Ranger wife? Must be nice.

Well, summer has officially started. Which means I assume my position as base camp manager (your pager went off! Fill up camelback! pack food! clean up the mound of gear in the middle of the floor! where is the beanie?! L is naked and just got out of the bath! dishes are everywhere! where's the me-me (pacifer)?! Eek! A mouse!. . . ) whilst Brian is being flown beneath a helicopter over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone to retrieve a body, help organize a rescue effort to get a broken leg off Albright Peak or warm hypothermic boaters. 

In between all of this he and GR climbed Cloudveil peak, then traversed the ridge over to the summit of the South Teton and did a couple of days of short-haul training (that always seems to happen just in time). 

Here's the view from base-camp; also known as the Hays cabin by the creek. 

Speaking of busy B, this little busy bee has me on the go too! She definitely discovered the joy of Choc-lee! this week (as seen smeared on her face in the bottom left) courtesy of Grandma who sent it in a package. This girl has worse treat-radar than I do, and that is saying something. She has learned that by saying she wants milk, I'll open the fridge and she can scurry inside perusing the racks for what she really wants (and let me tell you, it has nothing to do with her milk). A bag crinkles? She runs in yelling "chips!" The freezer opens, "choc-lee?? Chocl-ee?" We went to two potlucks this week-- one with all the employees of the park and one with just Brian's crew and it is pretty incredible to see how social she is (as long as you don't have a beard). 

We hiked up into the mouth of Garnet Canyon (that's the Middle Teton in the center) to meet Brian on his way down from his patrol and drew an endless amount of comments ranging from "Wow! That's a lucky baby!" to "Carrying that baby is probably no heavier than my backpack." I wanted to say, "Probably not, but your backpack doesn't try to get off your back, yell "touch!!!" every time they see something and put melted snow down your back. . ." but I didn't. 

It's always so fun to run into Brian on the trail. Even though I know he'll be there at some point, it's always a treat to look up and see him hiking our way. Liesel knows it's coming too, because she is always looking for "Dada" when we're out hiking. That and chipmunks, moss, snow and marmots which rank almost as high as Dada.