Yellowstone National Park

We had a great time visiting Yellowstone with both grandmas and grandpas and our niece, Jessica. It's been a long time since Chad and I had been in the park, so it was fun to see it all again and to see it with the kids, too. I had a real job sorting through all the pictures that were taken. I hope I chose some good ones.

We stopped for a picnic shortly after getting in the park. It's interesting to me how sandwiches can taste better when you eat them on a picnic.There's lots of hot springs and geysers in the park. This is just one that we stopped to check out. I believe this one was called Beryl Spring. Dragon's Mouth Spring was very cool, but not just to look at, but to listen to. It sounded a lot like you might image a dragon breathing would sound~~hence the name.

I thought this picture turned out great. I manged to get everyone in it, except me, of course. I guess I could photo-shop me in later. ha ha

From left-right, there's Grandma Jo, Chad and Mckaylie, Myshel, Grandma G, Jessica, Grandpa R and Noah, Vance and Grandpa GYellowstone is also known for it's mud volcanoes. They were really cool, but really stinky, because of the sulfur, which smells like rotten eggs.
McKaylie checking it out This is the mud volcano behind the sign McKaylie was reading~~yes, it's boilingThis was the first buffalo we saw. He was kind enough to walk right along the road for us. But these were much more fun to see ~~ It's hard to show just how impressive they are in a picture. We saw lots and lots and lots and lots of buffalo (Noah will tell you they're bison, which they are, but I grew up calling them buffalo, so they're buffalo!)These two guys were quite awesome! They were in one of the first herds that we saw, so that made it more exciting. They were fighting and chasing each other all over the field. We're assuming it was over a female. I'd never seen two buffalo fight, so It was cool to watch them...This guy was massive! And we had lots of time to see him while we sat waiting for the tourist traffic to get moving! I heard several comments about what a great trophy he'd make. Taking a little break~~Chad and the kids The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is amazing (Can you tell I really enjoyed seeing Yellowstone????)
Here's McKaylie and Noah giving you the facts! The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Ok, this is rare......Chad and I in the same picture
(At the top of the Upper Falls)

Looking down on the Lower Falls Lower FallsLooking through the canyon at the Lower Falls. Seriously, how awesome is that view! So . . . funny story . . . we stopped at the first parking area for the Lower Falls, which has a main trail leading up the mountain to a higher vantage point. I really wanted a picture from the higher view but wasn't so sure I wanted to hike up to it. I decided to tough it out and we all took the trail. Did I mention it was up the mountain?? It wasn't the hardest hike of the trip (I'll give that one to the mountain Todd took us up, which was actually much shorter, but a killer for me) but I was not looking forward to heading back down. Well, we got to the top, only to find that there was a parking lot there . . . we could have driven up. We're smart people, though, we sent Chad and his dad back down the trail to get the cars while the rest of us waited at the top!

Here's Myshel, Grandma G and Jessica waiting Here we are waiting again, this time for Old Faithful. We had about a 45 minute wait, I think. We had ice cream to help pass the time, though. Old Faithful I've seen Old Faithful several times and I have to say that we got lucky that day. Sometimes it's kind of wimpy, for lack of a better word, and doesn't last very long. But that day it was pretty awesome and worth the wait. Ok, so technically this moose wasn't inside the park, but she was right outside the gate, so I'm counting it! She was the only moose we saw. We were pretty excited, maybe Chad wasn't, but the rest of us were. Apparently, though, we just missed the bull that was with her~~figures! It was a really great day, with people we love! That's the best way to spend your vacation!