Yellowstone

It's so unreal!

Now that Michael is back, we wanted to celebrate with some of our favorite things. First up on the list, Yellowstone! We kept telling Ivan we would see some buffalo and other animals. The past couple times we've been to the park we've only seen buffalo, so we didn't want to name anything else and get his hopes up. Lucky for us, Ivan was very excited just for the buffalo! Anything else would just be an awesome extra to him. We decided to go on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, hoping we would be able to miss most of the crowds. I really wanted to go camping, but the logistics of it just weren't working out for us. Michael is on a weird work schedule and every camping thing we looked at was full. Plus, we fully enjoy nature by itself, you know, without all the tourists and other people in general. So if we're gonna go camping, it's not gonna be at a time or place where there is a ton of people. What's the fun in that?

He was so excited!

We got up early, not as early as we wanted, but as early as was sensible and comfortable for us. Ivan was so very excited, he got to wear some new clothes and couldn't wait to see the buffalo. Charlotte wasn't too excited to get in the car first thing, but she decided to cooperate and watch a movie. Side note about the DVD player in our car. There are multiple little pieces inside the little plug that plugs into the charge port of the car. At some point, a piece fell off and some other smaller pieces that were on the inside fell out. This must have been months ago since I haven't really used the DVD player at all since our trek across the country. So yesterday we went to plug the thing in and it didn't work. Uh-oh. Then I thought I had a simple fix for it. I unscrewed this little do-hicky, plugged it in, and it worked! Halfway to Yellowstone, it stopped working. Oh no. There goes any kind of peace in the car, which we would be in all day. This wasn't going to work for me. So I took apart all the other little plug things from anything that was in the car, like the phone chargers, the power converters, and the usb plug-in. After 5 or 6 chargers with nothing working, I was starting to get really upset. Then I found it. I took apart the usb thing and it had a spring that just barely fit to make the DVD plug work. Yay! Ok, so that's not that cool of a story, but hey, I'm really proud of myself for persevering and finding a fix to something I really have no idea about. Kudos to me.

First thing we saw as we entered the park, a buffalo!

Ivan and Charlotte thought the mud paint pots were so much fun! They both had a blast watching the bubbles "explode." And while we were on this trail, we had 2 different Asian families take pictures of our kids. They must be pretty dang cute. 

We saw deer! For some reason, it's pretty rare for us to see deer in Yellowstone. In fact, looking back on previous trips, we've seen more bears more often than we ever have deer. So we get really excited about it when we do see deer. 

Waiting for Old Faithful to go off. We sat next to some pretty cool people and talked about ranches and horses. And the (almost) cutest little girl ever came over and shared her snacks with Ivan and Charlotte. She was very sweet. 

Ivan was so excited about the water that shot up into the sky. He said "it goes up into the guy (sky) like an airplane!" 

Every time we pass a group of cars pulled over, we just know there's something interesting out there. So we stop and check it out. Turns out, a lot of people stop for less interesting things than what we appreciate. Not that seeing a bald eagle or an elk or buffalo isn't cool, but I always think predator! I wanna see a bear or wolf more than anything, especially since the other animals are a little more common. 

That puppy might as well be a member of the family right now. She doesn't put it down!

Cheese!

Ivan is trying so hard to hold her hand, but she's got too good a grip on that dang puppy. Milliseconds after Michael took this picture a squirrel jumped from a tree on my left and ran across the path right behind us. Michael thought the squirrel was gonna land right on us for sure. I sure love these kids. 

Charlotte is tickling Ivan. Most of the time, she just pats his head and giggles. 

We stopped to see what all the people were looking at and found 3 bighorn sheep. 2 adult females and one baby. As we drew attention to the wildlife, more people stopped and asked what we were looking at. A couple people said it was a mountain goat and a bighorn sheep. Silly heads. 

We stopped at our favorite spot for wildlife viewing and didn't see any wildlife. We took the chance to get some energy out and stretch our legs. Michael and the kids walked a ways farther than me and as I headed back to the car I saw this little guy. I was walking on the trail looking down at the camera and almost stepped on this snake. I really didn't even see it until it struck at me! It was very small, but ferocious! It must have struck at me 4 or 5 times before it slithered farther away. I took that as my chance to get a picture. Of course no settings on the camera would actual capture the snake in a clear image, so I used the close up setting. Ha! Thankfully he didn't try to get me while I had the camera right in his face. 

Lots and lots of buffalo were viewed. We also saw bighorn sheep, elk, antelope, osprey, pelicans, bald eagles, and a ton of squirrels. 

We took a chance on an offshoot and found some people spotting wolves! We could barely see what could maybe be a wolf with our camera, so who knows if that's what it actually was. But Charlotte had a blast riding on my shoulders. I would bounce while I walked and she just laughed and laughed. I started tipping her backwards to make her feel like she was falling and she wrapped her arms around my chin like this. I'm glad she didn't go for my ears or eyes! 

They're just so cute! Seriously, these are some of my favorite animals. 

