Granny & Paw... in Jackson!

Guess who came all the way from Ponchatoula…… well you probably read the title, so Granny and Paw! We were so excited about their trip. The leaves in the valley and I had an understanding that they were not to turn until Granny got to Jackson. I would like to say thank you to the leaves for being so cooperative and being brilliant in color when my grandparents arrived. We went to the Laurance Rockefeller Preserve on Sunday to see the leaves, some water features, and do a little hiking/walking. Oscar really surprised me and  walked the whole way not once asking to be picked up. Seeing him walking with Paw just melts the heart. 

If this photo does not melt your heart.....

Slide Lake

We went camping this weekend to escape all the people and, at the last minute, a fire that started south of town. Chris & I decided to go to Slide Lake in the Gros Ventre range, which is amazingly beautiful. We completely lucked out and were the only people there; how is that even possible? The camping area is literally on the lake, surrounded by mountains, and no one was there..... where were they, at home, craziness I say. Our neighbor Jess and her son Kyler came with us since John was working a night shift followed by a 5:00 am morning shift and needed sleep. We set up the tent, and then got busy sitting around a campfire, drinking wine, watching Oscar and Kyler play, and eating all kinds of made delicious by the campfire food. As the gorgeous crescent moon came out, we told made up stories about Bear Paw, Running Coyote, and the moon spirit Luna at Kyler's request. After the kids went to sleep the three of pretended to be astrologers and find constellations. Thank God for the big dipper or I would be like, "there's the moon!", as my contribution. Morning was made awesome by bacon + eggs + french pressed coffee. I swear food has never tasted so good as when you are camping. Oh, did I mention I woke up to water breaking on the shore of the lake? Insert your jealousy here____________. 

High Jumper

Oscar usually is not the dare devil, fearless toddler boy that most boys his age tend to immolate. He will usually jump from the second stair on the deck, while his friends are jumping from the third or fourth. He will also ask you to hold his hand sometimes, just to be safe, so what he did on Saturday really surprised me. As we were shopping the tent sales at Teton Village, he saw some kids on the trampoline with bungee cords going super high.  Oscar said, "I want to do that!" We told him we had to check to see if he weighed enough. We walked up to the sign which read 40-160 pounds. Oscar is 40 pounds. Great! No making the excuse he is not big enough. My next excuse was going to come when they told me it was upwards of $30 for this bungee trampoline. No such luck, $10 did not seem so bad after he had been pretty great while we shopped for backpacks and gloves. Our last dilemma was if we paid the $10 he was going to do it, no chickening out, he agreed so $10 later we were at the bungee trampoline. Oscar walked up the stairs, and......... had second thoughts. After only twenty seconds of telling him they would only do what he was comfortable with, he agreed and got all the equipment placed on him. The guy operating his bungee cords was great; he took it really easy and in no time, had him high in the air. He really got into it, but I hope this is not the beginning of a more dare devil Oscar, mom does not mind holding your hand.

Sliding Down the Mountain

With Molly in town, we knew the Alpine Slide at Snow King Resort would be a fun adventure we could all enjoy. Molly loved it so much we rode it a couple of times, each time Chris and I got faster and faster. Our competitive nature sometimes gets the best of us, but we had so much fun twisting down the mountain. Molly had a great time, and it was a wonderful way for her to see the landscape from the chair lift, the town from the top, and the wildflowers as she was racing down the mountain. 

Thorntons + Yellowstone

Don, Vonny, & Molly are in Jackson! Molly has never been to Jackson, so we were excited to have our step-sister visit us. We went to Yellowstone because everyone should see the wonder that is Yellowstone. Everyone loved the geyser basin, home to Old Faithful, and looking at the beautiful pools and other geysers. We almost missed Old Faithful and had to book it across the geyser basin, but we made it with a couple minutes to spare. We had a great weather, and it was a wonderful day showing them Yellowstone, hanging out, and catching up. 

Shakespeare, William Shakespeare

Every summer in August, the Montana Shakespeare in the Parks Company  comes to Driggs, Idaho, to bring us Shakespeare. This company visit 60 communities every summer as part of an outreach program to bring the theater to towns that do not have access. Jackson has several theaters, so they do not come to us, but we were happy to make the drive to Idaho. This year they were doing Twelfth Night, which is a comedy about a girl dressed in drag for most of the play.  Do you want to know what is a comedy? Me thinking my three year old and my thirty year old were going to sit through an entire Shakespeare play. Needless to say after the snacks and beer ran out, the children were getting restless. So we left about half way through and went to Teton Thai for dinner. Lesson learned- Shakespeare + Jaubert boys = never going to happen. 

Mom is back Jack!

Mom is back in Jackson! We are so irresistible that people cannot stay away; they have to have more time with the awesome Jauberts. We understand, we are pretty wonderful to be around. My mom is now a lover of Thai food which make me love her even more. We went to Teton Thai for lunch today, and it was great. The weather was wonderful, and as always, the food is incredible. Mom & I sat on their deck, ate lunch, drank tea and just soaked in all the greatness that was this lunch. 

Tom Yong Gong Soup

Winner Winner Chicken... Lunch

The Wilson Volunteer Fire Department has their Annual Chicken Fry each year to raise money for new equipment they need. We love our Wilson volunteer fire fighters, especially since two of them are our neighbors. Also, it is fried chicken people, what is not to love. Old timers know that the key to a good time is to get there early so you can claim a great spot under the shade. This also keeps you from waiting in the mile long line once the festivities begin. We got our spot in the shade, our chicken, bought desserts and let the chowing down begin. Oscar really loved the chicken and he did a great job eating. He was rewarded with a cupcake with sprinkles that he picked out himself. Sunny day, fried chicken, cupcakes, who could want a better start to a Sunday? 

