After presents, we headed off to explore Yellowstone for another day. Our first stop was at Gibbon Falls. This vacation you will see a lot of posing in pictures by my boys. Apparently, the thing to do these days is to show off your manly muscles.
Next we moved on to Norris Geyser Basin. The kids had worked very hard on their Jr. Ranger books, and turned them in to this ranger in exchange for badges. Aaron was especially proud of his badge, and was happy to show it to everyone we encountered the rest of the trip.
Owen had to use the bathroom, so Scott took him to the bathroom while I explored for a bit with the other kids. Then we met back up with Scott and Owen and continued exploring.
Every vacation has to have some hiccups, and we hit a major one here. Aaron doesn't do well with sensory overload, and he was way overloaded. He had a bit of a meltdown in the middle of this trail. Owen wanted everyone to play follow the leader (with Owen as the leader), and stay in a line. Aaron refused to be in the line, and all heck broke loose with Owen freaking out about it, Aaron shutting down and being unwilling to cooperate, and me being so frustrated with them both and finding myself a bit low on patience.
So when we got back to the suburban in the parking lot, Scott loaded up all the rest of the kids into the suburban, and I kept Aaron out with me. We had a little mini therapy session right there in the parking lot (crab walks, jumping jacks, hopping on one foot, running, etc), to "reset" his system. Thankfully, it worked, and the rest of the day went off without a hitch.
Next stop - Mammoth. Owen fell asleep on the drive, so I stayed in the car with him, while Scott explored upper Mammoth with the kids (again, Savannah was my photographer).
Then we drove down to the lower part of Mammoth and Scott stayed in the car while I got out to look with the kids.
After Mammoth, we headed over to Tower Falls. We made a few stops along that drive. First, to see a bear!
Next we stopped to see a petrified tree. There was a dad and son there from New York, and my little boys instantly struck up a friendship (in the two minutes we were standing there). So we had to get a picture with their new best friend, Charlie.
Next we stopped to admire an amazing cliff with a beautiful view.
We finally made it to Tower Falls. We hiked down to the overlook for the falls.
Then we walked back up to the visitor's center and over to a smaller waterfall just off the road.
As the kids were posing for pictures by this smaller waterfall, they spotted a couple with ice cream cones. The kids had been troupers all day, but the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I had packed for lunch (and that we had eaten back at Norris), had worn off and we were all pretty tired. So the kids talked dad into getting them ice cream cones to keep them going.
Then it was back on the road for more exploring. We had to go over a pass, and the weather turned very windy and cold.
We found snow!
We saw a gorgeous elk.
We ended our day at Canyon, with views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I think this was the highlight of the trip for the kids. The day was almost done, and the sun was going down, we had time for just one more adventure. Owen had to use the bathroom, so Scott stayed at the top with him, and I took the other kids down a steep, switchback filled trail to the brink of the Lower Falls.
Just as we were getting ready to head back up, Scott and Owen surprised us by coming down to meet us. There was a couple of men there that offered to take our picture. I love that we got this family picture, a memory of that beautiful evening at the brink of that massive waterfall. This is why we do family vacations. To create memories like this one.
We stayed a little longer at the bottom so Owen and Scott could enjoy the scenery.
Then we started the difficult hike back to the top. Scott and I took turns piggy backing Owen and Nate.
When we reached the top, we had just the tiniest bit of daylight left, so we drove up to another lookout spot that was just off the road.
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| The kids all had to take a turn hanging from this tree branch. |
Finally the sun was down, and we made our way out of the park. It started to rain, and the roads were curvy. The scariest moment of the day was when Scott came around a curve to find a giant bison standing in the road. He slammed on the breaks, and came within just a few feet of hitting it. My heart was racing the rest of the drive home. But, we finally made it safely back to the cabin, and we all fell into our beds exhausted. It was a great day.
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