Back to School x3!

At the beginning of summer it always feels like the days will just stretch on and on for 10 weeks and then by the time August comes around it's like, where did the days go?  As you can see we had a pretty good summer and the girls were mostly looking forward to the start of school.  Elizabeth was probably the most nervous as she was starting high school (!!!!) as a 9th grader. Rachel is all by herself in middle school in 7th grade and Evelyn is the oldest at elementary school in 5th grade.  I'm not too excited about three different schools with three different start and end times but so far it's worked out okay.  Per tradition, our start of school photos.

 How they really felt about school starting--anxious, SO excited, excited.

Here is to a fabulous year of learning and quiet time for mama :)

Yellowstone - More than just the smell of rotten eggs

Eric and I have a special place in our hearts for Yellowstone.  He remembers going to Yellowstone as a kid after the long and sometimes tedious trips to visit family in Bear Lake.  We also honeymooned in Yellowstone 18 years ago and have fond memories of buffalo chomping outside our tent.  Eight years ago we camp up with some Carlsen family members and had a great time but knew none of the girls remembered that trip so hopefully they'll remember this one!

Tuesday morning we lazily got going and packing stuff in the car once again.  With all our camping gear, it was a miracle the kids could still fit! My parents and Mark would join us later in the day as Mark had some last minute group project to work on.  I mean, seriously, who makes the deadline for turning in classwork and projects after graduation? The drive up was uneventful and we took in a few sights on the way.

There was a line of people taking pictures in front of the park sign so everyone turned to the person behind in line to ask to take a picture.  The guy behind us jokingly (I hope) said "that will be $10" and then cut out the Y in Yellowstone in the 2 of 3 pictures taken.  Thank goodness for the digital age and multiple pictures of the same thing!

 Have I mentioned I love Cascades and waterfalls?

 Our big stop of the afternoon was Paint Pots

 We loved watching this mud pot bubble up.  It may not be the most spectacular but it was mesmerizing watching and listening to it go bloop, blup, and squirt out some clay substance.

We also love the pools with differing colors of blue.

After Paint Pots we headed to our campsite to set things up and relax until the rest of the crew showed up.  We camped at Bridge Bay Campground close to Yellowstone Lake and this was a view on a walk we took in the campground.  Our campsite was also really great and wooded as it housed our huge family tent, a small 4-person tent, and 3 hammocks in the trees with Mark sleeping in one of them. 

 The second day out (Wednesday) we did the must-do Old Faithful loop.  We walked around some of the geysers and pools first before seeing the eruption.

 I remember taking a picture by the river 8 years ago but this is the closest I could find of the older picture, the girls eating lunch by Old Faithful. They've grown up just a little bit :)

 It is still Faithful and fun to watch go off!

 After Old Faithful we headed over to Grand Prismatic.  I can't remember seeing it from this vantage point the other times we have come but it is awesome.  The pool looks like it has rays coming out at every angle (I know it's iron oxide making the color) and it is just so beautiful!

 The trail to the overlook was on the way to Fairy Falls so dad, Mark, Elizabeth, Rachel, and I continued on and saw Fairy Falls.

 When we got back from the hike mom's car battery was dead so we jumped that and then went on another car loop of geysers and pool in the Madison area.

 After that we headed back towards Old Faithful area and parked at a different parking lot and walked in to time the Riverside geyser going off.

 The Riverside geyser almost acted like a fire hydrant spurting water over the river, it was definitely worth the 1 mile walk, even if it was sprinkling just a bit.

The colorful Morning Glory pool was also nearby and a pretty stop along with other pools (if you've seen one you've seen a lot, right?)

Cascades on the way back to camp

Thursday we went north to the Falls and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  The metal staircase that I remember walking down to Upper Falls was closed but all the views were still open and we got other stairs in!

Battle of the photographers!

After all our walking and stairs to see all the views of the Falls and Grand Canyon, I think a couple people were tuckered out as we picnicked.  It must be nice to be able to sleep anywhere, even with people watching!

 On the way back to camp we stopped at some more pots and Dragon's breath.

 And we became one of "those" tourists stopping by the side of the road to watch a bison cross the river.

 Next stop was the shores of Yellowstone Lake where feet were dipped, stones were tossed, and fun was had by all.

 Here's another then and now picture for your pleasure at the Fishing Bridge gift shop.  And true to form when traveling with my parents, we even ran into someone we knew--my cousin who my parents know better than me as he's almost dad's age.

Friday we said goodbye to mom, dad, and Mark as they had to head back home and we went north to do that loop of the park.

The views are just great as you climb up in elevation.

 Tower Falls

 A view of the canyon.

We saw the petrified tree and had a geology lesson.

Past the Petrified tree was a trail for Wraith Falls that I just liked the name for so we did the 3/4 mile jaunt to see it. The hike was pretty crossing a stream and the falls themselves were interesting as they looked like a sped-up glacier moving down a hill.

We found the perfect picnic spot next to the creek and even got a front row spot for a bison crossing the bridge, thankfully traffic is very low in this section of the park.

The last big stop of the day was Mammoth hot springs.  It's kind of crazy what a bunch of mineral deposits and water can do.

This one reminded us of screaming faces.

The iron oxide rich cascades

Calcium White ones

After Mammoth, we headed back to Canyon where I had to purchase wi-fi to do an hours worth of work.  It was kind of nice being totally out of cell phone range the whole week but I did have work to do.  Some of us also took much needed showers after a few days of camping and then we went out to dinner at the cafe.  Evelyn getting up close and personal with a stuffed bison.

And a real one we saw on along the way back to camp.

And some elk we saw in our campground.

Saturday we packed up our campsite and started the drive home.  We stopped at West Thumb to see more pools of geothermal activity.

The route we took home went through Grand Tetons and we got some great views of Jackson Lake with the Tetons in the background.

We stopped at the marina and took a little walk around.

It might be a little zoomed out but we thought this sign was funny "No Stupid People!"  I think they don't want non-owners on the dock and maybe this sign deters them.

We were sad our vacation had to come to an end but at least we got a nice "Welcome Home" sunset from Denver.

Overall Camping favorites for the Trip:

Evelyn--spacious campsite where she could explore and dance, hammock

Rachel--fire

Elizabeth--fire & smores, messing with Uncle Mark

Overall Yellowstone Favorites:

Evelyn--Riverside geyser walk, petrified tree was really cool turning wood to stone

Rachel--Upper/Lower falls as they were powerful, big, and beautiful, Tower Falls walking down to the river as it was peaceful and pretty

Elizabeth--Beautiful blue portal pools by Old Faithful, watching the bison cross the bridge up close as it was silly

One fun thing we did on the trip (an idea from Eric's co-worker who had just been up to Yellowstone) was to play the license plate game and see if we could find all 50 states represented.  Sadly we could not find Delaware, Rhode Island, or West Virginia and I almost gave Eric a heart attack when I shrieked Alaska when it was spotted.  We also found the Canadian provinces Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba as well as the Mexican state Chihuahua and US District of Columbia.  We had great fun scouring the parking lots and checking all the license plates on incoming traffic.  You can tell Yellowstone is a favorite across the nation!  

Until we see you again.