Yellowstone 2015

Before I start talking about our trip to Yellowstone, I found pictures from one other family outing we had before that. We drove over to Big Break Regional Shoreline. It ended up not being what we expected, but we watched fish, looked at feathers and fossils and dead bugs under a microscope, Adaline built a boat, and Andrew taught Adaline how to properly hand off a baton in a relay race.

This little guy sure loves to eat

When we got the stroller out of the car, we noticed that the tires looked a little flat-good thing our emergency kit has an air compressor! 

Adaline is ready for the baton, in either hand apparently

Well, it was almost a month ago now that we loaded up the car and headed for M&K's house in Idaho! Within the first couple hours, Adaline got carsick and needed two bathroom breaks. After turning Adaline's car seat forward facing and restricting liquids, our drive greatly improved. It was a long drive and we were VERY excited to meet up with M&K's family at their ward Pioneer Day celebration. Over the next couple of days we stayed up late talking, went on walks, Andrew and Kelly washed the car and worked on the basement, Miriam and I ran errands and kept up with the babies. Adaline LOVED playing with her cousins. She and Hannah were almost inseparable. Andrew and I tried not to be jealous of their huge, green yard. :D

Adaline and Hannah matched almost every day

Andrew has a new best friend

On Tuesday, we spent the morning packing up and then we all headed for Yellowstone. The families coming from Utah were also on their way so it was fun to get updates from everyone as we made our way. Our family took a two hour (or more) stop in Idaho Falls to eat at Famous Dave's and stop by the temple where Andrew's parents were married. We had already logged so many driving hours and we were pretty far ahead of everyone, so it was nice to take this drive slow. We ended up getting to the cabins soon after Adam and Audrey's family so they gave us the tour (after figuring out how to get inside after locking themselves out). The other families started rolling in and we got dinner going while the kids ran around together so excited to see each other.

So happy to be out of the car!!

"Why did the red man turn red? From eating spaghetti!" Miriam is really good at making up jokes ;)

After dinner, Andrew and I put our kids to bed, and then we all had rootbeer floats and played some games that Audrey put together. After the rest of the kids were in bed, the adults played catch phrase and ate lots of skittles and twizzlers.

On Wednesday, Andrew and I gave everyone one mixed CDs so we could feel like we were all together even though we had to drive separately-and because we're stuck in the 90s I guess. We went to some paint pots, grand prismatic spring, had lunch at a geyser that looked like it was going to go off anytime (while we were sitting there, we could see a nearby geyser go off!), and eventually made our way down to Old Faithful. It was so weird to see boiling mud and think about how hot the water in the pools were. After watching Old Faithful, we went into the cafeteria and had dinner (thanks Deborah!) and on our way back out we got to see it go off again. This time, we even got sprayed by it! We were all super tired from getting in and out of the cars and walking around in the sun, so people started heading home and putting kids to bed. Andrew and I hung out with the parents at the other cabin while they waited for kids to fall asleep and then we all headed back to ours and ate ridiculous amounts of Oreos and talked about random things (I guess? I don't actually remember) Then Andrew, Audrey, and I stayed up playing Farkle for a little while, but when I was way in the lead, Andrew said he was too tired to keep playing...hmph.

We did see some wildlife! In addition to this elk, we saw some dear, wolves, and bison 

It's all so freaky looking

She's good at making him laugh

Now if only they looked alike so that you could tell they're related ;)

We hung out in the kids' discovery zone while we waited for Old Faithful

Watching Old Faithful

Almost Adaline, almost

We started Thursday at the Upper falls.

Next we drove to a nearby spot to eat lunch and hike down the 328 steps to the Lower Falls. I think it made most of us a little nervous, especially with all the little kids, but it was fun to hike down into the canyon and see the view. On the hike back up, I could really feel the 8,000 foot elevation change coming from the Bay Area. Whew!

 When we got back up from that specific hike, Andrew, the kids, Audrey, and Alan decided to hike a little further along the canyon to the next overlook, partially so that Adaline could take a nap in the backpack. I'm really glad we did because I loved the views, getting to spend some time out of the car, and chatting with Audrey.

Andrew took this picture while facing forward hiking in front of us by holding the camera over his head and hoping for the best. I'm impressed!

I love this picture of Matthew and Gram

When we got back with the rest of the group, we all loaded up and drove to the Norris Geyser Basin. We looked around for a bit and did a small hike over to a geyser that goes off about every fifty years. Then we drove to a picnic spot. According to the nap it was a picnic area on the river, but in reality, it was one picnic table on the side of a hill with a bunch and dirt, trees, and sagebrush. Haha! It didn't matter though, D&A brought their campstove, A&A had a canopy in their car that we were able to put over the table for some shade, and a couple of us and blankets to lay on the ground to sit on. So it worked out great. We had hot dogs, fruit, chips, and lots of roasted marshmallows.

As soon as we got back, the girls went to Mary Poppins at the theater in West Yellowstone. (Sadly, Miriam couldn't come because she had to feed the baby and we missed her.) I thought it was well done for a tiny little town theater where most of the staff/actors are probably family. Intermission gave us a laugh when the whole cast started selling snacks and it suddenly felt more like a circus. It was fun to get out and do a little something. When we got home, the boys were having a deep discussion about the environment? Different forms of energy and which is better? I'm not entirely sure, but it was funny to come home to. A&A, Andrew, and I ended up staying up until 1:30 or 2 talking.

On Friday, we all got packed up, had a prayer, and parted ways for now. It was sad to have to leave, hopefully next time our reunion can be a little bit longer. I'll also need to take some more pictures, especially with the rest of the family. There were 23 of us all together, but it almost looks like we went by ourselves. We miss y'all already!