Bloody Smile

Only a minute or two after sending him downstairs to put something away, I heard something between a gasp and a shriek. Sounds of this nature aren't unusual around here, so like a good mother, I paid it no mind. In the seconds following, I heard Ryder rush up the stairs and in an excited voice called, Mom! I looked at him and his mouth was gaping wide open.

--now had it not been for the happy tone in his voice, I would have started the 'ol inward debate between calling 911 or throwing him in the car myself to rush him to the ER.--

But alas, upon further examination through the blood streaming out of his mouth, I realize he's showing me he lost a tooth! Oh, so this is exciting--not scary!  (He's already lost his bottom front four, but for some reason, this one seemed like a big deal--plus, he's been working on it for awhile).

Stopping the bleeding

So then I do what any good mother would do. I sit him on the bathroom counter and tell him to wait while I go get my phone to take a picture (because I find the fact that he looks like an extra off of the Walking Dead somewhat entertaining). I mean, is it normal for teeth falling out to bleed that much?

Anyhow, after getting the bleeding under control we were left with, what I consider, one of the cutest Jack-o-latern grins I've ever seen.

Ta Da!

He's just getting so big. His legs are so long. The other day he injured himself while sitting down because his knee came up and hit him in the jaw. And in a little more than a month he'll turn 7! Thankfully--for the most part--he's growing in sweetness as well. So if that's the case, I guess I'll let him get older.

Speaking of sweet things--will someone please text me tonight to remind me that the Tooth Fairy is supposed to be making an appearance...

Jackson Hole 2014

(One of my most favorite pictures ever)

Yay for summer! It just seemed like yesterday those kiddos got out of school and now summer is half way over! How did that happen? I'll never know. Oh wait. Yes, I do. We keep doing stuff. And now it's time to blog about some of that stuff!

We kicked off summer with a trip to Jackson Hole with my sister, her family and my parents. We spent the first night at my mom and dad's house, drove to Jackson early the next mornig and spent the next two nights there.

One thing I love about going to Jackson Hole is the ride there. If you can make it past Idaho Falls, the rest of the drive is candy to my eyes, but in an organic, natural sort of way. There is something about that area that makes me want to stop everything I'm doing, strap a canoe rack on the top of our car and a bike rack on the back and spend the rest of our days venturing through the foothills of the Tetons...

We arrived at Cowboy Village (one of our favorite places to stay) and headed on over to Teton Village. Penny and I  rode the tram up (Phil hung back with Hazel and Ryder to play frisbee golf) with my sister's fam and parents so we could all be reminded how amazing and beautiful those snowy peaks and grand vistas are all while freezing our heinies off in hurricane strength winds. Us Salvesen's,--we can't help ourselves--we just love adventure.

After we got back, we had a picnic of tuna fish sandwiches, chips and fruit, which for some reason, the thought of that meal right now, is making my mouth water. Then, we took a dip in the pool and got out just in time to roast some mallows for some s'mores. Now, there are s'mores with jumbo sized marshmallows--but these were s'mores with mondo-colossal-sized marshmallows. I mean, if you need to spice up any s'more event--those are totally the way to go. I mean, you'll go into a sugar coma--but to see it oozing out the sides like that? It's all totally worth it.

Hazel slept that night like a stinker.

(And no, I didn't stop her) 

Like I said before, my family and I are magnets for adventure, so the only option for the activity the next day was a hike, of course. The weather was off and on shower storms, but to our delight the sun popped out upon our arrival to Jenny's Lake (another place we hold quite dear). This hike is perfect for little kids. It's fairly flat and goes around the border of the lake. Unless--that trail is closed. Which in our case, it was. Being a few years since we've done the hike we didn't realize we were on a tad more advanced trail until, well, we were on it. We were committed! Being in the best interest of Hazel's welfare, Phil went ahead with her in the backpack and Ryder at is side. The rest of us had a more relaxed (let's pace ourselves) approach. As the trail kept ascending Penelope was actually a champ for the most part. We even had a song to get up those long stretches. It went, "We're cute! We're strong! Let's go, go, go!" (I totally believe in the motivating power of music). And we sang it together with gusto. Until it turned into winter again. And when she had to go pee--well, it all went downhill from there (figuratively and literally--ha!)

It was on the boat ride back, snuggling my frozen kiddos that I decided that canoe rack and life as a naturalista can wait...

 

    

After lunch and an afternoon of browsing the town, we went to the Bar J Wrangler Chuckwagon dinner and music show. Certainly, a highlight. Great food and fantastic entertainment. Again, one of our beloved traditions.

 (I think we were very entertaining to the man in the background)

 (There's a possibility we had way too much fun with this little statue scene)

 (Protector? Or just wants a hug?)

 (She was always an animal lover...and at least I made sure to get the tickets.)

 (Playing "I Spy" with Nana and Pompa while waiting for the show to start)

Hazel slept that night like a mondo-colossal stinker.

The next day was Father's Day, so we decided to take the Grandpa tour home. We stopped in Downey to see my Grandpa Salvesen and stopped in Ogden to see Phil's Grandpa Shorten.

A successful vacation to say the least. Thank you Mom and Dad for making it happen!