made our way up to second look-out point (where there were more chipmunks! Happy day)
The view was breathtaking and worth the hike (during which at any given point I was carrying one of my two children. Hikes with kids are fun!)
Oh yeah. On the way up to the top look-out point we suddenly got caught in a crazy thunder/lightning/hail storm. I've never heard thunder that loudly in my entire life. Ted said there was no way he was going to "hide under a tree"like a sissy, so we got a
bit wet. It actually felt pretty good.
View at the top. While enjoying goldfish and jerky.
I loved this tree.
There's the Teton that Drew was making his way up while we did our hike.
Oh, I also had to carry Moses the whole way down.
We walked through Downtown Jackson for some eating and shopping and every time we walked by this bear chair Moses HAD to sit in it. It seriously made him soooo happy. It's all about the little things right? Or the big huge wooden bear chairs.
They thought that sitting on and "riding" on this little stuffed animal goat was hilarious and had a blast.
I love this face.
And I love this face.
