Yellowstone Continued - After the Rain

We had an amazing thunderstorm on Wednesday evening, and afterward there was the most amazing double rainbow.

 I went a little crazy with the pictures, but can you blame me?

Yellowstone Continued - Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center and Museum

We headed to the Grizzly and World Discovery Center Wednesday morning.  We didn't have my camera and didn't get any pictures there.  The older kids in our group got to hide for the bears.  We got to watch the bears (and ravens) find and eat the food.

Next we headed to a museum.  With no camera we had to settle for phone pictures.

We weren't able to able to touch old Snaggle Tooth, but Wes was happy he was able to touch this bear.

 More baby love.

The kids had a hard time at the museum.  So we skipped the IMAX movie to play on the lawn and go window shopping.  I had a hard time making up my mind on what to get so we didn't end up buying anything.     Brynn was given some cute moose socks by her second cousin.  So that has to be good enough. 

These rocks were what I always got as a child.  I really like them.

We still had fun window shopping.  Wes was so funny.  He would copy me and pick things up and say, "Oh, this is cute."  At one point he asked if we were going to buy a particular toy he picked up.  We told him no, and he was fine.  

 

 There was a fresh water spring that was so good and yummy.

 My mother-in-law loved it the most, but I think we all enjoyed filling our water bottles from it.

Yellowstone continued - Fun at the cabin

After horseback riding we spent the rest of the day at the cabin.  I was hoping for the kids to get a nap.  Wes didn't end up going to sleep, but he enjoyed spending time with his grandparents.

It was game night at the other cabin.  We played a fun game where a team has letters on their fronts and backs and has to unscramble into a given word.  It was pretty dang funny to watch.

 This puzzle was infuriating and strangely addicting.

Yellowstone continued - Horseback Riding

Tuesday morning we went horseback riding.  The horses were pretty mellow so Bret took Wes, and I took Brynn in the front pack.

One nice thing about the front pack is that I can discretely and easily feed Brynn. So she was able to eat and sleep during the 2 1/2 hour ride. Brynn loves the front pack, bouncing, and being outside.

The sky was so beautiful.  I was also so grateful that it was overcast.

I was sore by the end of it.  Besides the normal horse soar the front pack bounced against my incision the whole time.  But over all it was so fun that it was worth any discomfort.  Plus my sweet kiddos had a good time.

Yellowstone (aka Whiterice)

Every couple of years there is a family reunion with Bret's mother and her sisters.  The family is all over the country so we just meet in some place cool and have a vacation while we're at it.  This time it was Yellowstone.

We arrived at the cabin in Island Park Sunday evening.  Wes was excited to sleep in the bunk bed.  He wanted to sleep in the top one but had to settle with a picture and bedtime prayers on the top and sleeping on the bottom bunk.  It was still pretty high so we pushed the dresser in front of it.

Monday we got up and toured the park.  Made our first stop at this beautiful spot.

Brynn was an instant hit with the numerous baby lovers in the family.

I made a goal to get at some pictures of all four of us.  Here's the first.

Before we left Wes called Yellowstone "white race" and he called gysers "white man."  By the end of the trip he had the words right, but it was so cute and funny.  We had watched youtube videos of geysers and talked about Yellowstone leading up to the trip.  By the time we got to Yellowstone we was so excited to see the "water go up in the sky."

The next stop was so beautiful.

Old Faithful!  Wahoo!

Old Faithful Inn is so super cool.  We stopped and had sacked lunch in this interesting building.

Wes loves his Grandma N.

I really think all the thermal activity is so amazing.  This beautiful pool is boiling.

I realized that I love dead trees.  I think they are so beautiful and ugly in an interesting contrast.

It was fun to get to know better and spend time with cousins, aunt, uncles and whatnot.

This was the friendliest most perfect ranger.  His voice, appearance, everything.

Da da da Super Dad!

All tuckered out at the end of the day.