Brady in Redmond -- home soon!

Brady's been having a wonderful time in Redmond.  He went camping with Amy, sailing with Gary, and to the Deschutes County Fair with Sue -- and probably plenty of Gator driving!!  I'm glad he's having this time, but I'm ready to have the whole family home again.

Brady with Aunt Amy and Shasta

Sailing with Poppa Gary

Today (Thursday 7/31) marks the transition from "Saturday to Sunday" in our summer analogy (June = Friday, July = Saturday, and August = Sunday).  Connor and Margaret are at TISA camp, I got in an early morning run with Susy and spent the rest of the day working and catching up on photos and blogs.  Tomorrow Amy will bring Brady home.  I'm looking forward to having the whole family back together again.

The Greens' Final Week in Teton Valley

The time has flown by, of course.  The Greens head back east this Saturday (8/2), so we have squeezed as much time together as possible!  On Tuesday, while Connor and Margaret were in TISA Camp and I used the day for work, Corbin packed up and headed out with Chad, Sean, and Jeff for an overnight canyon fishing trip.  They left at about noon on Tuesday and got home at about 5pm on Wednesday (7/30).  In the meantime, Kath, the kids and I all hung out.  They came here for dinner on Tuesday - Tony's pizza.  After whiffle ball and a movie, Kath and Lucie went home while Caden and Dylan stayed for a sleepover.  Then on Wednesday morning (after we all slept in!!), we met for breakfast at "Local Provisions" (the old TWR Grille).  Then Kath took all the kids to her house to play for an hour, before we all met up at the Targhee pool for a couple of hours.  But, the fun couldn't end there!  The kids all wanted to go to "art camp" for 2 hours of spray painting.  Kath and I reflected on what a great summer it's been and how much fun we all had together.  Our kids really are like siblings ... or at least cousins!

Lineup at the pool - not complete without Brady!

Art Camp with Terry

Bike Ride to Jenny Lake (Grand Teton National Park)

One of the things we wanted to do with the two younger kids was ride the bike path in GTNP.  Monday afternoon (7/28) was the perfect day for that.  We parked in the Taggart Lake parking area and biked the 4.3 miles to Jenny Lake. We found a nice swimming and snacking spot on the lake and everyone cooled off.  As we approached the Taggart Lake parking area on our return, we saw crowds gathered and knew a moose had been spotted.  It was a cow and calf.  Good excitement - enough, in fact, that both Connor and Margaret opted to continue the bike ride with Corbin out to the gate.  All in all, they biked 11.4 miles!  I drove the truck to pick them up outside the gate.  We finished the outing with an ice cream treat at Hungry Jack's General Store in Wilson.

The park does have crowds, but it sure is nice to get over to see the Tetons from the east side.  It's pretty spectacular, really.  We've done this bike ride a number of times through the years; this was Margaret's first time riding her own bike (last time we did this, she was on the trail-a-bike).  She was very excited to do it and very proud of her accomplishment.

Cooling off at Jenny Lake

Groupie on the ride back!

Hungry Jack's!

Taylor Mountain with Susy and Jeff

Scheduling time with Susy and Jeff has been tricky this summer.  Susy and the kids are here (from Boulder) for a good bit of the summer, but Jeff has been working and only made it here for a couple of weekends so far.  One thing they definitely wanted to do was get in a decent hike with us.  Sunday 7/27 was our opportunity.  Not wanting to venture too far, we agreed on Taylor Mountain.  We've done it before, but this time we went up a different route - the boot pack up the ridge - then came down the more common trail.  Good exercise, gorgeous views, great time catching up with friends.  Elsa watched all of the kids at the Russells' house, which accomplished the other goal of the day -- get the kids together for a good bit of time.  We were on trail by about 8:30am and back to the Russells' by 2pm.  After showers and rest, Connor, Margaret and I met Susy and her kids at church (5pm Mass).  It was a beautiful service and, a surprise to us, Karee and Jason's baby was baptized at the service.  I love this church - so pretty, awesome music, good community.

