Yellowstone Part 3: Mosquito Bites, Nature Walks, and Theatre

On Friday morning an officer came by our camp to inform us that they had a helicopter herding buffalo back into Yellowstone and that the animals might come through our campground. We'd been hearing the helicopter and wondering what was going one. So we decided to go on a walk by the river that ran next to our camp and see if we could see any of the buffalo. We put Jayne in her "ride", donned our hats and sunscreen and headed out. Jonah made sure we also brought a fishing pole so that he could practice some more. On our walk, we visited the tadpoles again. There were even more of them than the day before. We didn't see any buffalo, but we were lucky enough to see a beautiful bald eagle soaring overhead.

Lilly carried the fishing pole back to camp.

After we made our way back to camp, we had lunch and our afternoon naps. Nate's mom wanted to treat us all to a showing of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Playmill Theater while we were there, but we underestimated its huge popularity and they were all sold out. So she offered to watch the kids while Nate and I went to see The Foreigner, also at the Playmill. It was a good thing we got our tickets the day before, because it sold out too.
So after sharing some of Dad and Amanda's super yummy dutch oven dinner Nate and I headed into town. We stopped at the place with the showers so I could get cleaned up. It was the best $3.25 I've ever spent! The water was nice and hot and the sign said the shower would only run for six minutes, but I got all cleaned up, soaked a bit, got dressed, combed my hair and put on my makeup and the thing was still going! It felt so good to be clean and not smell like camping and sweat and sunscreen and bug spray!
We really enjoyed the play. If you haven't seen The Foreigner, I highly recommend it. It made us laugh so hard! The actors were very talented. Before the play they had a little preshow where members of the cast who are in the other musicals going on came out and sang and did some little skits. We really enjoyed the men's rendition of "My Little Buttercup." This was our first time at The Playmill Theatre and we were definitely impressed. It was a great night out.
After we got back to camp, we were introduced to the newest member of our camping family....a toad. Jonah had caught a toad down in the river. Much to my relief we were able to talk him into putting it back in the river so it could be with its family. The kids excitedly told us all about their evening playing in the river and exploring the islands in it with the girls.
After we tucked the kids in we played games with Amanda and Emily in the trailer and shared some treats.
I was really looking forward to getting some sleep that night since the noisy neighbors had been kicked out, but that just wasn't in the cards. Friday night was the coldest of all the nights we were there. Jayne and Lilly kept waking up because they'd roll out of their sleeping bags and blankets. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning they both ended up in the sleeping bag with Nate and me. It's a good thing we have one of those big two person sleeping bags.
The next morning we sent the kids into the heated trailer with Grandma and Grandpa and the girls and Nate and I packed up. Well, mostly Nate packed up. He's a whiz at packing and I didn't want to disturb his genius by interfering.
When we were getting Jonah dressed we noticed that the mosquitoes had eaten him for dinner the night before! The poor kid had a bite in his ear, two or three on his neck, and one on his cheek. It must have been all that playing in the river.

The kids had a fun wrestling and tickling and playing with Amanda and Emily while we got ready to go.

The drive home was uneventful, thank goodness. We had a wonderful trip! Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma and Amanda and Emily for letting us join them and for making it so special for all of us! Lilly just kept telling me every day we were there that "this is the greatest day ever!" None of the kids wanted to come home and they're all looking forward to going back again next summer.

Yellowstone Part 2: Geysers, Tadpoles, & Wolves!

On Thursday we decided to venture into Yellowstone National Park and see what we could see. Jonah and Lilly were very excited to see the geysers. They had read about them in a book at home. So we packed up the kids and headed out. We quickly learned that you have to be patient about getting anywhere in Yellowstone. People frequently slow down or block the road to get pictures of animals that they see. Our first delay was because of a buffalo lounging in a meadow off the side of the road. We didn't pull over and I didn't get a picture, but we did see him out our window. Next were some elk who were grazing. I got a quick picture of them as we drove by.

Jonah insisted I get a picture of this dead tree in the river. He thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Our first stop was at the fountain paint pots. We got out and took the walkway all around to get a good look at them. The kids thought it was really cool how the water and ground were all different colors and the mud was boiling. We got to see a couple of the smaller geysers going off.

This was the pit with all the mud boiling in it. Sometimes the pressure would shoot mud quite a few feet in the air.

I loved the beautiful blue color of this spring

Lilly struck a pose for me

This was one of the smaller geysers

After we'd made our rounds at the paint pot, we headed to Midway Geyser Basin to see the Grand Prismatic Spring. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Yellowstone! It's amazing how diverse it is, with the beautiful green trees and grass and then right in the middle you have these boiling geysers and multicolored ground.

The hot water from the spring runs down into the river

Jonah loved seeing the different colors that the bacteria made the ground

Nate and the girls. Jayne loves this backpack carrier. Whenever she sees it she says, "My ride!"

