Climbing the Grand Tetons!
June 23, 2025
We can’t believe this is our final trip update and that everyone is already back on their way home to you. We feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to get to know all of your incredible kids and spend the last two weeks with such a special group. They are kind, smart, resilient, thoughtful, and hilarious, and both Brendan and I feel like we walked out of this trip with ten new best friends! What a rewarding and fulfilling experience it was to watch your kids grow, learn, challenge themselves, make new friends, navigate new situations, laugh, bond, and make memories all in such a beautiful place. We can’t wait to watch and cheer them on in all that they do after this, and we will never be able to fully express the amount of gratitude we have for you all choosing to send your kids on this trip with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
After returning from rafting, we jumped right into our next adventure, rock climbing! Lilly, Drew, and Blaine took this adventure by storm, conquering the hardest climb up on the first day. Sadie M. also entered this adventure nervously, but left it having conquered her fear and getting up to the top of the wall she was on as well! Leighton showed off her skills as she climbed with ease as well, and she also held Sadie M. up with a rope and knew every knot our outfitters taught us. She’s our belay queen! Mary Kate set the tone of the very first day as she was the first one to tackle the first obstacle of climbing through a very narrow cave. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a scenic hike around Phelps lake. Will led the way as he guided us using the map and never got us lost 🙂 It was genuinely so impressive as Brendan and I both almost took us down wrong turns but Will always kept us in check and demonstrated great leadership.
Our second day of climbing definitely took us to new heights! Moondance founder, Hayes, and the new CEO, Chris, joined us for the morning and cheered us on while we practiced multi-pitch climbing and repelling around the beautiful Jenny Lake. It was definitely a treat for the kids to be greeted by the people who founded and make Moondance so amazing and what it is. Sadie T. and Olivia loved repelling down the mountain and displayed such inspiring and committed friendship to one another as they encouraged each other and followed each other up and down the mountain.
Out of nowhere and way too soon, our last full day together arrived. We started the chilly morning taking the tram up the mountains and enjoying some waffles and hot chocolate at the top at the infamous Corbetts! To our surprise and delight, we experienced a snowfall and it really rounded out a true Jackson Hole experience for everyone. Colin and Will enjoyed the views and the snow especially, as they set up at a viewpoint and didn’t want to leave, despite the freezing temperatures. Our last evening together we celebrated with a banquet dinner at Teton Hand Fire Pizza in downtown Jackson. We stopped into the TJ Maxx to get some extra special outfits for the occasion, and then we finished the night getting ice cream with Hayes and Chris.
We miss your kids already and it is hard to believe this session is actually over. We cannot think of a better way to start our summer than with the group we had and we enjoyed every second of the last two weeks and will cherish the memories forever.
Sincerely,
Brendan and Molly
Thank You Shoutouts!
June 22, 2025
Blaine: Dear mom, thank you for sending me on this life changing experience, I have had lots of cool opportunities and I figured out I like the wilderness a lot more than I thought.
Colin: I love you so much thank you for allowing me to have this opportunity to go on this trip.
Drew: Dear mom and dad, thank you so much for sending me on the most outstanding trip I have gone on so far. This has been the most life changing trip because of how pretty the wilderness is and the friends I have made.
Will: Dear mom and dad, Thank you so much for sending me on this trip, i had so much fun and I met a lot of new friends. Thank you for this opportunity.
Sadie M: Dear mom and dad, Thank you so much for sending me on this amazing opportunity. I have made so many amazing friends and memories!! Im so grateful and i love yall so much!!
Sadie T: Dear mom and dad, I miss you guys so much and I hope you had fun in Florida. It’s so pretty out here and I love it so much. I can’t wait to tell you all about it, see you soon!
Leighton: Dear mom and dad thank you for sending me on this amazing trip. It has been one of the coolest things I have ever done and I have so many amazing memories. These friends will last a lifetime. I love yall!!
Lilly: Thank yall so much for sending me on this amazing trip. I made memories that will last a lifetime and I am so grateful that yall gave me the opportunity to go.
Olivia: Thank yall so much for sending me on this trip. I know I was so hesitant before, especially when yall first introduced me to Moondance. But these past two weeks have been so much fun. Ive gained new skills and many memories. Thank you guys so much! I love yall!!
MK: Dear mom, thank you for sending me on this trip and I have had the best two weeks of my life and I have met amazing people and friends that I will have forever and I miss you so much and I can’t wait to see you on Monday!
