Fishing on Shoshone River

Vance was determined to catch a fish in Wyoming. We made several trips without a lot of luck. The conditions were working against us because of a late runoff, but we had a good time trying. It was beautiful there and except for some wind (go figure--wind in Wyoming!!) the weather was great!

McKaylie, our little fishing-girl Vance--trying to be patient Myshel--our not so fishing girl Vance--still trying Noah--trying his luck Chad--showing them how it's done I love this picture of the 4 of themVance was very determined He was even willing to get wet All his hard work paid off in the end. On the last morning out he caught a nice fish! Yay!Just over 15 inchesHere it is, with my very proud boy, getting ready to go in the pan . . . . . Grandma Jo helped cook it for Vance. We all got a little taste, which was plenty of trout for me! I'm proud of Vance for hanging in there and not giving up! I'm also very glad he caught at least one fish!

Cody Nite Rodeo

Wow, this week has just slipped right by. I've have an interesting new job-I guess you could say- coming up, that seems to be taking up a lot of my thoughts and time, but I'll post about that a little later. I thought I'd go back to our Wyoming vacation for a little bit.

We had to take the kids to the Cody Nite Rodeo. I always liked going to see the rodeo when I was younger and knew the kids would enjoy it, too. We all had a really good time. The rodeo clown made it lots of fun.
Here he is before the rodeo started. McKaylie and Noah sat on bull before the rodeo. They were very brave~~even though the bull barely moved a muscle~~ha ha Here's a few other pictures that the kid's liked. These are of the kids waiting for the rodeo to start.
Myshel Vance McKaylie Noah

Cody Gunfighters

Back to our summer vacation . . .

There's a small group that puts on a gunfight show every night throughout the summer, in front of the Irma Hotel -- they even have Buffalo Bill!! We felt like we needed to see the show again to get the whole "Cody" experience. It had been years and years since Chad and I had seen it.They saluted the military before the show-even had Chad come stand up front [he was the only active duty service member there that night (no picture---darn!) while everyone applauded his service--it was nice and really doesn't happen very often] This was a lot of fun, although, it was very loud. Noah loved watching the Cody Gunfighters. He insisted that we get all of their autographs on his poster and now his poster is hanging on his wall!

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!