One of the things Lara really wanted to do while she was out west last summer was take her kids to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, and she invited us to go along with her. Nana and Papa came too, and we all stayed at Grandma Chadwick's house.
I loved getting to show Lara and Greg where I grew up. We took them for a walk by my favorite spot on the river...well, I think I drove them to the spot since I'd just had surgery a few days before. Brian walked them back to my mom's house.
The next morning, we headed out. It was a little tricky staying together in our three car caravan with no cell reception, but we mostly managed just fine. Though the park had lots of crowds, we still had a great time together. We loved spending time with cousins that we don't get to see very often! Plus, we got to see so many beautiful things! The weather was lovely, only a little on the hot side.
First stop: Old Faithful. Brian, Greg, and I took the younger kids around the smaller loop while Lara, Kirt, Julie, and Michael took a longer loop. We started off together,
and we were excited to see our first bison (he's back in the trees).
Greg had Mack and Gabe, and Brian and I had Rachel and Julia for most of our little loop. We weren't too far behind Greg and the little guys, but we did keep stopping to act out the names of the different geysers.
Depression Geyser
Goggles Spring
I Geyser
Sponge Geyser (we weren't sure what to do with that one).
Pump Geyser
Teakettle Spring
Giantess Geyser
And my favorite, Infant Geyser. There were more, but these were my favorites.
Meanwhile, on the bigger loop:
Our group circled back to a favorable viewing area just in time to see Old Faithful erupt.
And meanwhile, on the other loop:
After making it back to the lodge near Old Faithful, we decided ice cream and cold water were in order. This is how they entertained themselves while we waited in line for those things.
And, after eating our ice cream, we were in time to watch Old Faithful erupt one more time.
There was time for a little silliness at Old Faithful, and then we were on our way to the next big thing.
Which might have been the beautiful elk at the side of the road.
We went to another area for a little hike. I think this is the Mud Volcano area.
We love the Dragon's Mouth Spring. It sounds like a dragon!
Julie and I took a shorter walk here at Brian's insistence while everyone else walked the entire loop. Although, it looks like not everyone walked the entire loop.
We saw the mud volcano before we parted ways.
It looks like there was bonding and smiles had by all throughout the loop:
Julie and I found a bench towards the end of the loop that was right next to a couple of bison. I was a both excited and nervous to be so close to them! Mostly, I was just grateful for a bench.
Meanwhile, back on the trail:
Finally, the group caught up to Julie and I and our bison. They were all impressed by our trail buddies as well.
And then we headed to Canyon Village for some food.
We headed back to West Yellowstone to check in to our hotel for the night. Our kids settled into their beds, but Lara's room had a leak or something that they had to deal with.
The next morning, we headed back into the park, stopping first at a gift shop in West Yellowstone where I met this handsome guy.
This is the big place where the caravan thing didn't pan out. After entering the park, Kirt and Julie let us know they wanted to stop at Gibbon Falls, but Lara never got the message, so we missed her at this stop. She had Michael with her.
Did you know that I really LOVE waterfalls? That TLC song, "Don't go Chasing Waterfalls" never made sense to me. Why wouldn't I go chasing waterfalls? I love them!
We met up with Greg, Michael, and Lara at Mammoth Hot Springs. We parked a bit away because it was CROWDED! We had a bit of a hike before even making it to the actual hike, but we were all able to park near each other and near a restroom!
I hear about how amazing Mammoth Hot Springs used to be, back before an earthquake or something shifted the caldera or something, but it is still really cool to see.
Brian was kind enough to carry my bag for me. I did really well mostly on these little hikes, but I was feeling those surgery wounds a little bit on this one.
This trip was basically Lara's. We went where she wanted to go, which was totally fine with me. My one request was to have a picnic lunch in one of those pull out places with an actual picnic table, but when we finished at Mammoth, the Savilles were hungry, and so we stopped in this area nearby that didn't have a picnic table. Thankfully, I had a chair to sit in and I used a cooler for a table. It was still a pretty spot, so it worked out.
Julia is about 10 months older than Rachel.
While we enjoyed some beautiful driving, Gabe took the opportunity to think about Lehi's dream.
We found the herd of bison in the Lamar Valley. This is one of my favorite things to find in Yellowstone.
We stopped at a ranger station near Tower Roosevelt and Lara's kids got their parks passport stamped. My kids got a stamp on a paper since we don't have parks passports.
We stopped by the side of the road and saw a bear!!
The kids took turns riding in each of the cars.
We saw another bear with a cub out in a field later on.
Kirt and Julie actually saw a bear much closer along the way, but we couldn't see a place to pull out where they were, and we had much regret when we found out what they saw.
We found another waterfall.
The road between Tower Roosevelt and Canyon Village was closed, so we headed back through Mammoth again, this time stopping for dinner at one of the restaurants there.
And we saw more elk.
Our last stop was the Artists Paintpot.
This area was beautiful and didn't have too many people.
Some of us bummed rides again.
We took a moment to recognize that it was Idaho's birthday...just kidding. I think I'm the only one that realized that July 3rd is Idaho's birthday.
There was a little scrape and some first aid action needed.
It took us forever to get out of the park. I think it was elk that caused the delay. Thankfully, the sunset was beautiful.
Lara & Greg and Kirt and Julie stayed another night in West Yellowstone, and we made the trek back to my mom's house.
The next morning, we went to church with my mom, and we had burgers for dinner to celebrate the 4th of July.
Cal and Cassidy came with another couple. It was nice to see Cal and Cassidy. I spent most of the day resting because I for sure overdid it in Yellowstone. I suppose one can rest like that on her birthday, right?
My mom made me a peach cobbler, and after we were about finished eating it, someone remembered to sing happy birthday to me. We played games, found a few fireworks, and took some token pictures:
The next day, we visited with my grandparents.
We went to the Heise Pizza Parlor for lunch.
After lunch, we headed home.
It was a fun weekend! Thanks for inviting us along, Lara!