Can you believe how blue this heron is? I've never seen one so blue before! 

Museum of Natural Curiosity

And he managed to climb all the way to the top. 

Friday we had plans to visit with my good friend Mandy. Her and I have been friends for so long. She was actually one of the people that helped me join the church. Remember when I visited Michele and we went to the zoo in Tennessee? Mandy and Michele are sisters. Now we're both married, not to each other, and we have kids! She had a little boy, Weston, that's about Ivan's age and any time we're in Utah we make sure we visit. This time we planned to go to Thanksgiving Point. I've driven past it I don't know how many times and yet I've never gone. Apparently it's really expensive. But, Mandy has a pass and it got us in for a quarter the price! Woohoo!

There were these awesome trains there. If you peddled with your hands, you would actually move the train around the room. Not the train Ivan's in, that's where the peddles are, but the train he moved was driving on tracks hung from the ceiling. And there was a little monitor there so you could see where the train was going. 

We decided to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, but there was a big debate between there and the dinosaur museum. I'm really glad Michael was with us. I would not have been able to do that by myself. There were a ton of people there, and quite a few of them were in our group! Mandy invited a couple of her sisters, which was way fun to see them too. So Meagan, her son and the children she nannies came. So did Molly, another sister of Mandy's.

We explored the fish ponds outside. We had tons of fun at the splash pad. Then Ivan and Weston took turns on the kid size zip line.

Look at those giant fish!

I think she's starting to warm up to Daddy again. 

This was about the most in the water the kids were. The water was really cold. Ivan did actually lay down on his belly for about a second, then he wanted to change his clothes!

Back inside, we tried to see all the wonderful exhibits they have set up. I tried to sit as often as I could, but that's a little hard when you've got 2 kids each going opposite directions! Yay for extra hands! 

This is inside the little "vet clinic." Ivan loved the stethoscope and taking x-rays. 

Charlotte just loved all the puppies! 

Feeding carrots to the bunny. 

Charlotte was a pro at pushing this wheelbarrow. This was her favorite exhibit. 

The kids had an absolute blast! Oh it was so much fun to see them exploring, playing, learning. After we were all done, as in I couldn't walk anymore, we headed back to Grandma Wampler's for naps. It was great catching up with Mandy, Meagan, and Molly. It really felt like old times, at least until our kids came back into view!

Mountain Hike

This is the picture I sent to Michael. I was trying to brag that we were here and he was still stuck in Florida. Sucker

After Ellie's party, we all stayed the night. The next morning (Thursday) we went for a short hike up a canyon somewhere. It was threatening to rain the whole time we were there, but we got lucky and it only started to sprinkle just as we were leaving. Tami was the one who had the idea to do the hike and she did all the research on where it was and what it would be like. I was really glad when she said we should go on a hike. I love hiking! And it had been a while since I'd actually been in the mountains. The hike was supposed to be super short, really easy, and have a waterfall at the end. 

Gorgeous.

The drive was gorgeous. The hike was short, but I wouldn't say it was super easy. It was uphill and pretty rocky at the end. Ivan and Ellie did great climbing over things. Ivan was like a mountain goat set free in his natural habitat. He traversed that mountain hike in about 2 minutes. Charlotte and I were a little slower. It took us about 7 minutes to get to the end. And I was huffing and puffing by the time we got there. 

Charlotte had to carry her water the whole way up the mountain. She did pretty well hiking for a bit, but she needed a lot of extra help when it came to the rocky part. 

Her cheese face is the cutest! She was pretty proud to be on top of this giant rock. 

The waterfall was really cool too. It was more like a sheet of water coming straight down the face of the mountain. and it pooled into a little stream right where we were standing. There was lots of rock climbing, digging in the sand, throwing rocks into the water, and yelling. The waterfall was a little loud, so Ivan took that as an open invitation to be as loud as he could. 

We made it to the top!

There's the waterfall, behind Ivan. This is the only picture I actually got off the waterfall. 

A helicopter flew over and all the kids started waving like crazy.

Throwing rocks.

More cheese faces!

After we were all done with the hike, we still had more time to kill before nap time. This meant a trip to Scheels!

Charlotte was so scared of this bear. She cried the whole time she was near it. guess it is pretty scary. 

And she thought the skunks were dogs. She immediately went over to them and started petting them. Ivan kept saying "PU!" over and over again.  

After I was done walking around, we went to a play place and let the kids run around even more. Charlotte got stuck at the top, figures, and Ivan wasn't a good listener. We didn't last long there at all. Then we headed back to Tami's for a nap. The kids went to sleep really fast, and so did I. I heard my phone ring a couple times while I was sleeping and was just too exhausted to get up and get it. Three hours of a nap later, I finally checked my phone. One of the calls was my sister and the other was Michael. I called back and he asked when I would be getting to his grandparents house. He said he was going to go to bed after we got off the phone so he could get a really early start on his drive back starting Friday. So I headed to Grandma Wampler's and got there at about 5 or 6. Ivan walked in first and just as he rounds the stairs and gets into the living room I hear him whisper "I found dad." What?! I was confused. Then Michael peeked his head around the corner and I about dropped Charlotte! My first reaction was, "you tricked me!" And I cried. And Ivan laughed. And Charlotte ran away. Haha. She didn't want to have anything to do with Michael. Ivan was so excited to see his dad. I missed the first look, but managed to get a good picture of them hugging.

