Weaver Visit

The day after we got home from Yellowstone Jami, Scott and their boys came for a visit. They could only stay a few days, but we are so glad they were able to squeeze it in. Every day they were here it rained! We spent most of the time just hanging out around the house.

 

 They were a big help with Stewy and loved watching him run around.

 

We did go check out the new Pirate Park in town (it was on our Summer Bucket List)

 The girls had been hoping to go to Water World with their cousins, but with the rain it just wasn't the most appealing idea. So instead, we went to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

 I am pretty sure that half the state had the same idea. It was so so crowded .. .. ugh! The body exhibit is the most hands-on but it was also the busiest so it was impossible to do everything. The museum is pretty big and we didn't even make it to everything. We also spent time in Space Odyssey, Prehistoric Journey, Egyptian Mummies, Mythic Creatures and a small part of the Wildlife area. We also went to an IMAX movie.

 By the end, we were all .. ... DONE:) Walking around a big museum with tons of people, no matter how fun, will wear you down. Thankfully we were in good company. I am so glad that we got to spend a few days with the Weavers. Come again soon!

Yellowstone '15

The first thing we did when we arrived in the park was to swim in the Boiling River in Mammoth. It was another unusually hot day for Yellowstone, so this was perfect.

 

We spent some time at Norris Geyser Basin before heading to West Yellowstone

 

I was in shock (and annoyed)at the number of people in West. I mean it is always busy over the 4th, but this was ridiculous! We searched for somewhere local to eat for dinner and were disappointed we ultimately had to settle for DQ (a very overpriced DQ I might add). We decided to get ice cream after walking around through the crowds for a bit and were pleasantly surprised to find this little Frozen Custard shack at the end of town:)

The next morning we got up early and hiked to Mystic Falls. Mark and I had done this one together a few years ago, but it was a good 3 miler for the girls.

Although we're kinda blocking the view of the falls here, they were beautiful!

 On the way back down to Biscuit Basin, there is an overlook that treats you to an amazing view!

 We stopped off at one of our favorite picnic spots in the park, Nez Perce. We love the setting and the water to play in. We even beat the crowds so we didn't have to fight for a table .. .. okay we did have to run a little to snag one;)

We got back to the hotel, cleaned up and headed to the Playmill for Bailee's birthday surprise.

They put on a pretty good little show ..  . even Mark said he liked it and he's not really into musicals. Bailee LOVED it, which is what counts.

We went to an earlier show so we could still go to the park for Fireworks etc. So we headed to find dinner at Pete's Pizza & Pasta, a local favorite.

We rounded out the 4th with frisbee, music, and fireworks at the park.

 It was a great way to end our trip!

Sunlight Basin

July has been busy. In fact, 3 of the 4 weeks have been spent vacationing (either out of town or hosting company). It's been awesome, but has left me with little time to blog about our adventures. We headed over the border with our sights set on a week in our homeland. The girls are participating in a tourism campaign where you collect these super cool stickers from all across the state. We had to stop in and check out the new Welcome Center (and pick up a few stickers;)

 

We were anxious to get on the road to one of very favorite places. We spent a week at the cabin in the Sunlight Basin.

We had campfires (and Smores)

played games

  ate yummy food and even tried our hand at Hobo Dinners again (they turned out pretty good)

 

 went for walks

Mark got up early one morning and climbed a mountain to get this view overlooking the property ...  pretty amazing

There is always lots of time spent at the river. Karsyn took a liking to the waders this trip and we could hardly keep her out of them

Lots of rock collecting took place. Everyone seemed to have a project in mind .. ..

.. .. .. including these awesome bracelets that Mark helped the girls make with some aluminum wire he found in the river.

 He took the opportunity to give the girls more lessons on the art of fly fishing.  

All the girls were equally excited about fishing this trip, which filled their dad with JOY!

One of those girls kinda likes to got it alone (you know .. .. without any teaching;)

We had some great light in the evenings and took advantage of that

We went into the Northeast entrance of the Park one afternoon and hiked the Slough Creek trail. It was so hot and buggy that day I was nearly losing my mind (but I didn't). When we reached the water we were in desperate need of a cool off. 

 

The water was so refreshing, Mark dove right in. It was pretty deep in some spots so the girls needed some assistance getting to the little sandbar

I preferred to get my feet wet. When I say wet, I mean covered in soggy mud. At one point I truly thought Emm and I were going to sink into a muddy abyss. It was like quick sand but much thicker ..  INSANE!

We spent one afternoon in Cody so Bailee could meet up with some friends. It didn't work out for the other 2 this time so we had a picnic and hung out at the park.

Since everyone had been bit with the fishing bug, we spent our final day fishing Dead Indian Creek where we all caught a Yellowstone Cutthroat for the WGFD Cutt-Slam

Let's get a closer look of this one. That fish was flippin' water all over her:)

 We had a super relaxing week at the cabin. We were sad to leave, but looking forward to a few more days in Yellowstone and celebrating the 4th in West.