Spike Ball, Sand Dunes, and Soul Talks
June 21, 2025
Hey all!
We have another great update to give after rafting and our time at the sand dunes!! Rafting was amazing. We discussed our favorite moments of the trip so far during moonup last night and every single person said a moment from the rafting portion. This is just a testament to how special this section of the trip has been.
We rafted every day for sections of the day with stops for lunch, and then camped on beaches along the shore each night. Mary Kate and Leighton both said during moonup their favorite moments were the conversations they had with the group while cowboy camping on the beaches and sleeping all close together with everyone outside of their tents. Sadie T. impressed us all and loved rafting so much! She loved trying to new things and free floated a rapid with Brendan! Our group got very into spike ball tournaments during our time on the beaches and Blaine and Leighton as well as Will and Sadie T. came out victorious after many close games and intense battles in the tournaments. Colin, Drew, Blaine, and Will loved exploring and hiking up around the areas we stopped in each night at the beaches. The whole group enjoyed a hike up to a historic hot springs off the shore of the river during lunch one day.
While there was plenty of go time during the rafting trip, there was also a perfect balance of downtime as well. Lilly, Olivia, and Sadie M. loved catching up in long conversations and everyone in the group traded around various beach reads or journaled in the afternoons. We played plenty of group games, but two fan favorites were psychiatrist and mafia. This downtime experienced really solidified our group even more and we had several group- wide long, meaningful conversations on the shores.
Following the rafting, we enjoyed a quick pit stop at the beautiful Bruneau Sand Dunes on our way out of Idaho. It was such a fun change of scenery. We rented two sand boards to slide down on and Drew was able to stay up on his board and ride down the whole dune!
We have now made it back to our home base and Jackson. After many eventful and exciting days, we are looking forward to taking advantage and soaking up every moment in the coming last few days of the trip. Thank you, again, for choosing to send your kids here with us. We love them so much!
Best,
Molly and Brendan
Hello from Big Wild!
June 15, 2025
We have had such an eventful and exciting first leg of the trip! We started out in Jackson, Wyoming, and the group has been jelled since airport day. Our inaugural meal of the trip was a picnic with pizza from a local pizza place called Pinky G’s in Jackson and we ate it at a beautiful viewpoint before heading to our first campsite Gros Ventre. We are now on our way to our four-day long rafting trip on the Salmon River in Idaho, but so far we have had so much fun getting to know each other, getting accustomed to living in the outdoors, camping on campgrounds in both Wyoming and Idaho, leaving no trace, and cooking delicious and creative meals in the outdoors!
Our trip started out with a day spent at Snow King Mountain in Jackson, Wyoming, where we were able to zip line the steepest mountain in North America and take in some of the best views of the Teton Mountains! Colin and Will took the lead with the zip line, showing no fear, and starting us off strong. Lilly and Olivia challenged themselves to do it and stuck by each other’s sides, and we were so proud of them when they rode it out and proved to themselves they could do it! We experienced a little bit of rain in the afternoon of that first day so we walked around and explored downtown Jackson before heading back to grill out with burgers and hotdogs for dinner. Our first set of Leaders of the Day were Sadie M. And Drew, and they set the tone wonderfully for rest of the trip by planning out thoughtful quotes and questions to ask during our first student-led moonup at the end of the night.
The kids have absolutely loved having the opportunity to cook the meals that we have been enjoying so much! For our burgers and hotdogs cookout, Mary Kate and Olivia made the burger patties, Drew was in charge of seasoning, and Leighton cooked up all of our hotdogs! Blaine and Drew cooked us up some delicious spaghetti with ground beef and marinara sauce for dinner on our first night in Ponderosa State Park in Idaho. Last night, Sadie T., Mary Kate, Lilly, and Olivia loved taking everyone’s orders and customizing personal pizzas on pitas for each person in the group. We ended our last night in Ponderosa State Park roasting s’mores and looking forward to our upcoming adventures.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful kids with us. They have bonded and grown close to each other, staying up talking each night and laughing constantly. Brendan and I have had a blast getting to know them and we can’t wait for you all to hear all the stories when the kids return. We will update again soon after rafting!
Molly + Brendan
Safe Arrival in Jackson Hole!
June 11, 2025
Hello Big Wild Families!
We heard from our leaders that the group has landed safely in Jackson Hole! The trip is off to a great start, and we are so excited to hear more stories as they begin their adventure.
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