Surprise! 

Ellie's Birthday

Do you know Ellie? Ellie is one of Ivan's favorite friends. She and Ivan have been friends since Ivan was a baby. She is without a doubt Ivan's first girlfriend, and his betrothed. These guys are two peas in a pod that's for sure.

That is the designated reading chair. 

We were going to Utah to pick up Michael and planned to go a couple days early to see some friends. I wanted to be there Friday but Michael wouldn't get there til Sunday. I planned to visit Tami (Ellie's mom) since they are living close to Michael's grandparents. Turns out they were headed out of town that day. Tami invited me to Ellie's birthday party which would be on Wednesday. What a fun idea! I decided it would be good for us to get there a couple days earlier instead of missing out on seeing these friends altogether. After I agreed to go to the party, I had some serious trouble with the kids and my pregnancy and life itself. I had a huge breakdown on Sunday, triggered by who knows what, and actually experienced by Michael. Most of our time apart I'd been able to compose myself while talking to him. And for the first couple weeks I was truly happy that I'd come back to Rexburg. At the end of our time apart I was really starting to lose it. I was really freaked out by my constant contractions. I was pretty scared I was gonna have a baby at 29 whatever weeks and that it would be without Michael. And a person can only take so much of being with their kids all day every day. At least I can only take so much of doing it all by myself. I had long debated making the drive to Salt Lake, an almost 4 hour trip. Brenda offered to pick up Michael. Michael offered to take the bus. While I was talking to Michael on Sunday I totally lost it. I couldn't even talk through the tears. This made me decide it was better to not be alone with my kids any longer than I absolutely had to.

Yum, icing! I think that's about all the kids actually ate of the cupcakes. That's ok, I was able to dispose of them, no problem :)

And we're back on track to Ellie's birthday party! Ellie is turning 3 at the end of the month! We had chicken salad sandwiches for dinner. Tami put cashews in them! Have you ever tried that? It's incredible. Seriously, I've never liked chicken salad sandwiches before this pregnancy. I had no idea what I was missing out on! Then we had chocolate cupcakes with yummy pink icing. Ellie loved all her presents. Ivan and Charlotte loved them too.

Somehow Charlotte got icing all over her face, dress, the counter, and me. It's so fun being a kid. 

Madison County Fair

Every year I look forward to the fair. I have never seen a fair like the Eastern Idaho State Fair. It is seriously impressive. Michael will actually be home when the fair is here, but I decided that walking around that huge fair might be a little much for me this year with the way this pregnancy is going. And even if I have help with the kids, I'll just be that much farther along and that much less mobile. So I'm passing on the EISF and I'm going to the Madison County Fair instead.

Just milking a fake cow. He didn't understand it at first, but once some water came out, he jumped! 

I was really impressed. It doesn't cost to get in, a huge plus! We were able to spend our money on some rides, which we've never let the kids do before, and on the food, which we always do.

The "rides" we did were just a bunch of bouncy houses. You paid for a certain amount of time to play on all these different things. It was nice to have some variety so Charlotte and Ivan would be entertained. Charlotte absolutely loved this thing. She would walk in circles til she fell over then laugh and laugh. 

You see that little person in the blue shirt on the left slide? That's Ivan. He climbed all the way to the top of those stairs by himself and yelled "woohoo" the whole way down the slide. I think he needed to weigh just a little more cuz he kept getting sucked over to the side. It worked well though, then he didn't go super fast down the slide. 

The rides were pricey, but the kids had so much fun I didn't mind. And I've been selling some of the toys they don't play with as much and I used that money as our fun money.

Ivan got to ride a pony! He was the only kid over there at the time, so they gave him an extra long ride. He sure is a natural on a horse. Charlotte didn't want to get on one, but she was more than happy to let it sniff her hand.

That's one happy kid right there! He kept telling me we would do this again when dad came home. 

Then we got to walk around the animal barns. Some of the animals were really cute and the kids sure enjoyed seeing them all. They just love animals.

This little calf kept licking everybody. Ivan giggled when he stuck his tongue out but was less than impressed when the calf started nibbling on him. 

The sheep in the front was chewing on the stroller. Charlotte laughed uncontrollably! Ivan yelled at the sheep and said "you be nice to my sister, sheep." I guess he thought she was sad?

After we were done walking around and playing, we grabbed some food, some delicious, really bad for you, fair food. Then the rodeo started. This was also free to attend. We didn't last long there, since I was thoroughly exhausted and the kids were much too wound up to sit a watch. They kept scaling the fence and trying to get in with the mutton busting group.

Just a bunch of crazies wanting to be in the rodeo.