Our Summer Vacation 2013 (Day 4)

Monday morning we headed to Yellowstone.

We decided to do the north loop that day so we entered from West Yellowstone and headed north.

Since Ben doesn't love being in his stroller while everyone else is free we chose our stops carefully and kept a fast pace so he didn't have time to complain.

It worked for the most part :)

 Gibbon Falls

 

Artists Paintpots

{My favorite feature of the park}

Josh is lovingly trying to get Matt to turn around for the picture :)

Mammoth Hot Springs

It was late in the afternoon and we hadn't had lunch yet so we pushed on through to Mammoth and ate lunch in the car.

The gift shop we had parked at had ice cream so I took the kids in after we were done eating while Andy tried to finish feeding a slow eating Ben.

Then we went up to the hot springs...

Ben had to jump over every crack in the boardwalk...we decided to skip the stroller with all of the stairs on this one.

 

It was drizzling on us here at Mammoth...so pleasant.  Almost as soon as we hopped in the car it started pounding rain.

Beauty, Bears and Buffalo

Rain drenched landscapes are the most beautiful to me...

We had been told by more than one person that we would most likely see bears.

We did...4 of them.

We only got pictures of two.

One of the ones we didn't get to snap was too far out in a field and the other one was 15 feet away on the side of the road as we whizzed by with another car on our tail.

Here's a blurry picture of the one black bear.

Tower Falls: Andy was the only one that got out at this spot since it was pouring rain again.  He ran up the trail took a pic and ran back.

Here's one of the three grizzlies that we saw.  He would never bring his head up for a picture.

We were driving around trying to find a particular spot and ended up in a campground area.

As we were ready to turn around I saw this out the window...

Ben growled like a bear when he saw it :)

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

I loved the big green meadow on top of this mountain.

I'm not sure if this was Upper or Lower Falls

Andy was intrigued by the trees he saw growing out of rock.

He said they symbolized endurance and strength to him and had me take pictures :)

Notice the geysers in the distance underneath the sun.

We usually didn't stop for Elk since we see those often enough but sometimes we were forced to since everyone else in front of us were stopped on the road.

LOVED the sunset.  Of course the picture doesn't do it justice.

I remember my dad always calling Yellowstone Jellystone when we were young so even though it was late when we got in we cued up the iPad and played a few clips of the old Yogi Bear for the kids.

Our Summer Vacation 2013 (Days 1,2 & 3)

* WARNING: long post with lots of pictures*

 Months ago, we as a family, decided we would like to go to Yellowstone this summer for our vacation.

We planned this trip alongside another small trip up to Idaho Falls for Andy's sister's baby's blessing/the Bryan family reunion.

We started out at Lava Hot Springs.

We got a late start from home that day so by the time we got to LHS it was too late to go to the resort so we watched people float down the river.  Ben would have jumped in had we not had a firm grip on him.

There was another swimming spot close by and so Andy took the kids in so they wouldn't be too disappointed about not getting to go to the resort.

 Here they just spotted their long lost Tennessee cousins :)

 I did my best to keep Ben happy outside of the water but to no avail.  Finally I ran back to the car and grabbed a swimmer for him and Andy was kind enough to keep track of him.

You see, we can't let go of Ben for a second at a swimming pool.  Andy's parents were going to take him for a drive while we went to LHS so we wouldn't have to worry about him but once he sees water there's no going back :)

 

 

After swimming for a bit we went to see the musical "Who Shot Juanito Bandito" at the Mystique Theater.

It was very entertaining...even the kids enjoyed it.

That night we stayed in my brother and sister in law's beautiful  new home...how fun!

The next day everyone's plans were very scattered but there was a small group of us that drove up North a bit to go to Big Judd's (they have monster hamburgers) but we were a bit late for our reservation and the place was packed.  So, we found a fun frozen custard place.  I stayed in the car to try and feed Ben while everyone went in.  My mother in law spelled me after a bit so I could go eat.  Poor Ben.  He was stuck in the car so much.

After eating we went to visit Andy's alma mater - BYU Idaho (a.k.a. Rick's College).

He loves this place.  His dream would be to teach religion here.

They have a beautiful garden area.

Back at the ranch...Jenny and Mike had some fun vehicles to try out in their fields.  The kids were in heaven!

It didn't surprise me at all that Matt got right on this little bike, but apparently Josh also enjoyed a couple of solo rides!  We were so pleased to hear that they both had that experience :)

Ben's vehicle :)

 

Cute cousins

Ben wrangled many relatives into playing "Duck, Duck, Goose",

or as he calls it "Bah, Bah, Ooh".

They were all good sports.

 Ben and baby Carter.

Ben loved Carter.

  He was so sweet with him and even, unprompted, mentioned him in his evening prayer.

On Sunday, little Carter was blessed.

Here are the boys ready to go to church.

After church we relaxed and had good conversation.

Ben and his cousin Chase

Ben telling Dad to go to sleep

More "Duck Duck Goose"

blurry but I loved the shot :)

That evening, Mike's sister took family pictures at a nearby park.

Ben was quite the handful trying to keep him away from the water where all the other kids were playing.  I feel like such a mean mom sometimes.

Here are some that we got of just the grandkids...

It was a long but lovely day.

Good night boys!