Yellowstone

It's time for our trip up to Yellowstone National Park. Chris says he goes just to go and see the animals.... at least he enjoys them. Over all, I think he really does enjoy going to the park, I know I do. I'll let the pictures do the talking....

This was actually taken on our 2nd day there. It snowed over night, and some in the morning, and they wouldn't let us into the park without snow tires or 4 wheel drive, so we heading up to Big Sky to see if we could see any animals.... no animals, but at least we could stop and get a pic by the sign.

there's a buffalo out there, but I like the scenery too

yeah it was raining, good thing we brought our umbrellas

a waterfall.... sadly I have forgotten the name of it... oops

my boys by the falls

I know, it's painful to take a picture with me

He's found a good way to stay out of the rain

Mommy and her little guy!

the three guys looking for animals

no animals, but he found a mud pot

CHEESE!!

Last year the boys sticking their tongues out at the Black Cauldron.....

..... and this year at the same place.... still sticking their tongues out

OMG.... is he actually smiling?!?!

Running thru some steam.....

....still going...

"It stinks mom!"

He calls them the stinky pots now

looking down at some of the geysers

Look, I'm holding buffalo in my hands.... no thats not pee in the bottle, he had some orange drink

me and mom being goofy

Kissy faces

Cute smiles

It started to snow on our way back..... here's a picture of a bull elk out in the snow

This was Friday when we went up to Big Sky, it was really pretty with the clouds lingering on the mountains

a little more of the snow, this was by the Yellowstone sign

part of the road heading from Big Sky to West Yellowstone. The snow on the trees was so pretty!

while souvenir shopping in West Yellowstone, Chris found a table and chairs just his size

"I found something we should get Mom"

Thats a BIG fish for a little guy

BBBRRRR..... its cold!

there are painted Buffalo all around West Yellowstone, this was about the extent of the wild animals we saw this day.

Ok, well maybe these wild animals too

and these wild ones too.... this was at a little museum in West Yellowstone

My boys

showing us his buffalo horns

the painted buffalo outside the museum.... I think he might be trying to tell me its still cold out there

Saturday morning we were able to get back into the park, they were still saying there was a snow tire restriction, but they still let us in

We saw this heard of elk almost every morning in this field, today we stopped and got a good look of this big guy.... I don't think my little guy liked turning his back on the elk though

He likes it better when he's taking the pictures of the animals

his picture of the elk

we came across this little coyote a little ways down the road

this is more like it, its not Yellowstone if you don't run across a few buffalo right by the road

Posing by the run off from the Excelsior Geyser Crater

another mommy and me

Next to the Excelsior Geyser Crater

turquoise pool

giving mommy smooches

and a clown in the background

checking out the information on the geysers

so this is what these things are all about

Grand Prismatic Spring

back to the Excelsior Crater

more steam from the hot springs

looking for some fish in the river

OLD FAITHFUL

my goof ball posing in front of Old Faithful

up closer to Old Faithful after it had erupted

he wanted to do a muscle shot

SQUEEZE!

Yup, Old Faithful

Love this kid! Love the SMILE!

Gibbon Falls

he had more fun jumping off the rocks than looking at the water fall

traffic jam in Mammoth Springs

this big guy is standing a little in front of my car

he walked right past my car window, but I tried to take a picture of him on my phone, but it didn't take, so this is the best I have.

WOW Mom, LOOK!!

checking out a wild animal with the binoculars

helping "Mommy Grizzly Bear" look through the binoculars...... and what are they looking at.....

a GRIZZLY BEAR!!!

he was about 80 yards away from us, we sat and watched him eat for about 30 mins, it was pretty cool seeing him this close to us

another Yellowstone road block, these guys were having a little battle in the middle of the street

I love the line: "Keep Children Under Control"

another clear geyser pool

the boys checking another one out

my boys again.... wondering why I made them hike out here to these pools

another mommy and me

Morning Glory pool! This one is my FAVORITE!!

little guy being goofy

I think he's trying to pop my head off

mommy and me at Morning Glory

the information sign explaining the different colors.... pretty cool to think its the bacteria living in these thermal pools that make these amazing colors

being goofy again.... "Look Mom"

nice smiles by the river

another geyser pool

Grotto Geyser

again, more fun jumping

doing his karate moves in front of the geyser.

We ended up walking about 2 miles on this trail to see all these pools and these last two geysers. Thankfully Jared opted to go get the car and meet us at the end of it before we got too far down the trail. Chris walked/ran the whole things on his own, even though he tried to get me to, I wouldn't carry him. We were heading back to Salt Lake after this, so I was hoping it would wear him out and he might take a little nap on the drive home. Well, no luck with the nap, but he was good on the drive home. I had so much fun walking through all this stuff with my little guy!

two boys being goofy running down the trail

We had so much fun in Yellowstone. We love seeing the animals, and (mostly me) enjoying seeing the amazing geothermal activity of this place. I have to thank my Dad for all the times he took us to Yellowstone as kids, and he showed me the amazing geology of this place. I'm so grateful that I can take my son to some great places like this, and expose him to some of the amazing wonders of our world. I hope someday he can look back and appreciate the amazing things we get to do in Yellowstone National Park! Hope you all enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.