~Yellowstone~

Lately I've been in al little bit of a funk, so I decided that instead of sitting home this summer, that the kids and I were going to do lots of adventures.  Hunter and Dave were getting ready to head to Lake Powell for teacher and priest camp, so I decided the kids and I were going to go visit Yellowstone, since none of them have ever been before.  Garrett was especially excited to go and see a Grizzly Bear and kept insisting that he was going to ride on its back, lol.  We stopped along the way to stretch our legs and get a view of the beautiful Idaho Falls Temple.

It was so relaxing to sit by the falls and listen to the water running by, I really could have sat there for hours.  But we headed on our way to stop at a fun restaurant we were told about, to try out the GIANT hamburgers.  

Now that's a BIG hamburger!!!

After stuffing ourselves full, we headed on to Yellowstone.  Since we arrived later in the evening we decided to just head to the hotel pool and play for a little bit before heading off to bed.  We actually played in the pool everyday we were there.  It was our pre-bedtime activity.  Good thing it was heated.

Before we had left for our little get away, I googled the weather.  I could see that a cool front was going to be coming through and that the temps were going to be in the 50's, so I thought I had prepared well and made sure everyone had a long pair of pants and a jacket/sweatshirt.  Well, we were totally surprised to find that the temps were colder than what was forecast.  It was really 38-45 degrees and super windy.  We got rained on, snowed on, and were basically freezing.  We ended up buying several sweatshirts, gloves, and hats and layered up.  It helped a little bit, but not much, lol.  Who would have thought we would have left 97 degree weather in North Ogden to go to 40 degree weather, lol.  We really weren't expecting that, but that's what adds to the memories and adventure, right?

The first day in the park, we headed to Old Faithful, and stopped to see all the many geysers along the way.

We really didn't want to leave this spot.  The wind was blowing the steam from the hot pot across the walkway and it was super warm.  Stinky, but warm.

The second day in the park we decided to check out the waterfalls and try a little hike.

On our hike, we found this gorgeous little spot.   Yellowstone really is a beautiful place!

We really had fun visiting Yellowstone, despite the cold.  We saw so many beautiful sites and lots of animals.  We saw loads of Buffalo and babies, lots of elk, a coyote, a fox, antelope, and we even saw a couple bears.  On the way home we decided to stop by Bear World to see more animals up close.  It was such a good way to end our trip.

I love my little adventure buddies, and am so glad that they love doing this kind of stuff with me.   We had such a great time, but we all decided that the next adventure we go on, we need Hunter and Dave there with us.  We really missed having them there, but know that they are enjoying soaking up the sun in Lake Powell.  The kids are already planning our next adventure, lol.

On a side note, I love that these two are best buddies.  They insisted on getting matching jammies to remember our trip to  Yellowstone.  Too cute!!!