Grand Prismatic Spring

On our way back to the car we met a couple with a pretty dog that the kids just had to pet. It was one of those really large poodles. Sorry, I don't really know my canine vernacular. But the kids loved her and she loved them. Lilly informed me that we need to get a dog just like her and name her Uno One Barnum.
By the time we'd made our second walk to see the spring, the kids were wiped out. They fell asleep within five minutes of getting in the car. So we decided to head back to camp and have some lunch.
That afternoon, Amanda and Emily took the kids down to the river again to catch tadpoles. There were countless tadpoles in this river!
They came back with an entire jar full of the little guys to show us. They were also sporting some very wet and stinky clothes, but it was worth it because of the gigantic smiles on their faces!
For dinner we roasted hot dogs and had s'mores. My sadly deprived children had never roasted hot dogs or marshmallows before. They loved it, of course. We did the s'mores the old fashioned way with Hershey bars and graham crackers. Yum!
Later that evening, Nate and I got to leave the kids with Grandpa and Grandma and go walk around West Yellowstone a bit. It was really fun to check out all the little shops. They had so many amazing sculptures and ceramic art and jewelry and anything else you can imagine. We got some old fashioned candy and homemade fudge from the Rustic Candy Shop. Nate talked me into trying five different kinds of fudge(not that I needed much convincing). We had double chocolate, huckleberry, salted nut roll, peanut butter chocolate, and raspberry cream. We also got a cup of huckleberry ice cream to share. It was so relaxing to just sit on the bench outside and watch all the people and share our ice cream.
But the most important thing that happened while we were exploring the town was that we found showers! I really hate how stinky I get when I'm camping and I'm one of those people who have to wash their hair every single day. So we made plans to come back the next afternoon before our big date(more on that tomorrow) so I could have a shower and be clean! Hooray!
As you can probably guess, we didn't get much sleep this night either. After the noisy neighbors finally went to sleep, we found a new thing to keep us awake....wolves. We could hear an entire pack of wolves howling not too far away. It took me a minute to figure out what the noise was. I thought maybe it was just dogs people had brought camping, but it was a lot more shrill than your usual dog howl. Boy! That noise sent shivers up my spine. The kids were fast asleep, but Nate and I laid there and listened. Suddenly, the material my tent was made with seemed extra flimsy and I was secretly longing for four walls and a bolted door.
Anyway, I'm sure they weren't as close as we imagined. But I sure was happy to see the sun come up that morning!
One more day left! Part 3: Mosquito bites, Nature Walks, and Theatre!

Yellowstone: Part 1--Getting there is half the fun!(not)

As you can tell from the title of this post, we went to Yellowstone last week! Our trip started on Wednesday morning with a doctor's appointment. Yep. You read that right. Nate has had an awful rash on his hand for over a month now and I finally got him an appointment with a dermatologist, but the soonest they could see him was Wednesday morning at 8:15. So we made that our first stop.
One hour later we got the diagnosis. Nate has a type of fungus on his hand. Gross, I know. With prescription in hand, we headed up the road. The drive really wasn't bad until we got up into Idaho. I think they had more orange cones out than Utah does right now! We stopped in Idaho Falls with the intention of filling Nate's prescription and having a picnic lunch. Sadly, their local Walmart didn't have what Nate needed and neither did any other drug store in town. So we had a little picnic on the grass across from the Idaho Falls temple and then we got back on the road. We all really enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Idaho. Everything is so green and gorgeous!

We played some hide and seek. Behind this huge tree was Jonah's favorite spot to hide.

We made it to Island Park with relatively few delays. But then they were repaving the one and only road through Island park, which caused us a 30 minute stand still with already tired and anxious kiddos in the back seat. We filled up the time by playing I-spy and the rhyming game. I'm so grateful my children are easily entertained!
When we finally got up to West Yellowstone, we met up with Nate's parents and sisters at Baker's Hole Campground, just a few miles west of the town. We immediately put on the bug spray because there were a zillion mosquitoes. Then we got to work setting up camp. Jayne was being clingy and tired and wouldn't let anyone hold her but me. Thank you Jayne for getting me out of setting up the tent! So Nate's mom and sisters assisted him in getting our tent set up and everything unpacked.
The kids wanted to go see the river, so Aunt Emily and Aunt Amanda took them over there with some fishing poles for them to practice with. I say practice because they didn't have any hooks on them, so they couldn't actually catch any fish. Jonah and Lilly loved learning how to cast their line out in the water and reel it back in.


