Ice Cream

Just before we left Yellowstone, 

Sweetheart and I took the boys for ice cream.

The ice cream counter was a 100 year old soda fountain.

Underfoot enjoyed his ice cream.

We enjoyed the ice cream and were grateful for the family time.

Slide

The 6 youngest children in the family were playing outside.

I asked them to go down the slide in birth order.

Angel, Hurricane, Goldilocks, Linc, Sparky, and Underfoot.

They were asked to be goofy.

I love that they stuck out their tongues, and Underfoot played it straight.

Goldilocks and Angel are dear friends

as are their Mothers.

Our boys played their hearts out with their cousins.

They are lucky to have cousins to play with on vacation.

Baseball Game

Sweetheart's family are quite competitive. 

Baseball is no different.

Here is the pitch. 

The batter is ready.

The swing comes through.

Hurricane and Mama Jane run the bases.

They go for home!

The greatest surprise was that 

Sweetheart knows how to hit a baseball.

We don't play a lot of baseball around here.

He continues to amaze me.

Feeding Bears

We learned at Bear World that the center has an opportunity 

for children to come and feed the bears by hiding the food.

We signed up Hurricane and Underfoot to participate.

When we got there, the staff said Hurricane couldn't participate 

because he was too young.

Upon payment, the staff didn't say anything. 

Hurricane cried his head off.

The staff relented and let him go with his responsible cousin.

They were each given a red bucket full of apples and dog food.

The children really enjoyed hiding the food.

They took the suggestions of the staff.

When the bears came out, the children were not in the enclosure.

Bear World

On the 4th of July, 

we visited the Yellowstone Bear World.

Uncle Beck and Auntie Mimi pose with their darling daughters.
The family toured the facility with a guide.
The facility has bears, wolves, and birds.

They educate about the different animals.

Auntie M is always has open arms and is loving.

These two cousins are close in age. 

They are looking at the bald eagles.

The eagles will never return to the wild.

In the gift shop, they have this HUGE couch.

It is a perfect spot to wait and rest before the next stop.

For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People

Underfoot finished the Junior Ranger requirements for 

Yellowstone National Park.

 

We went for the award at Mammoth Hot Springs.

The Ranger asked if Underfoot wanted

his accomplishment announced to the group or given quietly.

He wanted it announced.

Since we were on the North side of the park, we went to the entrance

for a picture with the sign.

Underfoot had passed out from our hike on Bunsen Peak.

Hurricane was holding on for the scenery.

He got his picture with the Roosevelt Arch.

President Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone.

The completed arch reads

"For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."

On our way back to West Yellowstone, 

we pass the sign for the 45th parallel.

After the pictures,

Hurricane passed out.

We all slept very well that night.

Bunsen Peak

Bunsen Peak is named after the same man 

who the Bunsen Burner was named.

 The trail is 2.1 miles long one way.

The ascent was hard with a 1,278 ft elevation change.

We trained to hike but weren't prepared for this.

Underfoot started to struggle once we got toward the top.

His Uncle Beck came by to offer to carry him to the top.

I asked him not to help Underfoot to the top 

because Underfoot needed to conquer the mountain on his own.

Hurricane started to cry as well. 

Since he was hiking with Dad, 

Sweetheart helped him get to the top.

He was glad to see his cousins at the top.

Once we reached the top,

Underfoot was SO PROUD of himself.

He kept saying that he made it.

I'm grateful to Uncle Beck to not help him.

Sweetheart was our rock.

He kept us going and was positive.

I was tired - physically and emotionally.

There was a lot of changes in the last 3 weeks.

Even with the excitement of the changes,

I was tired.

Our sons were blessed to have their Dad.

We made it to the top. 

Our descent was hard as well.

I had promised that I wouldn't carry our boys on any of the hikes.

Near the end, they needed to be carried a little.

The car was a welcome site.

We know we can do hard things.

Grand Prismatic Pool

Day 2 dawned bright and early.

The first stop was the Grand Prismatic Pool 

at the Midway Geyser Basin.

The water from the pools comes into the river which heats the water.

The water is comfortable to play in.

Again T-bone and Miss C balance across the river.

 After crossing the bridge there isn't much.

It looks quite barren.

Bessa and Miss K are a lovely contrast for the environment.

This is one of the pools. The water reaches 160 degrees.

The steam is incredible.

Glasses fogged up quickly.

If he wanted to see where he was going,

he had to remove his glasses.

Moo, Mama J, and Gito pose.

Mama J was hoping I could get a picture of the vibrant color.

The steam prevented that shot but the family shot is totally worth it!

Here is a glimpse of the color.

The wind blew and cleared the fog for a moment.

Moo talked with Hurricane who is informing her about something fascinating.

Hurricane would talk and talk and talk to Moo.

She patiently listened to everything he said.

And it was everything!

Hurricane was determined to not stay on the walk.

He thought we were playing tag.

We were attempting to avoid the fee for stepping off the walk.

 

T-Bone poses with his ladies. 

Just around the corner the colors are amazing.

The reflection in the background is part of the color on the ground.

The colors go from very light turquoise to orange.

The only way to get a really good shot of the color is to hike the mountain behind the pool.

You can see the colors from the walkway.

My photography skills are the best at capturing what I saw.

My words are even poor at trying to describe the magic of the colors.

Moo has the brightest smile.

Her shirt has a lot of the colors we saw and in the same brilliance.

Here is the run off into the river.

The mineral deposits are in the water as it runs off.

The blues are in the heat, and the oranges are in the run off.

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

Later that night, we returned to West Yellowstone and attended 

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

at the Playmill Theater.

We sat in the front and watched.

Underfoot sang the songs from the show the rest of the week.

Hurricane changed the lyrics to the songs.

The nephews got picked to be loved on stage for the pre-show.

After a day of hiking, we were tired.

Sweetheart though went and bought 

a 3 gallon bucket of homemade ice cream.

The tradition began before our marriage.

It has become expected that at some point ice cream will show up.