We finally found a week that Wade could get off and work and the kids were free...not an easy task with basketball camps, girl's camp, scout camp, high adventure, cubscout day camp, etc., etc, etc. Things weren't looking good when the friday afternoon before we were to leave the air conditioner blew a switch. Luckily we have an awesome aunt and uncle who came and rescued us from the Walmart parking lot and helped us get back in working order! (We love you guys!)
After packing every inch of the suburban we were finally off. Three hours later our first stop was Craters of the Moon National Park. Interesting. The kids loved the little hikes and climbing the cauldron, but we could barely pull them out of the caves...by far the best...maybe because it was so much cooler down there! Charlee, Tucker, and Ryanne became Junior Moon Rangers.
Another three hours found us in Island Park. We stayed at the Buffalo campground and totally loved it! We were only in our campsite for 15 minutes when a mother moose and her baby came trotting through...totally cool. We found ourselves being "bear aware" ... ask the kids if moose like milk:) Thanks to "favorite aunt Kellie" we had some fun craft projects that even Wade got into. Kyall HATED the tent and screamed every single night (made me think of Taylor all those years ago).
We sent a couple days in Yellowstone seeing the sites and walking the boardwalks. Trevor was happy to see both a black and a grizzly bear. Of course the "meese" were our favorite. They became the mascot of our trip. We would have loved to spend more time there, but we still had to go through the Tetons on our way home. Kyall absolutely loved playing in Jenny Lake. It started out that we just dipped her feet, but she wanted to walk out further. We slipped off her pants and she pulled Randi in futher. We took her shirt off just before she decided to sit and splash in the lake, and she screamed when we pulled her out to leave. This time Randi joined the other 3 to become a Junior Ranger. She was pretty excited that she was taller than the ranger that swore them in!
We loved being together as a family with no outside influences pulling on us...no cell phones, no computer, no tv. I hope the kids will remember all the fun times and laughter (and not so much the fighting in the car). We truly are blessed with great kids and know that our time with them is passing so fast. When we got home we found out that one of Charlee's classmates had passed away, which made us even more thankful for the time we had together. Family is what it is all about and we try to treasure every minute.
After packing every inch of the suburban we were finally off. Three hours later our first stop was Craters of the Moon National Park. Interesting. The kids loved the little hikes and climbing the cauldron, but we could barely pull them out of the caves...by far the best...maybe because it was so much cooler down there! Charlee, Tucker, and Ryanne became Junior Moon Rangers.
Another three hours found us in Island Park. We stayed at the Buffalo campground and totally loved it! We were only in our campsite for 15 minutes when a mother moose and her baby came trotting through...totally cool. We found ourselves being "bear aware" ... ask the kids if moose like milk:) Thanks to "favorite aunt Kellie" we had some fun craft projects that even Wade got into. Kyall HATED the tent and screamed every single night (made me think of Taylor all those years ago).
We sent a couple days in Yellowstone seeing the sites and walking the boardwalks. Trevor was happy to see both a black and a grizzly bear. Of course the "meese" were our favorite. They became the mascot of our trip. We would have loved to spend more time there, but we still had to go through the Tetons on our way home. Kyall absolutely loved playing in Jenny Lake. It started out that we just dipped her feet, but she wanted to walk out further. We slipped off her pants and she pulled Randi in futher. We took her shirt off just before she decided to sit and splash in the lake, and she screamed when we pulled her out to leave. This time Randi joined the other 3 to become a Junior Ranger. She was pretty excited that she was taller than the ranger that swore them in!
We loved being together as a family with no outside influences pulling on us...no cell phones, no computer, no tv. I hope the kids will remember all the fun times and laughter (and not so much the fighting in the car). We truly are blessed with great kids and know that our time with them is passing so fast. When we got home we found out that one of Charlee's classmates had passed away, which made us even more thankful for the time we had together. Family is what it is all about and we try to treasure every minute.