Nancy and Susy

Jeff and Corbin, scramble to "false summit"

Jeff, Corbin, Susy at summit

Corbin & Nancy, summit

Connor and Will (and Tim's thumb) outside church

Floatilla - Langs, Greens, Doyles and more!

The Greens had their friend, Carlen, visiting and decided to float the Teton on Saturday 7/26.  We seized the opportunity and joined them.  On my way back from the grocery to get picnic foods for the river, I stopped at Yostmark to see if they had a paddle board left to rent, and they did!  We took our canoe and a paddle board, the Greens brought Chad's pontoon boat and two paddle boards, the Doyles and Loebs each brought a drift boat.  We had 16 people floating the river together!  Kids had a blast on the paddle boards, and adults got a turn when the kids wanted a snack.  Margaret even caught her first fish in Jeff Loeb's boat.  Lots of laughs, great weather, a few moose (kids saw up to 6, but they scared some off so some of us only saw a couple :-)!!), a kayak rescue -- good times with good friends.  We ended the day with Caden sleeping over at our house.  S'mores and a movie.  Big day.

Dylan, Macrae, Connor and Caden

Bull Moose!

Mom's got a turn on the paddle boards

Margaret in Jeff's boat (just after released the fish)

Connor, Caden, Margaret - sleepover and S'mores

The Exchange in Boise

At 6am on Friday 7/25, we drove to Boise and met Sue, Gary, Connor and Margaret at a park in Boise.  Picnic lunch, some play time, catch up conversation, and some stretching before the return trip.  Gary, Sue and Brady headed to Redmond, while Corb, Connor, Margaret and I headed to Driggs.  It was a very long day of driving for everyone.  With some calculated stops (Home Depot, Sports Authority and dinner), we arrived home at about 10pm.

The kids and grandparents are getting lots of quality time together, which is awesome.  Adults didn't get much time together this summer -- choices, yes, but too bad in any case.  That's just this summer ...

Corb & Gary - Can't tell how road weary they are!

Thanks, Grandma Sue, for a great week!!

Another Day on the South Fork

Brady requested that we do another float on the day we had together before he headed to Redmond, so on Thursday 7/24 we found ourselves again floating the South Fork of the Snake River (3rd time for me this summer -- love it!).  We packed a picnic dinner, got on the water at about 2pm and off at about 7pm.  Corbin fished a bunch.  Brady and I rowed, netted fish, and talked a lot.  Topics of the day included lots of thinking about and planning for Gould -- bikes, courses, foreign language, transitions, role of advisor, importance of relationships with adults, and then some.  Truly, it was a pretty spectacular day.  On the way home, we stopped to pickup ice cream and brought it home to enjoy while watching a movie (about rowing) and packing for Redmond!

TSS Pickup

On Wednesday 7/23, Corb and I and the Greens went to TSS to pick up Brady and Lucie.  After a short presentation by the kids and a slideshow, we headed back over the pass for the promised lunch at Big Hole BBQ!  On the drive to lunch, Brady enthusiastically shared many stories.  Many laughs!  His recurring theme was "I'd definitely do that again!"  That was just the beginning of a really fabulous day and a half for the three of us.  We sat on the rooftop at BH BBQ.  Brady ate his brisket melt and then finished Dylan's fish tacos!  Hungry boy.  Side note:  I had their Philly Steak Tacos and loved them so much that I've since recreated them at home with TWR "fajita meat" - a definite repeat!

After lunch, we went home to unpack, air out gear, do laundry, and rest.  Brady grilled burgers for dinner, then we headed down to the Teton Springs pool.  Lisa Smith Batchen had invited a bunch of people to listen to the Miller Sisters sing and to celebrate her amazing accomplishment - the Badwater Quad (584miles, "Badwater 4 Good Water").  I got to hang out with my friends and meet Karee Miller's new baby (we brought gifts of books and puzzles for baby and big sisters), Brady had fun in the pool, and Corbin was a very patient and wonderful husband!  From TS, the three of us headed to the Spud Drive-In to see "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."  Brady really wanted to go to the drive-in, and I have to say that the movie was much better than I expected!  The highlight of the night was seeing the sky so full of stars, after Brady had told us of the night sky he experienced while backpacking.  I guess I just haven't stayed up late enough to appreciate the amazing night sky here!

