Wyoming!!!!

Joel has spent more time in Wyoming with his Casper project a few years ago, so I am not sure if he enjoys the time we spend there as much as I do. I really love the state and the wide open spaces. Sarah asked if we would be interested in heading up to the Tetons for a short trip and I do not have to be asked twice. We decided, since I have wanted to start camping with the kids a few summers now, to make this the opportunity to start. So we headed out on Saturday morning to do a few nights camping before the rest of the White family showed up in Jackson on Monday.  We drove a little over half way, having lunch in Cheyenne and stopping at a park in Casper, ending up at Boysen State Park.  When we arrived the sky did not look very friendly. We decided to get our tent up and then go in search of food. The wind really started to pick up and we had some help from a neighbor camper in getting the tent going. Then it started to get interesting. The wind was blowing so hard our tent poles were bending inward at a severe angle. At this point Joel is not very happy with my persistence in wanting to camp with the little ones. We sat in the tent keeping the poles from collapsing in on themselves for about 30 minutes, and once we were pretty sure the tent would be there when we got back we headed out. The small town next to the park only had one restaurant, so we knew where we were going. The dinner was nice and thankfully when we got back to the campground the stroms had blown thru and the tent was still there.

                                         Cooper and Lauren playing near out campsite

                                Lauren  hugging brother and Cooper trying to be done with pictures

The next morning we headed on into Grand Tetons and were able to find a nice spot near Jenny Lake. 

We went on a small hike, then after dinner headed over to the campground for a fire. The kids really thought that was amazing.

            Hike near Lake Jackson, see the weather was not the best, but we were still able to enjoy

                                                      Cooper wanting to take a picture :)

                                  All three kids checking out the Lake..... we must throw in at least one rock

                                                               Such a beautiful place

                                                         S'mores in front of a fire

                                                                  Yummy

The next morning we quickly walked a little around Jenny Lake, packed up and found some lunch. Then we did another short hike up to a Phelps lake overlook. When we were headed out some hikers coming down told us they thought they head seen a bear, but we were unable to locate. That evening the rest of the fam arrived and we had a very nice dinner. 

                   Throwing more rocks into Jenny Lake... who knew this was so much fun

 My sweeties... at the campground

 If it can be climbed on, we must do it

 Kids getting a little tired of my photos

Tuesday  morning we headed over the Yellowstone and did a marathon day seeing all the sights, even taking a wrong turn and ending up in Montana for a few minutes.  We were able to spot a brown bear, black bear, elk, buffalo, and even a fox with some dinner in it's mouth. It was a long, but great day in the park. Sadly I did not get a whole lot of picts.

 Group at Old Faithful

 Cooper at Old Faithful

We had a great time and the kids were awesome. I am glad because  this means we will have more trips in our future. I will say about the time we hit the Colorado boarder on Wednesday Lauren was starting to get a little loopy. I am not sure this is where the stickers are suppose to go.

One Down, Uh lot to go

Cooper finished Pre K, and boy, did that do by fast. I knew getting him started even for a few days a week would be the start of a very busy time in our lives. He did an amazing job and I a very proud of all the things he has learned and give thanks to Primrose for taking such great care of Cooper this year. Cooper and Lauren will both start school this fall. (Cooper in Kindergarden and Lauren in PreSchool)
So I know next year will go even faster. So I will try and enjoy the summer as much as possible.

Cooper's First Day at School

Cooper's Last Day at School