Grand Teton

This is the last of my catch-up posts. If you missed the others, just scroll through the last few posts to see what we've been up to the last few days.

Yesterday afternoon, we left Yellowstone and made the short drive down to our campground on the north side of Grand Teton National Park. After a short rest, we headed out on a hike on the Flagg Canyon Trail, along the Snake River. As Clay said, "It was a good hike, except for one thing: the bugs!" The mosquitoes were really bad. Consequently, what should have been a two hour hike was accomplished in an hour and a half.

Little waterfall in Flagg Canyon

Snake River

This morning, we got up early and drove through the rest of the beautiful Grand Teton park. Our goal was to get to Jackson Hole, WY by 9:00, take the aerial tram up to the top of Rendezvous Peak, and have waffles at Corbet's Cabin, and that's just what we did. Jackson Hole is a lovely ski resort town, and we wished we could have stayed longer. But, we still had several driving hours ahead of us to get to Park City, UT, so we left after breakfast and vowed to try to come back someday. We stopped for a mid-afternoon meal in Park City and then headed to our campground, where a playground and rec room were our reward for a long day in the car.

The Tetons at Jackson Lake

Buffalo herd in front of the Tetons

A curious onlooker

Jackson Hole

Corbet's Cabin

View of the valley from Rendezvous Peak

View of the Grand Tetons

Here comes our ride

Welcome to Utah

99 bottles of beer on the wall and a nod
 to Texas at Davanza's Pizza in Park City

Sunday Staycation

The nomads are restless, but we are not in a position to travel right now. So, we are invoking Plan B--the Staycation. Yesterday's adventure was a trip down to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful place, and we enjoyed wandering around, taking in the fall colors and participating in lots of fun activities! Afterwards, we had lunch at Off-Site Kitchen, a funky gourmet burger joint in Dallas. We ended the day by carving pumpkins and enjoying "chocolate-covered strawberry shortcake." It was a lovely day, and it really did feel like a mini vacation!

Beautiful fall colors!

Pumpkin Village

Learning about superfoods in the edible garden

A friend from the butterfly garden

Water fun in the children's garden

Gigantic kaleidoscope

Building flowers

Fun in Big D

Off-Site Kitchen

"Pumpkin Lanterns"

"Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Shortcake"

Fitzroy Gardens and the Melbourne Museum

We spent most of the day yesterday at Fitzroy Gardens, a lovely large park, just down from our hotel. It also happens to be home to Australia's oldest building, Cook's Cottage, which was actually built in England in 1755 and later imported to Australia. (Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture.) We had our ball, frisbee, and boomerangs, plus grass, trees, and lots of room to run around. A good time was had by all!

It was rainy this morning, so we decided to visit the Melbourne Museum, where we saw an IMAX movie about dinosaurs and then spent the rest of the day fascinated by the different exhibits--everything from dino bones to rocks and minerals to insects to the human mind and body to the history of Melbourne. The younger guys also spent some time working on their own engineering projects, with Legos and magnetic blocks in the fun children's area. It was quite an enjoyable day, and we didn't leave until we were forced to, at closing time. By then, the weather was all cleared up and we were able to enjoy another nice park, just outside the museum, before heading off in search of a local burger joint for dinner.

I spent several pleasant hours on that bench yesterday!

Fitzroy Gardens is full of impressively large fig trees

I believe both the ball and frisbee were in use at the same time during this game

So many things to throw!

Unique flora

Swinging and climbing and having a ball!

3D Dino movie

Primitive weapons

He's worth his weight in gold!

Bugs, bugs, bugs

A display depicting Australia's coat of arms

Little builder 

Concentration

Island Life

I haven't written lately, because, honestly, there hasn't been much particularly newsworthy going on. The island life is pretty low-key and very relaxed (though not entirely idle, as you will see). I've been told by some concerned readers that they become anxious about our safety and well-being if I don't check in from time to time, so here I am, with a peek at what island life looks like for us.