Beach Time with Tara' & Billy

We celebrated our independence from England and King George by going to the beach. As most of you know, the Wilson Beach is not quite yet sandy, but it has many great qualities. Tara’ and I made this make shift raft out of two inner tubes, a foam noodle, and a inflatable noodle in an effort to keep as much of ourselves out of the cold water. Of course Billy and Chris loved splashing us and threatening to flip us over. Even though the water was slightly cold, Oscar loved having Chris submerge him in the water periodically. He also had a great time collecting rocks in his pail and throwing them into the water. A splendid time was had by all, and I am sure our founding fathers would have approved. 

Phelps Lake with Tara' & Billy

On Monday, while Oscar was at school, Tara’, Billy, Chris, and I went on a hike to Phelps Lake & Huckleberry Point in Grand Teton National Park. Tara’ had bought some blue zinc sunscreen the day before at a local bike shop, and being the good sister that I am, I agreed to wear it with her as we hiked. Nothing like a blue nose to blend in easily with fellow hikers.

The weather was wonderful, and we were sad that we did not bring our swim suits once we arrived at the beautiful lake. Instead we continued on our hike to Huckleberry Point which brought us through a marsh region that you would not expect at that elevation. I spent much of the hike running ahead, trying to hide and surprise them, but it is hard to be camouflaged in the woods when you are wearing a bright purple tank top. I never did succeed, but it was a great hike, and a wonderful time with Tara’ & Billy. 

First Trip to Emergency Room

There is nothing better than waking up to a loud thud and your child crying in the middle of the night. You spring up from a deep sleep, try to turn on a light, and figure out what is reality. The reality on Wednesday night at 1:30am was that Oscar had fallen off the bed, hit his head, and had a laceration on his forehead. Since Lilya had fallen off the bed recently and got a concussion and Oscar was bleeding a lot from his head, we decided to head to the ER stat! Oscar was a pretty good patient, and my mom made one of her famous hospital chicken balloons, which lifted his spirits. Since Chris promised no shots, stitches were out of the question, so we went with the glue. He did not like the glue, so one can only imagine how well the stitches would have been received! I wished I could have held off this “first trip” a little while longer, like 18 more years, but what are you going to do? 

Alpine Slide & Golf with Papa Charlie & Carlie

The Alpine Slide at Snow King resort is always something fun to take part in while you are here in the summer. You ride one of the chair lifts up the mountain, get a sled with brake capabilities, and then slide down the mountain amidst twists and turns. They tell you that racing is strictly prohibited, but they have twenty-somethings manning the slide, so who is going to stop you? Chris, of course, tries to do down the entire thing without brakes, (as long as he does not have Oscar) and has even got air a couple of times going around a curve too fast.

After sliding, we all took part in an 18-hole putt putt golf game, which is right next to the Alpine Slide. At every hole Oscar went first. Once he got the ball in, we would ask him how many strokes, and he would always reply, “One”. Smart kid. He beat us all with a score of 18 out of a 73 par.

on the chair lift

Camping with Papa Charlie & Carlie

Sometimes your family will surprise you. I threw out the idea of camping a couple of weeks before they arrived thinking they would balk at the idea. Well my mom, who is usually game for anything, agreed and seemed completely excited. Great, I guess we are going camping. Camping and I have a very strange relationship. When we unpack, get the campfire started, and are making dinner/s'mores; I love camping. I often sit in a chair around the campfire thinking camping is great, we should camp more often, let's make plans to go camping again soon. Then in the morning as I am packing all the sleeping bags into the tiny bags they somehow came in (per Chris' instruction), looking over all 88 things I have to wash, and getting bit by last night's mosquitoes that are still alive; I hate camping. Why are we camping, we should never do this again, we should sell all camping gear as soon as we get home. I am a very complex, deranged individual. 

Back on subject, we had a great time. We made s'mores using my super secret trick to make the best s'more ever, and laughed around a campfire watching the sunset. Oscar and dad went to bed earlier than me, Chris, mom, & CJ and they cracked up laughing at each other telling secrets and playing with flashlights between their tents. They were two peas in a pod. It was a wonderful camping trip, just us, sharing stories, laughs, and making memories (some which will haunt us forever). 

Our family is so rugged. I was born to be a wilderness girl. 

Smartest Person in the Whole Wide World

Chris Jaubert, AIA 

Guess who is now an official, licensed, boy wonder, architect?

If you thought it was hard to live with an intern architect, you have no idea what it is like to live with an actual architect. Here are some examples:

I am not allowed to turn my back while in his presence- walking out of rooms backwards is difficult.

When you ask him a question, his answer beings with, "Well, since I am an architect..."

Forget asking him to do the dishes, he is an architect.

I must serve his sweet ice tea at exactly 42 degrees. 

I have to walk 10 feet behind him whenever we are in public and wear a shirt that says, "I'm with an architect."

It is brutal.

* The above is all true, no matter what Chris Jaubert says. He doesn't know anything, he is an architect. *

Waffles at the Top of the World

We had a very special breakfast this morning- we ate waffles on the top of Rendezvous Bowl! We rode the tram up 4,139 feet, until we reached the top of Rendezvous at 10,450 feet in elevation.  Corbet's Cabin is on top of Rendezvous Bowl and serves the yummiest waffles ever. Corbet's is this little cozy cabin with a wood burning stove (yes, it is still snowing at the top) and log walls. Their waffles come three different ways: strawberry jam, butter/brown sugar, and Nutella.  Oscar went for strawberry jam, Chris butter/brown sugar, and I went for half butter/brown sugar half Nutella. The waffles are made to order so they are hot and perfect. We had a great time, and it was wonderful to be at 10,450 ft, eating waffles with my two favorite people.