The Deal at Yellowstone

The kids really wanted to eat breakfast at the campground on the second morning, but since it was so cold, we had to do something to keep warm.  I came up with a deal...  We went out to dinner, & I told them if they behaved well, we'd go look at some shops afterward & see if we could find some sweatshirts for a good price.

 They kissed a fish for good luck, & we were off to shop!

I told the kids they had to find a nice sweatshirt, which fit them well, for under $20.  They had a great time looking in the giant outlet store we found & both ended up finding good deals.  Then it was my turn, since I had to stay warm too!

***********************

After breakfast at the campground in our new sweatshirts, we were off for more hiking & hot springs!

We took a little hike through the woods & found a nice waterfall

 Then we wandered around the Artist paint pots, but we kept losing Chancery!

This wolf kept following us around, & we were not sure if we should be worried, but it seemed friendly.

Chad & Asher, watch out for the wolf!

 Asher wanted to stay by this geyser until it erupted, but it looked like it might take awhile, so we convinced him to move on.

I guess Asher had nothing to worry about, the wolf ended up to be quite tame!

The kids & I are quite pleased with our new sweatshirts, we even did the unthinkable & wore our new Yellowstone sweaters to Yellowstone!  But it was cold, so we decided it would be ok.

Yellowstone has Mud & Geysers!

We started our day with a hearty breakfast to ward off the cold.  We had stayed in the KOA at West Yellowstone in a cabin, which was really nice becuase it had space heaters!  The KOA had a outdoor breakfast we could have gone to, but it was only 7°C, so we opted to go to a restaurant instead.  

 Unfortunately, the coffee was pretty bad, but the pancakes were yummy!

 And I carried on the tradition from my childhood of getting a cinnamon bun!

After breakfast, we were off to Yellowstone for more adventures!

********************

 We saw boiling mud called 'paint pots', & learned that the minerals in the mud kill the plants which grow around them, but in the winter the bison hang around in the warm mud & provide enough fertilizer for a few hardy plants to grow.

The kids were quite impressed by all the boardwalks which crossed the fragile terrain, but wanted to know what kept the boardwalks from falling through the thin ground into the water below.

 Seeing all the different colours that the minerals turned the water & ground was really neat.  It's crazy how many different geological wonders are here in Yellowstone!

 Then we waited for about an hour for Old Faithful to blow!

Just after Old Faithful, a ranger announced that the Beehive was going to erupt within the next 15 minutes, so we took the short walk to see it too since it is a bigger geyser than Old Faithful.

We didn't think we'd have enough time to go across to the backside, so we stayed across the river from it, but when we saw how the wind was blowing the water, we were glad we stayed where we were!  The people on the other side were not expecting to get so wet!

Animals at Yellowstone

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped for lunch at a park.  The park was not one of the newest parks we have seen.  It had a wooden Big Toy & Merry-Go-Round.

  I don't think my kids have ever been on a merry-go-round before, but they knew what to do!

After playing for awhile, it was off to Yellowstone!

*******************************

We saw lots of Bison which were really near to the road.  Digby was quite excited by all the wildlife we saw too!

Chancery found a very cute little chipmunk, but it was squished by the road, so she was sad about that.

And we saw a heard of elk in the town of Mammoth when we were having lunch on our way out of the park.

We were not allowed to go too close since they had young elk to protect, but they didn't seem too bothered by the people.

Below is a video of Digby when we saw the first bison in the park!

We enjoyed seeing all the animals, but were a little disappointed we didn't see any moose, bears, or mountain sheep, though we did see a dead bear along the side of the road just North of Helena, Montana!

Mount Rushmore

After hitting Wall Drug on Wednesday, we carried on to see what other sites South Dakota held.  We decided since PChad & the kids had never seen Mt Rushmore, to take the detour off our route.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover the entrance fee was a mere $11, & good for a full year!

I tried to get a good photo of the three of them...

Then a nice couple offered to take a picture of all of us, in exchange for taking a picture for them

 What the kids wanted to do the most was run up & down the seats in the ampitheatre.  I can't complain though.  The entrance fee was cheap, & we got our photo!

I was surprised though that in the pamphlet that you are given on your way into the park with all the info about who carved the faces, how long it took them, how many people come to visit, etc.  No where did it list the names of the presidents who are on the mountain.  I did pretty well though & only couldn't figure out one of them!

Did you know there are actually 5 heads on Mt Rushmore?

What's Wall Drug?

We set out Wednesday morning from Iowa to South Dakota.  PChad & I had decided to see if the kids would notice the Wall Drug signs if we didn't say anything about them first.  It took a long time, & we were pretty close to Wall, SD before Chancery saw one.  I think what caught her attention was the dinosaur on the sign.  But before we got to Wall, we stopped for a picnic lunch.

Notice we are eating from the 'food' box...

Then we finally made it to Wall, & had a look around.  Chancery was ready to find the next destination, though I think it might take a bit longer if she went by wagon!

Then she thought better of it & decided to travel by jackelope!

I finally convinced her to travel by van, & since we were showing movies,

she decided that was the way to go after all!

Iowa, What is Up With Your Weather?

After nice weather Sunday, it got quite cold, so we had to find warmer activities for the kids to do.  Monday morning the kids played pretty well, then Auntie S & I took Muffin & Chancery shopping.  Auntie S needed a few groceries, & I had discovered that I had accidentally thrown away all of Chancery's shoes before we left PEI, & with the colder weather, she needed some shoes!

Monday afternoon we took the kids swimming to the community pool.  The kids had a lot of fun on the 2 waterslides, & jumping off the diving board.  I even saw a fellow pastor's wife from a town 20 minutes North & had a nice catch-up with her!

Tuesday was another dreary day, so Auntie S & I decided to stop for a coffee & bring the kids to the library to read some new books for awhile.  We ended up staying for almost 2 hours, then went home & made pancakes for lunch.  In the afternoon, we headed back to the pool again, & no one seemed to mind going again.

Tuesday night was kids eat free at Pizza Ranch, & Grandpa & Grandma had left a gift certificate, so we all enjoyed a free pizza buffet, & it was delicious!

 Grandma had gotten Muffin & Chancery matching coats, & the girls were quite happy to model them for a photo before we left Wednesday morning

Then all the kids got in on the photo action!

The kids are going to miss their cousins, but we were glad we got to spend a few days together!

Blue Bunny

We left Uncle B & Auntie B's house & drove 2 long days to get to Iowa to visit Uncle K & Auntie S & their 3 kids, Muffin, Lion, & Aardvark.  We arrived Saturday around dinnertime, & enjoyed the warm evening eating outside, & sending the kids to the park!

Sunday after church we headed to LeMars for some ice cream in the self proclaimed "Ice Cream Capital of the WORLD!"

 Aardvark was showing us how his tongue could change colours from his ice cream

 Mmm, ice cream!

The kids even sat for awhile to watch the video about the Blue Bunny company, how it started, & how ice cream is made

They have a photo booth area which everyone really enjoyed taking pictures in! 

Chancery thought the giant spoon would make a good hat

 PChad scooped Chancery up!

Lion & Chancery took a few self-timed photos

I think this spoon would work really well in the ice cream sundae cup that was out front of the shop!

 Asher wanted PChad to feed him some ice cream

Yay for Blue Bunny!