I felt so much joy today.  Brady came home so happy and so excited to share with us.  I was just overwhelmed by how much my boy is growing up to be a wonderful young man.  True joy in this mom's heart.

Brady and Lucie!

"Siblings!"

Brady & Caden - "share a Coke with your BFF!"

Chad, Lucie, Corb, Dylan

Hungry Boy!

Welcome Home sign

Susy, Nancy, Lisa, Tammy & Heather at TS

Brady, Will, Tim

Playing Frisbee, waiting for movie to start, Spud Drive-In

Brady's Experience at Teton Science School (TSS) Camp - Kings of the Mountains 2014

This is Brady's story to tell, and there's no way I can do it justice!  I will write another post with all the photos taken when we picked him up.  For now, I'll post the photos I have from his trip and let them tell the story.  I will say that he returned very happy and proud and asking to do another camp like this in the future.  He clearly had a fabulous experience.

For future reference, to jog his memory, he told stories of:
- the value of wet wipes (gold!!  great trades!)
- the tent that collapsed at night
- bear spray practice
- mosquitoes
- Grampy's pack that was awesome because it was "simple and reliable"
- the sky full of stars at night
- watching the sunrise over the lake, alone
- how the group of 12 boys and their leaders grew close ("like family")
- canoeing on String Lake - burritos for dinner
- 6 pieces of chicken at the first meal back from the backcountry!
- wildflowers galore
- the Fon-do's and Fon-don'ts -- the finer points of cooking in the backcountry (and yes, fondue)
- the four oldest boys on the tiny platform on the ropes course -- leaning backwards together

The Ropes Course

Fon-Do's and Fon-Don'ts!

Before heading into Back Country

Setting up camp - Tent Leader!

Top of Jackson Peak

Learning some backcountry first aid skills

Service Project - Trail to Death Canyon

Canoe Picnic on String Lake

A Float on the Southfork ... didn't go as planned!

A float on the Southfork sounded like a great way to spend Monday afternoon.  Eager to try a new "fish taco bowl" recipe, I decided that would make a perfect picnic on the river.  Cooler packed, boat and gear loaded, shuttle arranged, we headed out about noon.  As we got on the river, there were a few clouds around, but with plenty of blue sky ahead we were hopeful that the clouds would provide shade, not rain and storms.  I got a good turn on the oars, so Corb could fish.  The fishing was pretty good, and we anchored at a couple of good spots.  The clouds built and thunderstorms threatened, so we decided to row to the takeout and get off the river earlier than planned.  As we contemplated "plan B" for our picnic, we both came up with the idea of checking out "the ridge," knowing that weather can vary a lot in a short time, and over a short distance.  We enjoyed a wonderful tailgate picnic on the ridge - the fish taco bowls did not disappoint.  The sky was spectacular -- clouds all around, with blue skies above and sun on the Tetons.  The double rainbow was the icing on the cake.  We spent time reminiscing about our many visits to this special place.  We think we figured out that Corbin first camped here in 1994 and brought me to camp here for the first time in 1996.  We then camped here in 1998, 1999, and 2000 - when we decided to buy a house in the valley!  Since then we've had many overnight camping trips and picnics here.  One of our most memorable was a picnic dinner with Gary & Sue and Joe & Ruth in 2002.  Brady was 2 and I was pregnant with Connor (and on bed rest!).  We still call this our "secret favorite place."

On our drive home, we wondered if Kath and Chad might welcome a visit.  The answer was a resounding "yes" so we stopped for a visit.  Chad was actually still fishing the Teton when we arrived, but got home soon after, and we all enjoyed a fun night, full of laughter as usual!

Corb and I appreciated that this day was really special -- it didn't go as planned, and ended up better!

Fish On!

My turn on the oars

Corb caught it; I netted it!

Tailgate picnic on the ridge

Double Rainbow!