yellowstone

Our first stop on the way to Yellowstone was at Bear World, outside Rexburg, Idaho. It was so fun to see the bears up close .

The kids liked the little rides after we drove through the park.

One of the many geysers we saw-

The steam smells like rotten eggs- ewww!

We took our breakfast into the park one morning at ate on the banks of the river. Aaron is so naughty in restaurants that most of our meals on this trip were picnics.

Somehow, when models get fanned by the wind it looks a little different than this....

One of the trails we took had 328 steps. That is 656 steps down and back and Jason did it twice!!

All those steps are worth it for pictures like this:

A day at the lake, and another lake...

and another lake...
On our third day, we drove through the lower part of Yellowstone. We stopped at Yellowstone Lake and walked around the boardwalk.
The kids wore their swimsuits and wanted to go swimming but we couldn't find a good spot so on out way out of the park we stopped at another lake. It was beautiful but COLD! They put their toes in .....

And they took their toes out and they got back in the car and we drove to the Tetons.

Our next stop was Coulter Bay, where we rented a canoe and Kelly took the kids out on the lake.

This is one of my favorite pictures from this trip.

This was the view outside the van...

and this was the view inside the van

gotta love the DVD player!

Jackson and Bear Lake

I woke up in Jackson on my 36th Birthday. I like the sound of that. The Jackson part, not the 36. (The thirty-six part is messing with my mind a little bit.). After the tiny hotel room we had in West, our Jackson room was a palace. We had our own balcony and Kelly and I ate our Thai take- out on the balcony, looking out over the ski slope. Aaron spent the morning running up and down the balcony.

On the way home, we stopped at Bear Lake to let the kids swim and we had to get raspberry shakes, of course!

"The Mud Slinger"

Friends, Birthdays, and Goodbyes...

Aaron's favorite things to do when we go swimming. I think he stayed on the swing for half an hour. "Fishes" and "Duck!"

Lizzy and Elaina

Noah and Jason

Happy 10th Birthday Jason!

The week of fun is over and it's time to say goodbye.....

"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends" - Richard Bush

Even though

EVEN THOUGH I had a lot going on and I was running out of time, I couldn't say no when Aaron asked if we could stop at the playground. He is so cute when he sees the playground and lights up and starts pointing and chanting "play play play". Then I noticed the playground was flooded with water from 3 broken sprinklers. AND IT LOOKED LIKE SO MUCH FUN! So EVEN THOUGH I was supposed to be delivering fliers and EVEN THOUGH it was Jason's birthday and EVEN THOUGH his party was in 1 hour and EVEN THOUGH I needed to order and pick up the pizza (before the party), I couldn't resist the best mud puddle ever. So I called Jason and EVEN THOUGH he was playing with his friends and EVEN THOUGH he didn't want to come at first, as you can see I ended up talking them into coming to the park. And they had a great time.

And EVEN THOUGH they got muddy and soaked and EVEN THOUGH the pizza was a little late and EVEN THOUGH the fliers still need to be delivered...It was so worth it!

How to pack a years worth of fun into 5 days:

Jason's friend Noah was able to come for a visit from Arizona. We have missed him so much and are so excited that he can be here. The boys have played non-stop from when they wake up to when they finally go to sleep. I have let them stay up way past Jason's bed time so they can get the most of their time together. Here are a few highlights from the week- (so far). Video games, Nintendo DS in the car, x- box and the Wii at home.

Cherry Hill.

Trying to pull the sword from the stone.

Late night with Quincy and Avery- this is "Noah's Party"

More to come- the weeks not over yet!

Lagoon

We went to Lagoon twice this summer. The first time was with Kelly's work. Kayla was complaining that her stomach hurt as soon as we got there, and before we went on any crazy rides. By mid afternoon she was doubled over in pain and feeling nauseous. We left quickly and got home right before she threw up. She was sick with the flu for a few days after.

This is what my day at Lagoon looked like.

Kayla felt well enough , at one point during the day, to get cotton candy ( we ended up using the plastic bag for a barf bag on the way home)

How can you not love this kid?

Because out first attempt ended in blown chunks, we decided to take advantage of the "bounce back" program and went with our friends who have season passes. We has a blast. Thanks Heidi and Chrissy! Kayla got to ride with her friend Hanna. She was a lot braver this time because she didn't want to get left behind.

Jason was with his friend Kade the entire day. They borrowed a cell phone and went off on their own (so I have no pictures of them). It is hard to wrap my head around him being old enough to take off with a friend. I remember the first day I let him out of my sight at the swimming pool. He had to go behind a giant pirate ship to get to the slide and I couldn't see him while he was back there. I would wait at the bottom on pins and needles until I saw him take his place in the line. i imagined in those brief seconds how much could go wrong and I wouldn't be able to help. An now, he is off by himself (with a friend) at Lagoon. I don't know who has made more progress- him or me.

We took a short break in the afternoon so Aaron could nap, then we headed back and met up with Kelly and the other dads and went on more rides until the park closed. And no one got sick! Day two was definitely a better day.