Day 3: It just got real.

Last night, we had a delicious supper (and it shall remain supper for the rest of the trip), and all worked to get ourselves organized for bed. WHICH TOOK FOREVER.           Owen had dish duty. Nicely done, O.

But, happily, we were assigned slot 33. The family favorite number.  It felt fortuitous.  

    Our plan was to build Landon a little nest in the shower.  Landon, however,  had different plans. 

This is a SHOWER!!!  A SHOWER!!!  I want THAT BED!!  Not a SHOWER!!!!  

And with that, our shower dreams and visions of not sharing a bed with a kid were dashed. 

RV observation #4:  When everyone is in bed, and someone rolls over, EVERYONE FEELS IT. 

Things Googled Today:

Walmart in Idaho Falls, ID. 

WE HAD A TOY EMERGENCY. And yes, that is a real thing. Because this place actually feels like a living room and the littles had nothing to do and were bouncing off the walls.  (I actually squealed when I found these miniature Thomas trains. It feeds my dual obsession with all things Thomas AND with teeny tiny things). 

  Owen: Mom gets a gold star for toys. 🌟

What part of speech is the word privy? (For you Curious Georges' out there, it's an adjective). 

Ski resort in Moose, WY. 

HOLY SMOKES IT'S JACKSON HOLE!

Ski patrol salaries. (Spencer has decided that his dream is to live in a cabin at the base of a mountain and work on a ski patrol unit). 

Things that have slid onto people's heads:

One cast iron teapot. 

Sorry, Spencer, but this trip requires me to be fully caffeinated. 

Boxes and boxes of pancake mix. Victim shoves them back in the cabinet, muttering.  They rain down on someone else's head yet again. And again. We are slow learners. 

A bag of peppers I sliced for tonight's dinner. Which Landon blithely stepped on, without a care in the world.  Yum. 

A plate full of sandwiches.  That  we made them eat anyway. 

Quote(s) of the Day:

-------------------- Landon:  LOOK!  There's an egg in there!

Carter: I need to tell you something. Spencer can see through bones. He can see through BRAINS. He can see through blood. He can EVEN see through groundhogs and beavers. 

Jason: Who told you this?

Carter: Spencer. 

And a "latergram" from yesterday....our first bear sighting!

We finally arrive at Jenny Lake. 

Landon: Where are we going?

Jason: We're going on a hike. 

Landon: A HIKE? Holy cow!!!!

Now. I know that I have the most popular girl's name of my generation. I know we Jennys are a dime a dozen.  HOWEVER, I still get unreasonably excited when something has my name on it.   I. HAVE. A. WHOLE. LAKE!

Here is when it gets really REAL.  Hiking with an overtired (some might say feral) three and five year old is not ideal. And, Jason's super fancy professional I really like to take artistic photography in beautiful places camerahad a dead battery. 

Here is the running commentary provided by the littles. Now please. Imagine each statement* said 100 million times at a decibel level that would terrify a bear in the whiniest  tone imaginable. That's the soundtrack of this hike.   (*Note:  Only some of these statements can be attributed to Jason. Gold star to whomever correctly identify these statements). 

Ow!! (Take four steps). Ow!! (Take four steps). Ow!!! (Take four steps and repeat for TWENTY MINUTES STRAIGHT). 

We're lost.  We need a snack. 

This looks very dangerous. VERY VERY dangerous. Are there bears here? I'm scared. 

I have a bleeding owie! 

 I need crackers again. 

Please, please take me to our home. I NEED our home. 

We need to get in that boat. We need a BOAT! 

 Can we get on an airplane and see Sean and Maryn? 

 We need animal crackers. 

We need to get in that boat right there.  We can't get there. 

This is excellent.   This makes it so much better. Sap is something I don't enjoy. 

Can we cross the water? Can you please say yes to crossing the water? 

 Green Island is scary. 

We're lost in the JUNGLE!!!!! 

I HAVE TO JUMP IN! I have to BITE the waterfall! 

