Camp DuRoss

Oh wow- hold on.  This is a long one.  Just too many great photos- couldn't leave any out.  After arriving and visiting the pool (which we went to three times and still I do not have any pictures of), and settling in, camp began!  We started our first full day with a trip to Grand Teton National Park, visited the Rockefeller Preserve, and did a 3ish mile hike to a beautiful lake where the "cold water challenges" began.  There was a nice visitor's center at the beginning of the hike where this quote was on the wall.  I love it.  If you want to stretch with me for a moment, I think it sums up nature, yes, but also families, family reunions, and how we have fun together....and that we did! 

An amazing photo collage of the Tetons.  Up close you could see thousands of pictures of birds, fish, landscapes, etc.  Very cool.

Selah led the way with the swimming in any and every body of water she could find this week, starting with Lake. She is irresistible, so we all followed with plunges of our own, and thankful for the burst of fresh energy and the feeling of being SO alive that comes with "the cold water challenge".

Seriously, how cute are these two.  Mmm- want to squeeze them both right now.

I adore these two too.  Family by law and love, plunging together.

The Lupine were gorgeous! That is our crew hiking in the background.

Stylish AND adorable.  Both of them. Mmmm...again, want to squeeze.

This day was unstoppable.  Next we headed into Jackson to hit the Alpine slide, some park time, and grab a coffee (cause it aint over yet!), before getting dinner in Driggs at the Mexican restaurant which included a huge bounce house. 

Smiles all around!

Thanks for the helping hand, Uncle Chris!

Oh my.  Love and cuteness times THREE!  I can't stand it!

Alright, that is "the end" of that day. :)

Day two- we were supposed to go to the lake, but the weather was not looking good, so we checked out the board walk instead.  It was impressive, and, led us to this super cool trout feeding pond.  Some group members fished at a different pond, but even with bikes, our crew is not really covering many miles these days.  PS- I know I only post pictures of us smiling and talk about all the good times, but let it be noted (for my future self if nothing else), that Ruby and Owen are fussy, difficult to motivate often, and that there were probably at least a melt down or four a day.  I think this is all normal...incredibly frustrating and trying at times, but normal.  So, if it isn't, don't correct my belief for now.  It is all that gets me through sometimes. :)

Ooooo....the evening lighting from Camp DuRoss' deck is magical.  Picture below is without any filters.

Chip and I took Ruby and Owen for a two hour kayak down the Teton River.  It was incredible!  We saw two pairs of eagles perched close by in the trees, paddled past three bull moose IN THE WATER with us, and saw a bunch of herons and cranes too.  I don't think Ruby and Owen could appreciate how amazing of an experience that was, but I will never forget sharing that with them and Chip.

Ruby looks so grown up here to me. A raft guide in the making.

Aint bad, eh?

Can't see it well, but here is one picture of one of the moose before he followed his bachelor friends up into the brush.  Pictures can not capture the feeling of feeling of being so close to such a huge animal.  Whoa.

Introduced the cousins to geocaching.  There was a really cool one with maps for all of us to use to get to a second buried treasure.  It was a hit.

Shared the work of making dinner for 15 people.  This was Chris and Erika's handiwork and a DuRoss favorite. :)

Ruby really connected to Selah.  She CONSTANTLY wanted to know where she was, what she was doing, and if she could sit next to and be with her.  It was pretty darling. Here they are goofing around at the chuck wagon dinner that we went to.  This was a "mystery night" for all of us.  We got to ride in a covered wagon up to the dinner sight, we were scared by "indians" ripping around the forest on horseback, and entertained by cowboys and music throughout the evening.  It was a hoot and adventure.  Thanks to Nana and Papa for the surprise.  It was perfect.

Giddy up!

Alright- Lake, take 2.  However, this time, as you can see in the background, the boat did not leave the dock.  There was something wrong with the gas???  So, we swam, paddled around, and enjoyed eachother's company without a motor.  A great alternative.

That night, James McMurtry played for free at the Music on Main in Victor.  So enjoyable.

Even baby thought he was very talented.

There was another scavenger hunt this year- one of Ruby and Owen's favorite parts of the week.  Ha!  Kids just love searching for things, especially treasure. :)

 

We packed up lunch for all of these adventures many of the times.  I love this shot that Chip got of the masses of food that were prepared and consumed by this group.

The grand finale was a raft trip with views of the Grand Teton all day! Our guide Knox was great, and it was exciting to be in a raft with all the kids and families.

Our lunch spot.  Mmmm...I want to go back. :) 

The only group shot of the week.  Couldn't have picked a more incredible back drop!

Ruby literally napped for about a half hour after lunch. Ha!

 

Nana- you can take her out of the classroom, but you can't take the teacher out of her.  The kids would take any and all time she would read with them. So sweet.

As if this week of camp wasn't incredible enough, Nana and Papa wrapped it up with an awards ceremony!  Ruby won the "happiest camper" award for her easy going attitude and adaptability.  Owen won the "biggest swimmer" award for his sick skills in the pool.  The kids LOVED the Native American prizes they won.  They haven't left their sides since.

