Half-Family Vacation

My family (brothers, sisters, parents, nieces, nephews, etc.etc.) all went to Yellowstone last week. We made reservations back in January for our cabin (which was very nice and amazingly big enough for all of us). The problem is, as vacation time drew closer, Aaron found out that he had a major business conference that week in Houston and my brother-in-law, Scott, accepted an internship in Austin. Since they were both in Texas, they were not able to come with us, which was hard on Monica and I.

I wasn't very excited about taking all five kids on vacation by myself and was very grateful when Aaron's parents offered to keep Savanah and Vanessa. Lauren always wanted more girls in the house. All three girls were happy when they left for their own adventure in Idaho. Although, I think it was more of an adventure for Grandpa and Grandma.The boys enjoyed spending time with their cousins. One night at the cabin, the boys taught them how to play their version of Risk (Line up all the armies, roll the dice, and the ones knocked over are dead.)
My youngest niece joined in the fun on vacation. Ethan loved to hold Holly at during every meal so Monica could eat. He loves babies.

The kids did great for the entire trip. They spent a lot of time the car over 4 days. I was very impressed. They all seemed to have a great time especially on the hikes. It was strange when I had only three heads to count and I wasn't chasing Vanessa down the trail. I could imagine her jumping into the hot pots. I did miss my girls, however.

This what I called the Advance Party. The older kids wanted to hike the trails at a little bit faster pace than most of the family. Luckily, my sister Laurann was willing to go ahead with them. She was the cool aunt that let them run ahead. I was the annoying mom that wanted to keep them in sight just in case there was a bear or kidnapper or both around the next corner. At one point, she was pulling several of them along by the straps of her backpack when they became exhausted. (Running uphill will do that to a person.)

The boys seemed to have really enjoy themselves. I enjoyed the time with them and my family. So, for half of our family, it was a great family vacation!

The Wonders of Yellowstone

There are aspects of Yellowstone National Park that are breathtaking.

Old Faithful-the most famous geyser
Grand Prismatic Spring - the world's largest hot spring. I loved the variety of deep colors.

The Lower Falls

The ability to look inside a geyser.

Rock formations at Mammoth Hot Springs.

There are aspects of Yellowstone that are interesting.

Artist Paint Pots. Boiling mud is fascinating you have to admit.Microbes that change the color of rock and water surrounding some geysers.The stark contrast of nature at the Main Terrace near Mammoth Hot Springs. New disease-resistant trees growing after the wildfires. The areas that were burned have been left alone. It is interesting to see all of the devastation that remains and yet new life beginning to take over.

There are even aspects of Yellowstone that are a bit frustrating.

The Traffic -when traffic backed up, it usually meant there was some type of wildlife that people were photographing.

Slow traffic gave us the chance to play the license plate game. We found 47 out of 50 states represented there, including Alaska and Hawaii. I was surprised how far people were willing to come especially with gas prices these days.

There you have it. A personal tour of Yellowstone provided by me.

Had To Be There

You know there are always things that happen on vacation that are hilarious, like my 4-year-old nephew, Jared, snorting laundry detergent. Those of us who happened to be there, laughed our heads off. If you weren't there, you just maybe crack a smile. This post is dedicated to things that you just "had to be there" to fully appreciate.

Since I only had the boys with me I took our economy car to save money on gas. The Echo is not known for it's power, I have to admit. At one point, my dad asked if he needed to get out and push the Echo up the hill. Hah, Hah. The best part was not the stop and go traffic uphill while driving a stick, rather, when Laurann rode with me and we jammed out to my Pure Disco CD. The Echo became the Party Wagon.

Then, there was the fact that my mom took more treats than the imagination can fathom. This vacation was not the time for starting a diet.

My brother, Austin, pretended to be a bear. For those of you who know him well, also know, it isn't that far of a stretch. Hah, Hah.

We all wondered how many people would stop to photograph the "wild" life. He was also the one that suggested we all stop and point at a tree just to cause a traffic jam. (We didn't actually do that, we thought about it though.)

One day about lunchtime, we didn't know where to find a picnic spot, so we made one of our own in the parking lot. Yeah, we got a lot of strange looks, but we were hungry so, it didn't matter.As we were eating, a buffalo went walking right through the parking lot. Maybe he knew we had Zingers to eat.

We found a souvenir shop that sold "build-a-bear" type stuffed animals. I bought one for each of the girls. They came in this adorable box.

In typical fashion, Vanessa liked the box better than the bear. My sister has a great "top 10" on her blog. Once again, most of it is "had to be there" type of things but, hopefully our all of our stories can make you smile at least once.