Yellowstone

Our next big stop on our trip was spending the day in Yellowstone! We travel as a herd now, with 4 cars, 7 children, and 10 adults. It's definitely a lot more to deal with, but it is so worth it to be together! (Warning: there are a ton of pictures.)

The morning started off with loud playing with the cousins, then we packed up and headed out!

The boys LOVED running around this poll.

 So, one of my life goals is to make it to all 50 states and this trip got me just a little bit closer! I made it to my seventh state! (I still have a very, very long way to go.)

Proof I was in Montana!

Our first stop in the park was to check out the buffalo.

We piled out of our cars and took lots of pictures.

Kyle was nice enough to feed Garrett a few of his fruit snacks.

Chris was the only one who thought it felt nice outside. The rest of us were freezing!

I was surprised to see all of the logs still laying around from the fire in the '80s.

All of the people trying to get closer to the antelope.

On the other side of the road, there was a small group of buffalo.

The next stop we made was to check out the hot springs. 

Yes, pay phones still exist!

The first we saw was Emerald Spring. Beautiful, but stinky!

Here we are watching Steamboat Geyser!

Both Jonathan and Garrett enjoyed wearing grandpa's hat.

Looking at all the gorgeous scenery and animals sure gave us an appetite! We found a nice grassy spot and piled out of our cars and ate our lunch. Garrett and Seth were probably the funniest. Seth would take off running and Garrett would chase him. Eventually, Seth would fall down and Garrett would fall right on top of him so they could wrestle. (As much as 2 year olds can wrestle!)

Our big and busy gang!

After lunch, we started splitting up. Two cars headed back to the cabin, while the other two pushed forward. My dad really wanted to see the north entrance of the park. (It used to be the only entrance to the park.) 

This is the little town that is just outside of the park.

Here's Amy taking Mom and Dad's picture under the old entrance.

 When you're driving around the park, every so often people stop their cars and pull over. That's when you know something good is around. We hit one of those slow downs, and Mom was the one to spot a little bear cub rolling around in the shade.

It's hard to see, but it is there!

 After driving through the valley, Amy and Mike decided to take their own path as we headed to the canyon. I am so glad that we went to the canyon. It is simply amazing how beautiful it is. I really don't know what else I can say about it.

The colors were amazing!

On one of the lookout points, there was a sign talking about a nest. I can't remember what bird it was talking about, but there was definitely something in it!

I used my dad's binoculars to zoom in on the nest.

 On our way out of the park, we saw some more animals.

Hey Andy! I found a buffalo for you!

A group of buffalo decided to walk across a parking lot, so we followed them to get really close.

A large group of antelope getting ready for the night.

We all made it back safely to the cabin and eventually all of the children made it to bed.

Jonathan almost made it through the trip without giving either girl a bottle.

Lyla loves her silly dad!

Two tired babies and two tired adults!

We made s'mores again! It was amazing!!!!

After all the kids were down (& Amy and Mike), the rest of the adults stayed up and played games. After getting really silly and tired, Andy showed us the funniest YouTube video EVER! Search Guy on a Buffalo when you are in a really silly mood and get ready to laugh! We were all laughing so hard, but Andy was laughing so much that he started crying! He almost hyperventilated! It was such a great end to a fun family day.