Jackson and Old Faithful

On Friday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed to downtown Jackson. Logan was pretty sad to leave the Painted Buffalo Hotel! He really loved that place for some reason. A quick side note about Logan - He introduced himself to EVERYONE on this trip and proceeded to tell them that he was moving to Yellowstone for 3 days! It was a little funny! He is quite the social butterfly!

No trip to Jackson would be complete without a trip to The Bunnery, so we went there for breakfast....YUMMM!!! That place is so delicious! It was really crowded, but worth the wait!Logan and Rylee had their favorite breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes!

We had a great breakfast!!! We ended breakfast with a delicious sticky bun!
After breakfast, we were off to explore the shops in downtown Jackson. Rylee found this pine cone "treasure" and had to carry it around while we shopped!Little window shoppers - We had a great time browsing around. One of our favorite places to visit was the Mangelson photography gallery. He takes the coolest nature photos! We also went to the little park and lots of souvenir shops. You can't leave Jackson without a picture with the antlers! - Logan thought this archway was so cool - He called it the "rainbow of horns" - I thought it was a cute description!

Logan trying on Cowboy hats in one of the shops - He wanted a hat pretty bad, but we talked him into something else.

Rylee had to try one on, too. Hers was PINK, of course!

One of the shops was filled with taxidermy. This was Logan's favorite - The wild boar!

Rylee liked the buffalo - I couldn't believe she wanted to touch it!

Here are the kids with the souvenirs they chose. Logan got this elastic gun and Rylee picked a little bracelet. (Side note: both items are now broken :( ) In one of the stores we were in, there was music playing and the song was "That's Not My Name". (I don't know if that is what it is called, but that is the part Logan likes the best!) He sang it over and over and it was cracking us up! He sang it for most of the trip, making up most of his own lyrics! It was a little break from High School Musical once in awhile. Then we were on our way to Yellowstone! We drove through Teton National Park and had to stop and take advantage of this great view of the Tetons! So amazing! It was beautiful!

Logan trying out Daddy's binoculars.

Daddy and Logan looking for some wildlife

Me and Darren with the Tetons in the background. Rylee was sleeping in the car during this stop

Our next stop was Jackson Lake. The kids loved checking out the water and throwing rocks in the lake!

The kids at Jackson Lake

Me and Rylee - This place was so beautiful! Rylee did step in dog poop there and left our car really stinky until we figured out the problem and got them cleaned up!

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we did see a couple of buffalo and 2 Spike Elk in Teton National Park. Soon, we were in Yellowstone, which had the kids pretty excited! Logan only called it "Yellowstone National Park". Never just Yellowstone. We were pretty surprised to see SNOW once we got there too!

Our first stop in Yellowstone was this little waterfall called Lewis Falls. Rylee couldn't wait to get out of the car and throw a snowball! She loves that! We drove a little further and then stopped at for a potty break and lunch at Grant Village. We didn't find anything too exciting to eat so we decided to try some of the stuff we packed. I gave the kids a Lunchable, and they LOVED it! They thought it was the greatest thing ever and it was so funny to see them build their little sandwiches. The weather wasn't the greatest and it was raining off and on, and we didn't see much wildlife. We did cross the Continental Divide 3 times, and once we got close to Old Faithful, we saw a Mommy buffalo and her baby cross the road.

When we got to Old Faithful, it was pouring rain! We found out that it was supposed to rupture in about 20 minutes, so we debated if we should get out or try again the next day. We finally decided that we weren't sure where we would end up the next day, so we should go while we were there. Luckily, we remembered our rain coats because we really needed them on this trip! Logan wasn't phased at all by the rain - He was SO excited to see Old Faithful. Rylee wasn't too happy at first... She hates rain in her eyes... but she did fine once we got going and was excited, too.

Ready for Old Faithful in the rain!

Can you tell he is excited???? This was the highlight of his trip! He loves to tell people about how he saw "The World's Largest Geyser!" It really isn't the largest, but that is what Logan has named it!

Watching the eruption

Rylee looking pretty amazed at Old Faithful. I love this face!Logan with Old Faithful in the background - It was really hard to get him to turn around for even a second to snap a picture because he was so into watching it

After watching the eruption, we headed for the Visitors Center since it was dry there! They were just getting ready to show a movie about geysers, so we went to watch it. Rylee only made it for a minute or two before Darren had to take her out because she was so loud, but Logan LOVED it! I thought it was a little boring, but Logan was SO into it and frequently tells people it was one of his favorite things about our trip. I don't know how many 4 year olds like that kind of stuff! What a funny kid! He also read a sign in the Visitors Center - He said "O-F-F. That spells Off Mom" and in the car, he read the word Froggy in one of his books!

When we came out of the Visitors Center, the rain had stopped, so we decided to take awhile and explore Old Faithful and some of the other hot pots and geysers.

Cute Kids at Old Faithful

Logan and Rylee were LOVING running around and being silly after being stuck in the car all day! Rylee insisted on holding hands and they were so funny. Rylee also had a bit of the obsession with the buffalo poop all around the place. There weren't any buffalo around, which was weird to me, but lots of poop and she had to point ALL of it out to us! She also said, "Mom, I have a question. Can we go see the geysers please?" It was too cute! Then she kept saying, "I have LOTS of questions" and saying all sorts of funny and random things. You have to love kids and all the funny things they say!

Logan at one of the hot pots. He thought all this stuff was so cool and it was his favorite thing to look at in Yellowstone. He and Rylee both thought it was hilarious that the geysers smelled funny and loved to say that the geysers tooted or smelled like toots, or say "Dad, did you toot?" and blame the sulfur small on him!