Lilly had her first experience with an outhouse. The bathrooms weren't too bad, but there were flies in the one closest to our camp. My sweet Lilly freaked out! She wouldn't go in there for anything. Thank goodness Grandma and Grandpa had brought their own little port-a-potty. Lilly loved that it was just her size and no flies buzzing around her.
Our first night was full of everything except sleep, at least for Nate and me. It took a while to get the kids to sleep and once we finally did, our noisy camping neighbors decided to light their fire and play their guitar and drink their beers and get all loud until the wee hours of the morning. Do people just have no sense of courtesy? We had these same neighbors for two of the three nights we were there. They would leave early in the morning and only leave their tent set up and then a bunch of them would show up around 9pm and start a fire and party. Apparently they never paid, so the camp host finally kicked them out Friday and gave away their spot.
Anyway, with the noisy neighbors and trying to keep all three kids warm in their sleeping bags(they are movers when they sleep so this was a big challenge), I think Nate and I maybe got one or two hours of sleep. Gotta love camping, right?

Anyhoo, stay tuned for our next, and much more exciting, installment: Part 2--Geysers, Tadpoles, & Wolves!

Big Airplanes and Biting Flies

Last Thursday was Nate's day off. We decided to have a spontaneous family adventure. We packed a picnic, loaded up the kids, and headed north. We visited the Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base in Roy. Nate and I had both been there when we were kids and remembered being fascinated by the planes and helicopters. Plus, it's free!(Always a plus)
The kids loved looking at all the huge airplanes up close. They wanted us to take their pictures by pretty much all of them. While we were looking at the outside planes, they also found rocks and feathers and enjoyed spotting pigeons and other birds who had made their nests in the planes.

Inside the museum we got see a plethora of fighter planes and helicopters as well as some of the earliest types of planes. The kids liked having us tell them how fast each plane could go and what it was used for.
After the museum, we decided to head out to Antelope Island. This was our first trip out there. Due to the heat and the biting flies being out in force, we made our picnic a quick one. The kids really liked seeing the sand on the beach. Next time we'll have to take them somewhere we can actually enjoy the beach and the water. Among the short picnic highlights were seeing a lizard, attracting all the seagulls, and trying to keep the kids from freaking out anytime a fly got near them. We've decided that next time we'll visit Antelope Island in the fall when they're rounding up the bison. I hear that's pretty fun.

Jayne had to get every last drop out of her Capri Sun drink.

The beach was beautiful. We didn't walk down to the water though. The kids were already tired and Nate and I could just see ourselves having to carry them all back to the Jeep. Maybe next time.

After our lunch we drove home and had nap time. One of my favorite times of the day.
It was so fun to get out and do something together as a family. Spontaneous adventures can be some of the most memorable!

Annie, Parades, Poppers and Sparklers!

Oh what a weekend! Last Friday was Jonah's last day of kindergarten. Now he has about a six week break and then starts the 1st grade in August. He's very excited about school lunch and two recesses, but not so excited about a new teacher and a new class.
Friday night we went to the Empress Theatre's production of "Annie". Jonah's primary teacher plays the role of Ms. Hannigan and gave us some comp tickets. Thanks Heidi! This was the first time the kids have been to a play. It was fun to watch them. Unfortunately, Jayne started running a fever during the first act. Nate took her out and eventually walked home with her while Jonah, Lilly, and I stayed for the rest of the show. The kids started losing interest, I think because they were really tired, but when they saw that Rooster and his girlfriend were planning to steal Annie, they got very concerned. They were both relieved at the end. Heidi did a great job as Ms. Hannigan! Jonah informed me several times that Ms. Hannigan couldn't be his primary teacher because his primary teacher wears glasses and Ms. Hannigan doesn't. Anyway, if you get a chance to go see it, do. They do a great job and it's a lot of fun.
Nate ended up getting Saturday and Monday off this weekend due to already having several hours of overtime. Jayne hardly slept Friday night and was really congested and coughing on Saturday. So I took her to the doctor while Nate and the kids went to the Magna parade.

Lilly & Jonah & Grandma waiting for the parade to start

I should have just kept her home and saved myself the $25 copay. The doc said it's just viral and there's nothing they can do. Anyway, after we all got home, we had some pizza for lunch (thanks Mom!) and then naps for everyone! We topped off our evening by watching the fireworks out the front window with Jonah and Lilly. We can see the Magna fireworks from our house. It was fun to watch them with the kids. Maybe next year we'll venture down to the park to watch them.
Sunday I stayed home from church with Jayne and Lilly, who had also developed a cough and congestion. That night we went to my Mom's house for a barbecue and the kids had a great time playing with some poppers and sparklers.

Here's Lilly striking a pose for the camera.

Jayne liked to step on the poppers since she couldn't throw them down hard enough to make them pop.

Nate was off yesterday too and we decided to just have a lazy day. Neither of us had gotten much sleep since Jayne started not feeling well. So we turned off our phones, and laid around most of the day. I did get the lawn mowed and a paper written for one of my classes, but after that I didn't do much of anything. It was so nice. The kids even took a nice long nap for us!
So, that was our holiday. Nothing fancy.

Hope you all had a fantastic 4th!