Yellowstone

Last summer we decided it would be fun to take the kids to Yellowstone, so we got everything booked and ready to go for Mid-June.  I had never been to Yellowstone as a kid so I was excited to get to experience it with the kiddos.  Craig's parents came along too, which was nice because they have both spent a lot of time in Yellowstone, so we had our own personal tour guides (it was also nice because we got awesome parking the whole time because of Diane's handicap sticker). We headed out early Thursday (June 13th) morning to make the drive over to West Yellowstone.  We all drove together, which was so nice because I could just sit back in between the kids and keep them entertained. We made a couple stops, but got there in about 7 hours.  Right before we got to West Yellowstone we stopped at the cabin that Diane used to stay at when she was a kid with her grandparents each summer.  Her brother and sister now own it and it was definitely a walk down memory lane for Diane.  We checked into our hotel and got settled and then went to grab some dinner.

Friday morning we got up early to head into the park before it got too busy.  We slowly made our way to Old Faithful with a few stops along the way.  After a stop to check out some bison we then headed over to Firehole Falls.  Our next stop was the Fountain Paint Pots.  The kids were a little surprised by the stinky nature of a lot of the things we saw and this was no exception.  We then went to check out the Grand Prismatic Spring.  We did a short hike up to a look out point and were able to get some awesome views.  After that it was onto  Old Faithful.  We walked around the visitors center for a while until it was time for Old Faithful to blow.  We were all quite impressed with it beauty and power, it really is quite amazing.  All of this was before lunch, so we then grabbed some lunch and headed back to the hotel for nap time.  While McKay and I napped, and Brooklyn and Diane relaxed, Craig and Stan went and checked out some of the shops.

After nap time we grabbed some subway sandwiches and headed back into the park.  We headed up north this time to Norris and checked out Steamboat geyser, monument geyser basin and Gibbon Falls.  We also got stopped in a little bison road block, but luckily we were able to squeeze through fairly quickly, but some other people were not so lucky.  While we were waiting for the bison road block to clear up we ate our sandwiches by the river before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday morning we decided to head into the park a little later since we were going to skip nap time and stay in the park all day.  So after a quick morning run we headed over to the park entrance around 10:30 am.  We sat waiting in line for over 30 minutes just to get to the entrance.  Come to find out there was a bison road block about 10 miles into the park and people had been waiting for quite some time.  So we decided to head back into town and walk around a few shops, grab some ice cream (never a bad idea in my book), check out a little museum and grab some lunch before trying our luck again.  Luckily by the time we headed back to the entrance we got right through and didn't have to wait at all.

McKay crashed in the car as we drove back to Old Faithful.  He was pretty grumpy when we woke him up and it took him a good 30 minutes to join the world of the living again.  After Diane got settled in one of the lodges, we got McKay in the backpack and headed towards Morning Glory and all of the other geysers along the way.  I'm glad we decided to take the hiking backpack because it ended up being longer than we thought.  After the hike be then headed onto Lake Village, where we would be spending the next two nights.  We were a little hesitant when the description of where we were staying was "a rustic cabin", but they turned out to be pretty nice, small but nice.  McKay slept in his pack-and-play in between the two full size beds.  The kids definitely thought it was an adventure.  That evening we went up to the lodge for a cafeteria style dinner and then heading back for bed.

Sunday morning we headed to lower and upper falls.  We first went to check out the lower falls and did a short hike between the two.  After that we headed to Upper falls and hiked down to it.  It was very steep with a lot of switch backs.  Craig carried McKay down and then I carried him up in case Craig had to stick Brooklyn on his shoulders.  The Falls were so stunning.  After the falls and some lunch we headed back to the cabin for nap time.  While McKay napped, Craig, Brooklyn, Stan and Diane went and checked out the Sulphur Caldron and the Mud Volcano.  They got sprinkled on a little bit, but luckily that was the only rain we had the whole trip.  After nap we headed over Fishing Bridge to check out the Museum and take a closer look at the lake.  That evening we headed over to the Lake Village Hotel for dinner.

Monday morning we got up and packed up and started our drive back home.  Since we were in the park it added about an hour to our drive, making it an 8 hour drive, but yet again the kids did pretty well.  We made two stops on our way back, ate lots of candy, watch movies, read books, and did just about everything else besides take a nap.  The kids were already asking when we could go back again before we even got home.  We all had such a blast.  We got to see so much of the beauty that was created for us and sharing it with the kids made it that much better.  We got to see a lot of animals.  They loved seeing the bison and elk and seeing who could spot something first.  We hope to get back again and check out the upper loop, especially Mammoth Hot Springs.  What a fun family getaway, I love exploring our beautiful world with my sweet family!