Summer Vacay - National Park Extravaganza - Grand Tetons & Cody Wyoming! (Part 3)

The culmination of our summer vacation was a national park tour!  We vacationed with Cory and Amanda Reeves and their boys - we had never vacationed before with them although we've known each other for years, and it was soooo fun!  They were just so relaxed and fun, Cory was our navigator the entire trip and the boys all became fast friends (very close in age).  We really couldn't have asked for a more fun vacation partners!  And then we added the cherry on top by having Korey and Rachel join us as well later on in the week!

The first leg was a trip up to Grand Tetons, where we hiked around Jenny Lake.  It was so picturesque, fragrant with the evergreen trees - it was heavenly.  We did stop at the ranger station and heard about the grizzly bears in the area, so we sagely decided that we should buy some bear spray to take along with us (note to others, if you buy bear spray, give it to someone who can DRIVE home as they won't allow it on the airlines even if it is in your checked luggage!).  We did a 2.5 mile hike to a waterfall , and the hike was fairly easy and very beautiful the whole way.  Addison even did fairly well - with only about 30-45 minutes of requesting to be carried.  Karis managed to convince her to walk though, so she did great!

After the 5 hour drive to Jackson from Deer Valley, the kids were delighted to run around in a park and get out some energy!

The Grand Tetons are spectacular - just rising out from flat ground!

Jenny Lake

Starting the 2.5 mile hike!

Jenny Lake was really pretty, the weather was perfect, and the mountains spectacular!

Zachary entertained himself along the way with throwing rocks as far into the water as he could

Seeing how many rocks they could balance on top of each other!

Zachary as the photographer for the Reeves family - he was very careful with Cory's camera!

Hard to see, but the white is the waterfall that we were hiking to

The temperature was significantly cooler (which wasn't hot to begin with) by the river!

When we took the ferry back and got off, we were delighted to see a Moose and her baby nearby!  What a treat!

These four became fast friends!

The Jackson Center Square - that's a lot of antlers...

One last picture of the family as we leave the Teton area

God's nature is so amazing!

Next off we went to Cody, Wyoming where we witnessed the old-fashioned gunslinger fight (a bit cheesy, but entertaining for the kids to watch).  The next day we went to the Buffalo Bill museum, and Old Town, which is where Butch Cassidy's original cabin was (so thankful that we live in this day and age!).  We ended the day with a drive through Yellowstone in Lamar Valley which is beautiful and filled with animals!

A bit cheesy, but the gunslinger play was at least entertaining for the kids

These two are so sweet together (mostly....and then they switch into the typical tormenting of each other!)

Buffalo Bill!

Old town - learning to lasso!

And here Kaleb goes!

We rented a house for the three families to stay in, and it was on Henry Lake and lots of space for all of us.  It was fun to let the kids have more time to play.  There was a dock in the back yard, so the kids jumped off into the water only to discover that it was suuuuper cold!  They didn't last long! :)

Snuggle time in the morning!

Reeves, Florida Zs, and Walla Walla Zs!