We didn't get to see much wildlife while we were driving and we were kind of disappointed! We finally spotted an elk across the river and Darren was really excited to show Logan. I thought they looked so cute watching the elk. We also saw a few buffalo here and there, but nothing like you usually see.

We made a couple other little stops including Firehole Lake, but our favorite was Firehole Falls! It was so pretty!

We saw a lot of people pulled over at one point and stopped and saw a coyote a little ways from the road. We got out and watched him for awhile and it was really cool to see. Logan and Rylee really liked trying to use their binoculars, but I don't know if they ever actually saw the coyote!

After the coyote, we saw an eagle's nest, a couple more elk and a huge herd of buffalo - Finally! Logan said "There are hundreds and hundreds of them! I can't believe my eyes!" Then, we finally made it to West Yellowstone! It was only about a hundred miles from Jackson to West Yellowstone, but it took us most of the day with all the stops we made and we were all pretty tired and excited to see our hotel. Especally Logan and Rylee! Their favorite thing to do whenever we arrive at a hotel is jump on the beds!!!

This is one of my favorite memories from the whole trip! When we got to the hotel, we were all really tired and when we took Logan's shoes off, his feet were all wrinkly. I think he splashed in a few too many puddles at Old Faithful and got his feet wet. He described his condition as "Capri Detect"! I have NO idea where that came from or what it means, but it had us laughing for most of the trip!!!

We grabbed a quick (and somewhat greasy) dinner that night at Buckaroo Bill's. It was yummy after a long day and they also had great ice cream! The people who own it are members of the church and Logan was really excited to see missionaries there! Then we headed back to go to bed! We were all exhausted from our fun day!

On the Road to Jackson

In the beginning of June, we took a quick family vacation. With buying the new house and moving, we had a lot of expenses and had been so busy, so we knew it couldn't be a huge trip, but we really wanted to do something fun with the kids before I got too prego to enjoy it. About a week before, we decided to go to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone and had a great time! I didn't know if the kids would get into it after having been to Disneyland and those places, but they had a lot of fun.


We left Thursday morning (June 4th) for Jackson Hole. The kids were SO excited to leave - They LOVE anytime we stay at a hotel and get so excited for trips!
She really was happy....I don't know why this sad face! I think it may have been naptime!
Logan all ready to go to Yellowstone. He talked about this trip for a long time before we left and still asks to go to Yellowstone all the time. He loved it! My sister introduced Logan to High School Musical recently and so we spent much of the trip listening to the CD in the car. I think we can now all sing the entire thing! Logan's favorites are "16", "Get Your Head in the Game" and "Hey Batter, Batter". Darren wasn't too happy about it, but I am pretty sure he could now sing all the songs for you, too. Are we there yet???

We drove a couple hours to Soda Springs, Idaho for a lunch stop. I thought it would be a pretty big town, but it wasn't! There wasn't much of a choice for food, but we found this cute little pizza place that was a buffet and was kind of funny. We love those kind of little places! Daddy and Rylee enjoying their pizzaLogan and momLogan and Rylee in front of the pizza place

I bought the kids these little binoculars as a special surprise for the trip and to use in the car and they LOVED them! I thought it was so cute to watch them try and use them! I also found Logan this little basketball computer game for $1! He thought he was in heaven!

This is one of my favorite memories from our trip! After leaving Soda Springs, there was a sign that said "No Gas for 70 Miles" YIKES! We were seriously in the middle of NOWHERE! Of course, Logan had to go potty right in the middle of those 70 miles! So, Darren pulled over to take him and as soon as he opened the door, we were swamped by TONS of mosquitoes! He ran him over to the bushes and the poor kid was COVERED in mosquitoes while he was trying to go! Even when I cracked the window to get a picture, the whole car filled with TONS of mosquitoes - it was so gross!!! Darren ended up rushing him back and he couldn't go! He promised us he could hold it until we got to a bathroom, and he did, but then he wouldn't get out of the car until we told him there weren't any mosquitoes. Everywhere we went after that, he asked if there were going to be mosquitoes there. Poor kid! He had mosquito bites ALL over his legs and his poor little bum - It almost looked like chicken pox there were so many of them! It was so sad! He was itching all weekend.

I don't know if I have ever seen Logan SO excited as when we arrived at our hotel in Jackson, the Painted Buffalo. He was jumping on the beds and running around like crazy and STILL talks about that hotel (which really wasn't that nice...) He was especially excited to go swim in the hotel pool!

Boys playing in the pool-Logan loves to swim!

Me and Rylee chilling poolside

Rylee going for a swim with Daddy - She didn't last too long! She wasn't too sure about swimming for some reason. Rylee did have lots of fun splashing all of us and kicking her feet in the water

After swimming for a bit, we headed out to see the Bar J Wranglers and have some dinner. Once we got to the ranch, there was a car pulled over and we looked out to see this moose and her tiny baby! So cool! It is hard to see with the trees in the way, but I didn't dare to get any closer!

We had some time to walk around and explore the ranch while we waited for dinner and we had lots of fun!

Hugs for this bear from Rylee!

The ranch was lots of fun and the kids loved exploring and running around, especially after a full day of driving in the car! They really loved when they saw a squirrel and Rylee loved chasing him!

Ready for dinner!!!

Thumbs up for dinner! They serve a delicious cowboy dinner at the Bar J! We all really liked it! We sat by a couple of older ladies - one from Australia and one from Idaho - and while we were waiting for dinner, Logan asked Darren "Dad, what is pole dancing?" Darren tried to ignore him, but then he just asked even louder! I'm sure the ladies were very impressed!

Thumbs up from Rylee on her dinner, too!

The Bar J Wranglers! They were really entertaining and we had a lot of fun! It got a little long for the kids at the end, but overall, it was great!!! They were really funny and so talented! It was a really fun start to our vacation.