 Somebody in this world is biting a waterfall RIGHT NOW!!!  

Listen. Sometimes you should blindly follow me. I spent a WHOLE DAY researching this trip. 12 hours! On a beautiful Saturday!  At my desk! Researching! I know things. 

If I had super strength, I could throw you to AFRICA. IF I was hydrated. 

The day ended with a ferry ride, narrowly missing a downpour, a delicious supper (my favorite part of the day...I feel so pioneer-y), lots of laughs, and bed. Great end to a overall great day. 

And thank goodness for Owen, Carter wasn't hydrated. Otherwise, he'd be in AFRICA. 💪

Day 2: "RV there yet?"

5:30 am came early. So early, in fact, that some of us couldn't get out of bed until 5:45. With showers and breakfast and reorganization, we were heading to the airport about 25 minutes later than was ideal. But, our driver was the intrepid Aunt Jill, who found a non-trafficky, super secret speedy way to Midway. According to our skycap, we arrived with three minutes to spare for checked bags. Eek. The lesson?  Mama needs to get her sorry self out of bed earlier when getting on a plane with 11 bags and six people. Cutting it close is no bueno. 

  Despite me, we made our flight and it was EMPTY. So empty, in fact, that I felt compelled to do mile high yoga. 

  We safely arrived in SLC and was picked up by the fabulous guys at Canyon Transportation... 

...were reunited with Tucker....

  ...got a week's worth of groceries...

  ...and then hit the road with the windows down.

RV observation #1:  it is freaking LOUD when this beast is rolling. I mean, yell from the passenger seat to the driver's seat loud. Jason's solution?  See ya suckers...I'm putting on my music. 

RV observation #2:  RV life may turn boys into men. Already, it's made my big boys stand taller and embrace responsibility like a boss.  Theyput away and organized all of the groceries themselves. Seriously. And then, be still my heart, Spencer Tanis Pett, a full-fledged teenager, whose trash very rarely finds its way to a trash can, proclaimed with all seriousness, "Boys, let's take a minute and clean this place up." There are no words. It's an RV miracle. 

RV observation #3:  Like one of Jason's partners remarked, driving an RV is like driving your living room. Carter calls it a house on wheels, but this house gets blown around by gusts of wind. And makes you feel a bit seasick if you walk around in it while it's hurling down the interstate. It is a full-on, focused, two hands on the wheel driving situation. Not that Mr. Lead Foot slows down much while driving his living room. Whatever works, man. Just get me to the KOA.  Landon's cut from the same cloth as his daddy. He keeps saying, "This is our house. This goes SUPER FAST!"

On the drive to our (adjusted) destination, (because we are all hungry and dirty and exhausted and cannot drive the five hours to the Grand Tetons, much to Jasons's chagrin, but Landon is so beyond tired that he is becoming feral.  The child just KNOCKED ON MY GLASSES TO GET MY ATTENTION), Carter began chanting, "STARVING STARVING STARVING," to which I responded, "We'll have supper soon," which got me grinning.  Every time in in the West, it's like a switch flips and I revert back to my native tongue, that wholesome-sounding Midwestern dialect, with quaint words and flat, pronounced vowels. When in Rome, speak like the Romans. (Carter now is super interested in making supper. I think it must sound exotic to ears. He asked me eighty billion times when we can make supper. Supper, supper, supper. He digs the word, just like his mama). 

Quote(s) of the Day: 

Carter:  I want to write RV. How do I write it?

Me: R-V. 

C:  I know that's what it's called. But I want to write it. 

Me: R-V. 

C: ARG!! I'm asking you seriously!!! HOW DO YOU WRITE RV???

Me:  Dude. The letter r and then the v. 

C:  Oh. 

  ETA to KOA is 10 minutes. I'm going to make supper and beds and read stories and read the fabulous book of essays my sister gave me and go to sleep. Can't. Wait. 

Assuming the feral child will sleep on the pack and play mattress in the shower, of course. 😳