• On weekdays, the older two kids and the grown-ups hop up around 6:00 am (at the kids' request) to workout. We alternate between strength training on the porch and walking/running on the beach. I am ridiculously sore, but I'm so happy that we are being intentional about implementing some of our family's health and fitness goals.
• Breakfast is eaten on the porch, overlooking the beach, and usually involves some sort of delicious fresh fruit. The younger boys love to walk down to the fruit stand and pick out a wide variety of fruits they know and love, as well as a few new-to-us fruits to try. They are also dying to pick the pineapple growing along the path to the pool (though, of course, I won't let them), and I believe Max is secretly scheming to climb a coconut tree to pluck one of the tasty green coconuts. This morning Clay made breakfast for everyone by himself (slices of bread on plates, with "toppings"--butter and jelly-- at the ready) and was so proud to present his "buffet" to us when came into the kitchen.
• Jeff has been working on a new business idea and has been making excellent progress.
• I have been putting together some ideas for a writing project, which I'm really excited about. I have also been watching my journal sales soar this month, which has been loads of fun. (If you happen to have been one of the purchasers of the journal, thank you. I would appreciate it so much if you could leave me a review on Amazon.)
• There are usually a couple of trips to the pool everyday, and Clay is really getting the hang of swimming on his own. He also begs for Jeff to do "throw-ups" with him (throwing him into the air, letting him splash under the water, and then scooping him up as he swims to the surface). "Dad, can we do two more swims and then two more throw-ups before we go?!"
• We have met an older Thai man, who might truly be the most interesting man in the world, if half of what he says is true. We have visited with him a couple of times and have been somewhat amazed by his stories, which do not seem entirely believable or unbelievable. He is a sweet, lonely man and very generous, and, even if his stories turned out not to be true, we would be glad to say we met him.
• In the evenings, we usually walk along the beach, as a breathtaking sunset takes over the sky, and pick a new restaurant to try or revisit one we have already enjoyed. We sip fruity little drinks, eat a variety of delicious so-spicy and not-so-spicy Thai foods, and enjoy the company of our favorite people and the hospitality of the lovely Thai people. 
• There are all sorts of interesting creatures around, and lessons in natural science abound. We have many small geckos around, inside and outside the house, that scurry along the walls snacking on insects and calling to one another with loud croaks that make me think of dinosaurs for some reason. And last night, a very large tokay gecko paid us a visit, and we were simultaneously fascinated and terrified, watching him working his powerful jaws, as he tried to snatch enormous flying beetles out of the air. I also found an unnecessarily and inappropriately large spider in the bathroom. Somewhere in my reasonably intelligent brain, I knew he was there to keep the bug population from taking over, but as I tried to exit the bathroom with him on the door, I felt as if he presented a mortal danger to me instead. I did not mean to squeal, but I could not help it, and since, at that moment, I felt like it was either him or me, I got my brave hubby to come take care of the situation. The spider's body ended up in the trashcan beside the sink, and within an hour, an army of abnormally large ants had moved in and started dismantling the body, which they dutifully carried off piece by piece. It was disturbingly mesmerizing to watch. Afraid the entire house would be overrun by the ants and that they might be looking for more flesh to munch, we moved the whole can outside, and when we got up this morning, there was nothing left of the spider and no ant was in sight. It was a spectacular display of nature at work!
• Additionally, we have been reading lots of books, playing a few games, watching some movies, sneaking in the occasional nap, and soaking up our beautiful life in this beautiful place. 

Weston had a difficult time figuring out the crab cracker,
but our waitress (who may have also been the owner of the restaurant)
came over and took over the job for him, which he thought was great.
The following night, we saw a man out in the water catching crabs
just like these. That's about as fresh as seafood can get!

The little pineapple that greets us on our way to the pool

Fried rice in a pineapple boat

Jeff and Weston found this fun place at the end of the beach.
Most of the tables were inside little cabanas, but we chose the one sitting over the water.
There were hammocks and humongous swings interspersed with the tables,
and the owner was very proud that he could offer us paper umbrellas on our drinks.

Amazing Koh Samui Sunsets

The fascinating and slightly terrifying tokay gecko

Mr. Big, making breakfast

Xi'an Pictures

High Speed Train

Fun at the apartment

Tang Paradise

Authentic Chinese buffet Restaurant

Terracotta Army Museum

Market Sights
(Cricket store along the bottom row)

Food Tour

*Words here.