Yellowstone

This past week we headed up to West Yellowstone with my family for our summer vacation! Except my sister-in-law, Lesley and my niece Kirsten, weren't able to be there and we sure missed them!!!! She is expecting a baby girl in just a few weeks, so they decided it would be best for her to stay home. We left on the 3rd and came home on the 10th, so we were there for the 4th. We had so much fun!!! We toured through the park and saw 4 black bears and we think a grizzly cub, elk, deer, antelope, buffalo, bald eagles, coyotes, and more. We were hoping to see a moose (but not this year), and we are yet to see a wolf. We saw lots of hot pots, went to Old Faithful, had picnics in the park, visited the falls, and more. We stayed in West Yellowstone and had lots of fun in town also. We shopped and we went to the Grizzly Discovery Center a couple days. They have Grizzly bears and wolves. It was really fun to see!! The wolves weren’t too exciting, but the bears had a lot of personality!! On the 4th, after going through the park, we went swimming, went to the parade and later that night we watched the fireworks. We did lots of swimming with our nieces and nephews, and Hunter got to go swimming for the 1st time!! He didn't seem to mind the big pool until the water got above his belly button, then he wasn't so much a fan. However, he loved the hot tub. I would have loved the water to be hotter for me, but it was about the same temperature as his bathtub water and he loved it!!!! After being in for about 10 minutes or so, he would get sleepy and would go right to sleep when we bundled him up in his towel. Jason and Jesse went fishing for 7 hours on Wednesday and Jason finally caught 2 fish on a spinner and Jess caught none. The next morning they went again for a couple hours and Jess caught 2 w/a spinner and Jason didn't catch any. A guy they saw while fishing told them there is more water flowing down the Yellowstone River than there has been in like 67 years. So, I guess they got enjoy mother nature, better luck next time boys. It was so much fun to relax, spend time with family, and enjoy such a beautiful place!! Yellowstone is one of our very favorite places to go! Hunter hung out in the stroller, carseat, or held by someone and was either asleep or awake, but he really didn't care too much about what was going on. When we go next year, it will be so much fun. We usually go in the fall and Hunter will be walking, and starting to talk and will be 18 months old!! It will be so fun!!!!!!

Cousin Logan and Hunter in theie matching outfits from Grandma Jones on the 4th


Mindi, Hunter, and Jess in front of the hot pots


Jess and Hunter outside of the Old Faithful Lodge. This was the smart-alic smile I got because Jess loves pictures so much and loves when I tell him to smile!! Ha ha ha


Hunter and I at the West Yellowstone parade (It was no match for the Hyrum parade, but it was bigger than I thought it would be and it was fun!!!)


Me, Hunter, and, and Jess in front of Lower Falls