I can't believe I am finally getting around to posting pictures from our Yellowstone trip (mid-June!).
July seems to have come an gone in a flash. So, way back in June, Jesse went to Yellowstone to deploy seismometers for an experiment he is running. I had my parents come to town to help me with the kids and then 1 parent, 2 grandparents, a set of twins and about a bazillion bags made there way to West Yellowstone for a 5 day trip. We decided not to camp, but we did rent an RV to get around in the park. This was a great idea. The kids called it "the bus." And they LOVED to ride in it - and in their car seats no less! But it sure made things like diaper changes easier,
It made a great place to play when it was raining outside
And I still can't believe that they asked to ride in their car seats. Honestly, I was prepared to let them roam while we drove around the park - or got stuck in bison viewing lines, but they liked their seats.
Just chillin' Mom..
This was also the first time we tried renting a place to stay through a website called vrbo.com. It worked really well. This was the house we stayed in,
And it had a really great view of a lake somewhere north of West Yellowstone,
The inside had these huge deer (perhaps elk - but I'm no botanist) heads mounted to wall. Zailey found them very entertaining.
Now, while doing research for our trip - I can't do anything without reading up first! I read a lot about taking toddlers to Yellowstone and that it might be good to consider backpack leashes. There are all sorts of dangerous things for them to get into - say hot steaming sulphur rich pools of water. We used them once or twice, but they mostly made for some cute pictures.
Mostly, the kids liked to take themselves for a walk. We heard a lot of Zailey's favorite phrase - "Zailey do it," which meant Gryffin had to hold his own too.
The hiking backpacks, that we dragged in an extra bag, were much more useful.
Zailey even slept in hers.
While out and about, Gryffin fell in love with waterfalls and steam. Here he is admiring a waterfall.
And whenever we were on a boardwalk, he loved to stand and feel the steam on his face. I never managed to get a picture of this, since Zailey hated steam. So, half the group would always keep moving, and the camera always managed to be in the wrong group.
Besides the deer, Zailey's favorite part were the accessories - hats and sunglasses.
All in all it a was a really great trip. The most important thing we learned was that with toddlers, in order to enjoy a vacation - Less is more! And of course, anything can become a toy.
I'll just finish up with a bunch of pictures of beautiful scenery and gorgeous kids. :)
1 comment:
Your kids are SOOOO cute!! just want to squeeze them.. Looks like you had lots of fun at Yellowstone.
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