Labor Day Getaway

Who just got back from a 12 day trip to Island Park? We did! Wow, I have to say I feel so blessed to have been able to take such a long vacation. Island Park truly feels like home and I am so grateful to Grandma Gibbons for letting us stay at the cabin! On the way up we stopped at a ghetto McDonald's in Burley. They kiddos found a video game room and were in heaven:

The second night we were there, My Mom, Tripp, Chantz and I went to West Yellowstone to go see a play at the Playmill Theatre. Unfortunately, all the people freaked Chantz out and he and I had to walk around town for two hours while the other two enjoyed the play. I have to say that this was one of my favorite evenings I have had this summer. Chantz and I had so much fun touring all the shops, getting root beer, sitting on park benches, and stopping to walk around every tree. :)

Tripp and Grandma Teresa made me this "surprise" when I was taking a nap one afternoon. It is so darling! It was a homemade box full of Island Park wildflowers.

Tripp's pesudo-bath in the cabin's kitchen sink:

Chantz and I did a lot of hanging out together-this included taking pictures of ourselves:

So the first weekend up there we went to Pond's Lodge to watch the BSU game and I stubbed my toe on one of the tables. I either broke it or sprained it, but the entire bottom of my toe was black and running wasn't an option for the rest of the trip. I'm still limping around on it.

Uncle Brice and Tripp having some quality time:

 Many a game was played that week.

Even Daddy joined the fun! (He's going to kill me when he sees this picture)

We went over to Big Springs one afternoon and there were probably 25 massive rainbow trout waiting to be fed. We brought our bags of cheese and watched them jump all the way out of the water to get to it. They are pretty aggressive-the boys loved watching the fish!

 The Friday before we came home, Trudy came up for a visit and we went to Yellowstone National Park. Here's the gang waiting for Old Faithful:

 My and my love:

 Me and my Trippster:

And it erupts!

After Old Faithful, we drove around the park. We went to the Old Faithful visitors' center, found these great hot pots, and a beautiful waterfall. Oh-we also saw lots of buffalo that Chantz kept calling puppies. Those are some big puppies!

Here's a pic Tripp took-pretty good photography for a four year old!

The last afternoon we had, Tripp and Bryant went shooting and I took Chantz on his first four wheeler ride down to the pond. At first he was really scared, but he ended up loving it!

He really enjoyed himself as you can see:

Last but not least, right when we got back Tripp had his first day of preschool. He loved it and is excited for the school year, and even more excited to start Kindergarten next year!

The other highlights of the cabin trip included:

*My date with Bryant to West Yellowstone where we ate Chinese, bought souvenirs, and saw the new Bourne movie

*Eating Bryant's homemade biscuits and gravy before bed

*Reading massive amount of books (two of which were Harry Potter)

* Going on a mile walk with my babies down to Mill Creek-and they walked without needing help the whole way!

*Going to Rexburg and visiting Trudy's store and buying an awesome Christmas decoration

*Bubble baths in the claw foot tub

*Watching movies with the family

*Seeing the last show of the season at the Playmill-"Annie Get Your Gun" (It was one of the best I've ever seen there!)

*The late night thunder and lightning storm that we experienced the first weekend

*Spending time with my wonderful family! I love them all, and I can't wait for the next trip!

The FAIR!

We love the Western Idaho Fair! To be perfectly honest, however, Bryant despises it. He hates the crowds. I can't say I blame him, but what's summer without a Pronto Pup smothered in mustard? Every year the boys find the balloon clown. This year was no exception. And just like last year, they both ended up with swords and cool "sword holders."

Tripp loved the rides. Here he is on the train. He also rode the rollercoaster and went through the fun house and loved them both (if you ask me, fun houses are creepy but maybe he's not old enough to realize that):

Tripp rode his favorite pony-it was so cute!

Here's Chantz chillaxing while Tripp rides the pony:

Believe it or not, Tripp really enjoyed the exhibits (and the blue icees as you can see by his mouth). He is thinking of entering something into the fair next year-like maybe a drawing or something he baked.

Overall, the fair was hot, crowded, and expensive. And we loved it. As long as there is good company (in this case my mom and a couple siblings), a pronto pup, and an air conditioned building to escape to, it's worth going!

