Sunlight*Cody*Yellowstone

Just a couple of days after the girls returned from Girls Camp, we headed North for what has become our traditional trip to Yellowstone for the 4th.  We started the week up at Sunlight Cabin.

Karsyn had begged to invite her friend Mason like we did last year, so we stopped in Cody to pick him up for a couple of days.  There was a good amount of time around the table playing Spoons.  I think they devoured my entire tub of Red Vines within a few rounds.

We spent some time in the "dance hall" which has been turned into a game room of sorts.

Bailee studied her wildflower book

Mark made himself useful and repaired the picnic table on the property.

We had a bit of a fish rescue going on....not fish that really needed rescued per se, but Emmrey wanted to take care of them.  Lots of time was spent creating a little habitat for them.

We came across some other critters too...little snake Bay caught

It's quite the setting for reading a good book while enjoying nature.

These 2 spent time trying to catch up....although I 'm not sure they succeeded

Our butterfly girl. There is something about her they are just drawn to......can't blame them:)

We invited some of our Cody friends up to spend an evening with us. We had the George, Peters, Wiles, and Fenton families along with Mason.  It was a full house, but so fun.  I miss them all so much....we had a great evening together and we will have to try to make it happen again.

Emmrey was in heave with her little posse.....

Bailee was quite the babysitter and enjoyed leading the kiddos in some games

Whew!! It wore us right out...including Gorden

Little Gorden had some fun at the cabin too....her mommy had documented it all [ that's what mommas do;] I know because this is just a fraction of what I found when I downloaded pics {the one on the hatchet scares me a little}

The following day we went into town [Cody] and let the girls spend the afternoon downtown with their friends before dropping Mason off and heading back to the cabin.  The plan on Thursday was to get up and take a family hike to Beauty Lake.  The late snowmelt made it impossible for us to cross the stream to get there, so instead we spent the afternoon playing on the shores of Beartooth Lake. 

Heading out with Gorden in tow

These 2 manage to entertain one another quite well

Mark took advantage of giving Bay a few tips on her cast

After everyone had their fill, we headed back to the van to find this.....ugh!!

 Just as Mark got all the tools out to fix the flat, it started to rain. It started to come down pretty good and we had to wait it out for a bit in the car. Bay was right there assisting...that girl is no wimp I tell ya! We drove back into town and luckily our old Bishop owns a tire shop and was able to get us all set up. We ended up replacing all 4 tires...not exactly part of our trip budget:( We knew it was coming at some point....this just pushed us to get it taken care of.

We packed up and left the Sunlight Basin on the morning of the 4th.  We were sad to leave, but looking forward to more time in the park and West Yellowstone.

We entered the park through the NE entrance and stopped in Mammoth....one of my favorite spots. The elk were excited to see us to!

We have hiked a lot in Yellowstone.  We have been on most of the established trails. One exception to this was the Solfatar Creek trail that runs about seven miles from Norris Campground to the vicinity of Obsidian Cliffs. Most of us were not exactly prepared for a "hike" on our way in, but we tried to humor Mark and check it out.  Like everything in Yellowstone, it was beautiful, but nothing spectacular. The fact that we weren't exactly hiking to any destination, combined with tons of bugs and several fresh bear scats, was enough to turn it into a short walk instead.

We moved on to check out geysers

When we arrived in West Yellowstone, we were ready for some pizza at one of our favorite spots

They have the parade in the evening right before the community celebration.  We loved this because we could still make it after spending the day in the park.

Such a fun parade.  It has that small town feel that we love so much!

After the parade, we headed down the the City Park for music and fireworks

tossing around a ball while we waited for it to get dark

We got up early the next morning to hike...again:)  This time our destination was Fairy Falls and Imperial Geyser. Mark and I had done the hike to Fairy Falls way back when we were just newlyweds<3  It was just as spectacular!

It was HOT, but our little troopers carried on to see Imperial Geyser

This is the little gem you might miss if you turn back after the Falls

On our way to the geyser, the cutest little Siberian girl joined us ....she was sure fun to have along.

On the way back to the trailhead, Bailee and Mark decided to climb the hill where you can get an aerial view of Grand Prismatic Spring.  Pretty magnificent!

The 6 mile hike in the heat was no easy feat.  We cooled off with a swim in the Firehole River.  The original spot we planned to get in was closed off to swimmers, so we settled for a much much cooler part of the river with lots of other visitors looking to beat the heat.

The girls didn't mind the cold water at all

We finally got them out by promising them burgers and fries at the Geyser Grill [a favorite]

We always end up eating more than our share of ice cream on our Yellowstone trips.  Mark and I did share this one, so it's not nearly as bad as it might look.

We stretched it out as long as we possibly could.  We even tried [unsuccessfully] to convince Mark to extend one more day....but it was time to get back to work and life:(  We have next year to look forward to. Farewell dear Yellowstone!