Yellowstone Adventure

(I apologize in advance for the length of this post and all the pictures) We have just retured from staying in Island Park and visiting Yellowstone National Park. I have got to say that we had a blast! Growing up we went to Yellowstone every year for our family vacation. My grandparents had a trailer that we stayed in- so I have so many wonderful memories of up there and I was so excited to share it with my girls. It was sad because Sean couldn't come up with us- he had everything covered at work except for 1 hour and couldn't get anyone to cover so he had to stay home- we missed him a ton! Yellowstone was full so we decided we would try and stay in West Yellowstone. We searched the internet and found a place that we thought would work for us and accomodate all of us (my parents, me and my gals, nat and garrett and the andies). Well a week before we are to leave, I come home and there is a message on my answering machine telling me that the cabin we are supposed to stay in has been condemned. Condemned!! We could not believe it. So the next day we searched and searched trying to find somewhere to stay. We have good friends (Jim and Mary Mullen) up in Island Park that gave us a few suggestions to try. So the last call I made that night we found the place we stayed in. It was SUPER nice. We were only the second people to stay in it. It was nice that we were able to put the babies on the floor and let them play- I am sure in the other place we would have not wanted to. So it was actually a blessing in disguise. When we drove through West Yellowstone, of course we had to drive by to see where it was and we were so HAPPY that we were staying where we did. We went into Yellowstone 3 different day and had a BLAST! Nat and I are so lucky that we have such great babies- we were in the park all 3 days for at least 8 hours and the babies and Brooklyn were so good- besides a few meltdowns they were angels. We got to visit some of out favorite spots in the park; Canyon, Lake area, Bridge Bay, and Fishing Bridge. We love in between Canyon and Fishing Bridge- there is an area called Hayden Valley- it is where you see a ton of Buffalo and if you are lucky grizzly bears. We were lucky because that first day we saw 3 grizzlys. People are so nice up there and let you use their spotting scopes so you can see really good- Brooklyn was even able to see good and she loved it. Our second trip in my family went to see Old Faithful- it amazes me every time I see it. On our way out of the park we were driving through Hayden Valley and the buffalo decided to cross the road. One stopped right in front of our car and would not move. It finally did and we got past- but it came out again in front of my parents car. Brooklyn was in that car and absolutely loved it. We finally got through that and headed home. We got in a big jam and knew something had to be up and sure enough there was a grizzly bear making his way down the river. It was really cool because you could see it really good without a scope. We watched it for over an hour. I think that it is really neat to see bears in the wild like that. We finally made it home late that night. Our last day in we went to another favorite spot of mine called Mammoth. We went on this beautiful drive and at the end of it same thing we looked down on the road and saw lots of cars and Forest Rangers light flashing- when we got up close there was a black bear probably a block or 2 away. It was way cool. We had an awesome trip full of great memories and lots of sightings! We saw beautiful water falls, tons of elk, buffalo, bears, moose, coyote, wolf, and chipmunks and squirrels (which I might add out of all the big animals we saw- Brooklyn liked these the best.) I hope that I can make this a tradition with my family the way it was for me when I was little.

This is a picture of the condemned place and then the place we actually stayed!

Welcome to Yellowstone! My Family: my dad, Nat and Garrett, my mom, me, Brooklyn, Sher, Gracie, and Brian. (we really missed Sean, Brett and Chelsea, and Derk)

Me and the gals at Old Faithful

Nat and Garret and my mom and dad and my brother Brian and his wife Sher at Old Faithful.

This is how Garrett and Gracie spent most of their time. Either sleeping or needing something in their mouths.

Brooklyn was also such a trooper. We had a lovely picnic at Bridge Bay.

Picnic at Bridge Bay

Beautiful water falls

Our first up close animal sighting of the trip was this elk and this is the squirrel Brooklyn was so thrilled about.

The many many buffalo (the babies were so cute)

The buffalo that stopped in front of our car

A picture of the black bear ( i realized my sister has the good picture of the grizzly)

We also had a GREAT time in Island Park- the guys golfed, we visited some good friends, and we rented these paddle boats and had a blast! (they are a lot harder than they look I might add)


Gracie LOVES water and waded in the river I also had to post this picture because it shows how cute her legs are. Brooklyn saved some money and from donations from family was able to buy this cute grizzly bear that she LOVES!

It is always sad when vacations come to an end but also good to get home. We were so glad to see Sean. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family. They are all so good with my girls and love them so much. When I am at my witts end, someone will step up and help me out. Thank you all so much for helping me and loving my girls- we love you so much!