Yellowstone Day 3

Our third day in Yellowstone, we got up, got going, and decided we were going to drive to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, or to one of the stops/hikes along the Yellowstone River.  We did a short but steep hike down to the river.  It was very pretty and worth the hike.  From there, we stopped for lunch before driving along Lake Yellowstone.  Daniel also wanted to stop and look at the Ranger Station Museum, so we stopped there too.  From the lake, we drove up and stopped at a hike that had more paint pots to see.  Sam especially liked those.  Then we decided to head back.  It was a full three days and we were a little tired by the third day.

Yellowstone River

Us

A Tribute to my Roots

A Paint Pot

Family Pic

The Boys

Yellowstone 2014, Days 1 & 2

While in CDA, we decided we would journey over to Yellowstone for a few days.  It's only about a 6-7 hour drive from my parents, so it really seemed like a good time to go, since we were already over there.  My parents decided to come along with us.  We rented a house in West Yellowstone and went into the park each day.  We were there for 3 full days, and they were very full indeed.

Day 1:  We had the best of intentions to go into the park, stop at a couple of quick hiking spots, stop at Old Faithful and then have lunch at Yellowstone Lake.  But we didn't quite make it.  We weren't far into the park at all, when traffic slowed.  We soon realized that we were following a herd of buffalo, and they were using the road to walk along.  It took us almost 3 hours to get past them.  By this time, we were hungry, so we stopped at some picnic tables and changed our plans of eating by the lake.  We made it to Old Faithful, but then we headed back to our house after that. 

Following the Herd

Our Road is Their Road

Up Close and Personal

Lunch Stop

Waiting Faithfully for Old Faithful

Day 2:  We decided to head north and visit Mammoth Hot Springs.  And along the way we stopped and saw a bear on the side of the road.  We also stopped at some paint pots along the way.  Those were cool.  But the Hot Springs were really neat to see.  We hiked down the side of the hill and got quite a view!  At the bottom we saw some elk.  From there we stopped and did a short hike to some falls.  Then we drove to Roosevelt Towers for dinner.  That evening we drove through an area that is great for seeing animals.  We saw some Pronghorn Antelope and lots more buffalo.  On the drive back home through the mountains, we saw a grizzly bear and two cubs.  That was really neat. 

Grandpa and the boys at the Paint Pots

Family Photo at Mammoth Hot Springs

Daniel and the Elk

Simon and I on the hike

Cabo, Mexico

The View Poolside

While we were in CDA visiting my parents, Jeff and I left the boys with my parents and took a 5 day (3 full days, 2 travel days) vacation to Cabo.  I've wanted to do a beach vacation for years, and Jeff, knowing it was on my wish list, planned it out and we went. 

It was a lot of fun and very relaxing.  The first day we stayed by the pool all day, reading and soaking up the sun.  On the second day we went into town and looked around a bit.  On the third day, we also stayed by the pool.  Our trip was all inclusive, so the meals and drinks had already been paid.  And we visited some of the other restaurants that were part of the package.  I had fun trying out some of my long lost spanish with some of the locals. 

It was a fun trip, but I was also glad to get back to the boys.  I missed them a lot.

Relaxing Before Dinner

Dinner at El Blanco

The View from our Room

Silverwood

We just got back from a 3 week stay in Coeur d'Alene visiting my parents.  It was wonderful to see them, and one of the fun things we did while we were there was go to Silverwood Theme Park.  It has rides and even an outdoor water park.  We just rode the rides and walked around the park area.  Last year when we went, Daniel got sick and missed it.  So he wanted to be sure and go this year.  My parents went too, and we had a lot of fun.  In the morning when we first got there, we let the boys ride the younger kids' rides.  They had a lot of fun with that.  Interestingly, (and I didn't expect this) Daniel was too tall for some of the little kid rides.  So I told him that he could go on some of the bigger kid rides.  He liked that idea.  He went on some of his first rides ever, 2 roller coasters, among other things.  We also went on the train ride that runs around the park.  They stage a pretend train robbery, and Sam was a little concerned about that.  We had so much fun, we stayed until closing.  I recommend going if you're ever in the CDA area.

High Flyers (Simon & Sam)

Grandma joins the fun

A Driving Lesson for Big D

Sam Bumps Along

Daniel Rides the Train

Simon Goes Around

On the Ferris Wheel