Yellowstone Vacation Day 4

Day 4: Old Faithful & Madison We saw Old Faithful erupt 3 times and ate lunch at the Old Faithful Lodge, which is the largest wooden structure in the world. We then drove the Firehole lake route and Firehole Canyon route. We ended up at Madison Junction and listened to a Jr. Ranger program on the Myths of Yellowstone. Favorites: Jared: Sitting on a rock by the Firehole cascades. Mom: Eating lunch @ Old Faithful Lodge where Jared tried trout for the 1st time.

Dad & Josh: Seeing Old Faithful blow

Jaydon: watching the geyser blow and the water fun off

The boys dipped their heads into the Firehole river at a calm spot. Goofballs!

Yellowstone Vacation Day 3

We expored the area around Yellowstone Lake, Fishing Bridge Visitor Center and the West Thumb Geyser Basin. We took a boat tour of Yellowstone Lake and saw a Bald Eage. Then ice cream at Lake Village and next to LeHardy Falls. A park ranger was netting cutthroat trout out of the stream where they were spawning, and measuring them. The boys got to touch the fish talk to the ranger about it. Corey and I both agree, this would be a perfect job for Jared when he grows up. Next we hiked a trail around the mud volcano and Dragon's Mouth! This is a picture of the Dragon's Mouth...Jaydon's favorite feature in the park. We had to visit it more than once. It not only looks neat, but also has great sound affects!

Here are the boys with the trout at LeHardy Falls.

This is the boat we rode on for the tour of the lake.

My 3 boys at LeHardy falls.

Favorite part of the day:

Dad: mud volcano

Josh: Boat tour & seeing the bald eagle

Jared: the big trout

Jaydon: Dragon's Mouth

Mom: LeHardy falls and the trout

Yellowstone Vacation Day 1 & 2

I haven't taken a lot of pictures the week before our trip, partly because I'm so busy getting ready and partly because there is nothing going on around here except packing. Kind-of boring!

Day 1: Westminster to Thermopolis, WY...

We left home this morning at 8 a.m., fueled up at Cheyenne and coasted into Casper on fumes. The gas light was on and the chime was dinging, but we made it. After getting a few supplies at Walmart & eating at Subway, we headed to Shoshoni. We planned on world famous shakes at Yellowstone Drug, but found it closed and a different location for the malt/shake shop. Needless to say, the shakes are no longer worthy of their world famous title. On to Thermopolis and our 1st campground. After setting up camp, Mike and Corky Messenger (family) met us and we all went swimming in the hot mineral spring pool. The kids enjoyed the water slides and we all enjoyed the hot water.

Favorite part of the day:

Dad: the pool

Josh: the giant slide at the pool

Jared: the pool

Jaydon: when we saw buffalo

Mom: seeing my boys behave so good at the pool and supper!

Day 2: Thermopolis to Cody and then to Yellowstone...

We left Thermop at 9 a.m. to head for Cody. We stoped to see Marge & John & Pipa (the weiner dog). The boys love playing with the dog and throwing the tennis ball for her. We visited, went to lunch with Marge and John, and then headed for YNP. We were so excited to be only about 1 1/2 hours from the park. We saw lakes and rivers and streams during the drive and Jared could only think and talk about fishing, fishing, fishing! After setting up our campsite, the boys found some areas next to the camper to play and we went on a bike ride after supper.

Favorite part of hte day:

Dad: French dip he ate for lunch

Josh: bike ride after supper

Jared: Making a shelter out of logs next to our camper

Jaydon: going down the hill on our bike ride

Mom: seeing Marge and John and eating at a restaurant will well behaved kids!!!!

6-21-09 to 6-23-09

Happy first day of summer and Happy Father's day! This is what our house looks like in the summer. You can see the very back of the 5th wheel. It has stayed in the driveway all summer. We have been using it a lot and this week I'm packing it for our Yellowstone Vacation.

I found this little treasure at a yard sale Saturday. It has 3 bins to conveniently organize my 3 sons.

The plants and flowers are going crazy in the back yard this summer. It has been cooler and wetter than the last few summers and everything is growing like crazy!

6-20-09 Saturday

This morning, Jared caught this 6 pound wiper at the lake. It provided great excitement for all the boys and he was pretty proud of it. Great job Bear!!!

We also had a neighborhood party with lots of food and fun. I picked up some bike ramps at a garage sale this morning and all the kids in the neighborhood had a great time with them. Jaydon did have a few wrecks...one of them is the video below. He's tough, though. He jumped back on the bike and kept riding over the ramps.

6-17-09 to 6-19-09 Wednesday to Friday

Wednesday: Today I took the boys to the movie Space Chimps at the AMC. It is summer movie club time and the tickets are $1. I also have a free movie watcher card and get free popcorn every Wednesday. $10, 4 movies tickets, 2 popcorns, and 1 large pop. Can't beat that. In the afternoon I took the boys swimming. They have been working hard on their homework and chores, so I like to give them a reward day! Thursday: We went camping and Jaydon and Josh picked these flowers for me when we went on a walk.

Friday: After an awesome day on the lake, we saw this beautiful sunset during our campfire. It just doesn't get better than this.

6-16-09 Tuesday

Back yard camping! All 3 started out in the tent. Jared came in at 11:00 p.m. He said the other two were asleep, but he couldn't go to sleep...so he chose the floor in the living room. Go figure. At 2:30 a.m., I heard Jaydon out the window crying. He came running inside and said he just got too cold. He hopped in bed with us and his feet were like ice cubes. Josh made it through the night. I still haven't seen him yet this morning and it's 8:15 a.m. Go Joshy!