A Camping We Will Go!

The Jones family has rediscovered camping! We went not once, but twice to Hazard Lakes this August. Tripp caught his first fish ever!

 Chantz, not realizing they were dead, was trying to talk to the fishies :)

Aunt Lainey helping Tripp gather firewood-what a pair!

  One of the great things about going to Hazard Lakes (besides the fact that there's a great bathroom and fresh water) is that there are giant rocks everywhere for the kids to climb. Bryant and I both went there as kids so it holds a lot of memories. Here's Tripp lounging on one of the smaller rocks by our campsite:

Chantz eating pancakes in his favorite spot:

Watch out girls, he's got the male model pose down at an early age.

Uncle Trey and Chantz having a blast:

Chantz and Grandpa bonding:

Besides the eating, napping, fishing and bonding, we also enjoyed watching the kids swim, playing with Lilly (my parents' golden retriever), reading, exploring, and did I already mention eating? Yes, the food was delicious. Bryant even made dutch oven BBQ pork ribs one night-I am spoiled! We loved being in the outdoors and actually slept great every time we went. I think we will make Hazard Lakes a new family tradition!

A Little bit of Summertime

What fun is Summer without water? Grandma Teresa bought this little pool for the boys...it came in handy during the 106 degree heat!

Tripp liked it so much that we bought one for our house as well. Chantz still isn't too sure about water, but Trippster sure loves it!

Shaved ice is another Summertime tradition. Here's Tripp and Trey enjoying theirs:

Here are the boys at Settlers' Park. This park is great because water shoots out of the ground in places and they also have a normal playground setup.

 We took the kidlets to Eagle Island--a first for both of them, and they loved making sand castles!

Tripp ventured out into the water with Lainey and Trey:

Here's Lainey and Tripp in Grandma Gibbons' pool:

 This year I won tickets to Roaring Springs through my work-it was great because there's no way I would have taken the boys with the ridiculous costs. Tripp absolutely had a blast on the kids' water slide. He towed his own tube up to the top of that slide at least thirty times-all by himself!

Chantz wasn't too keen on getting in the water, but he parked his tube on the pavement and was content for hours. :)

One more adorable shaved ice pic:

Chantz Turns 2/Grandma's Week!

Can you believe my little angel has turned two? His birthday was June 28! I still call him my baby, and he is the sweetest little person-I can't get enough of him! For his actual birthday he was with Grandma Trudy at her annual "Grandma's Week." For his birthday party with the family, he was at home. Eating one of his ball cupcakes early, of course.

Uncle Brice with his nephew:

 Aunt Lainey made customized birthday hats for the celebration and Tripp helped. His is below with the sword on the side. :)

 Daddy opened presents while Chantz licked all the frosting off yet another cupcake.

 Here are some of the birthday guests from the Jones side:

 And some of the guests from the Hessing side:

 Here's the little munchkin playing with one of his gifts looking much too old...why can't they stay small forever?

 Up at Grandma's week Grandma Trudy planned a special birthday party. It was fish themed and everything was so cute! Here's Aunt Macey holding Chantz and hanging out with the cousins during lunch (which consisted of the cutest fishy sandwiches and goldfish crackers, celery and peanut butter)

Trippster climbing one of Grandma's trees:

 Playing with Chantz's presents after the party:

 The fishy sandwiches! Adorable, right?

 Each kid had his or her own teepee for the whole week. I had to share a picture because Trudy made these herself and the kids painted them. They loved it! They each had their own indian name and had mohawks as well. :)

                                                                                                                                                                                  

Here is Grandma with the birthday boy, Parker and Grant:

The boys are so lucky to have a Grandma who loves them so much. Tripp is already asking to go back to Grandma's Week even though it was only a couple months ago!

As for the birthday boy, he is starting to talk a lot more now and says some full sentences-occasionally some I can understand! He is starting to throw his "terrible two" fits and is quite stubborn, but overall he is happy as can be. We're having a hard time getting him away from the bottle so he still carries around his bottle of milk and blankie. I'm okay with it though because it is so darn sweet. He and his brother get along great and love to play games and run around with each other. The two of them really add more to our little family than I can express, and I love them so much! Happy birthday my sweet Chantz!