Well, after a few sparklers, we said our goodbyes, finished last minute packing, sharing of pictures, and sighed deep breaths of exhaustion, gratitude for making it through another week of adventures safe and healthy, amazement at how much we could all pack in and enjoy, and sadness, feeling the emptiness of not being together already.  Endless thank yous to mom and dad DuRoss for providing the space, resources, energy, and love to make this all possible.  It is special and a gift.  We love and miss all of you!

The Salt Flats

We stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats on our way out to the Ruby's.  The kids were pretty entertained and the photos ops are pretty fun so, here are a few. 

What a wild planet we live on.  Feel blessed and grateful every day I get to spend on it. 

Angel Lake

When we found out that our friends went camping in the Ruby Mountains last summer, we had to go.  We sort of love going to places that share their name with our kids. :)  We actually ended up camping at Angel Lake, which is in the Humbolt Mts, but the Ruby Mts are right next door.  The place was magical.  

This is a little magical too.  Usually Chip is the more stylish of the two of us, but my eyes crossed when I turned around to find him dressed in...a lot of patterns. 

Evening row.

Thumbs up for dinner. :)

This rock was in our campsite and provided for LOTS of entertainment for the little people.  

Nice spy glasses Greta.

We all LOVED getting to ride in and play around with Burnout, the Kirby's boat.

Ruby seemed to be a natural.

Happy Belated Birthday to Jess!

An awesome wildflower hike up to a hidden lake.  We learned some new names of flowers and enjoyed watching the fish.

Hiked to the waterfall that feeds the lake too...cause one hike a day is not enough for this crowd. :)

Oh man, the highlight was cliff jumping.  Everyone swam and most jumped, even Greta after much debating and having to push through a lot of fear.  We were all so proud of her.  

Look at THAT meal.  The Kirby's know how to do it up. Mmmm...

Jiffy Pop over the fire. Oh yeah.

And, this one was Chip's invention- the roasted apple.  We peeled them, and then dipped them in cinnamon sugar...not bad. :)

Group shot.  Love yall!  Thanks for a great weekend.  We WILL be back. :)

Montana- Bozeman and Yellowstone

Next, we headed down and over to Bozeman to visit the Tuttle family.  They are fun and we were so excited to bike around town with them, catch up, and get to spend some time with their newest addition, Caroline, who we had not met yet.

Unfortunately, Ruby and I sustained a bad bike accident only hours after arriving.  Ruby was riding in the foam seat in front of me, but the foot peg did not fit on the bike we were borrowing.  So, after only a block, her foot got stuck in the front tire and we went from 15 miles per hour to a dead stop.  Both of us flew off the bike.  I will be forever grateful that we were both wearing helmets (mine cracked- landed on it), and that there were no cars in the road at the time.  Ruby was scared, bleeding only a bit from her mouth, but 20 minutes later was flying around on her strider like nothing had happened.  Kids- so resilient.  I, on the other hand, tore my upper lip area up (I was worried I had lost teeth- ahh- SO grateful that didn't happen also) and ended up breaking a bone in my elbow.  I felt traumatized and uncomfortable, but for the most part, was okay and like I said, extremely grateful every time I thought about how much worse this accident could have turned out.  Wear your helmets and listen to your husband (Chip warned me that her feet might need to be moved moments before this happened).  That is what I learned.

Love these guys! We had a great visit despite the accident.  Thanks for all the hospitality!

This is a sticker from when my dad ran for school board....when I was in high school.  Not sure how one of these stickers made it this long and ended up on Ian's bike.  Hilarious.

Now, on to Yellowstone.  I forget how easy it is to live and camp in Utah sometimes.  Bear country requires a lot more vigilance.  Ruby and Owen didn't mind.

I had not been to Yellowstone for probably a decade.  The place does not disappoint.  Immediately after crossing the boarder into the park, you are engulfed in amazing scenery, crazy geologic phenomenons, and a density of animals that we just don't have in other places anymore. We camped at Indian Creek and enjoyed biking and hiking right from our campsite.  

The next day we did the tour around to many of the sights.  This mini grand canyon was a really steep and fun hike and the views were intensified by the dark and humid weather we were experiencing.

This was our lunch stop.  As I mentioned, it was stormy, and cold.  In fact, it was supposed to snow the next night.  So, after being drenched the night before, we made the decision to not camp again in Yellowstone and to head to Victor to stay at the DuRoss house instead.  This was a dissapointment and stirred on lots of conversation about how we would like to aquire the lightest and most simple pop up camper we can find.  We'll see.

Rain at Old Faithful and the need for a bathroom led us to the gift shop, which led to us saying they (which really only ended up being Ruby due to some poor choices on Owen's part) could have a lollipop.  Ruby and baby chose with care, and she enjoyed that thing during our entire visit.

We could barely see Old Faithful because of the weather, but it was fun anyway and the surrounding geysers were pretty amazing.  Owen was in a terrible mood, hence no pictures of him really, and we were losing steam after driving and hiking around at the sights all day.  Time to head into Jackson for dinner and on to the house for a warm and dry place to sleep before heading home to Park City.

Ahhh, yes.  The view into Jackson from the park.  I guess there are no guarantees when it comes to the weather.  This place is obviously beautiful, no matter what the weather, that is for sure.