Bears!!!!

I was very thankful to not see bears in Yellowstone but Neil was not happy at all. As we were driving out of Rexburg, there it was, Bear Land!!! A zoo to see bears. We got to drive through an area with bears running around. Leave your windows up! They had a petting zoo for the kids and even some albino animals. I guess it was worth the money to make Neil happy.

Yellowstone- Day 2

Yellowstone

We arrived in Yellowstone fairly early. The boys helped Neil set up the tent. They were getting really good by now. Neil told me about the Super Volcanoe on the way. I guess I knew but its pretty scary to think about sleeping on a volcano. We went to see Old Faithful. It was awesome. Old Faithful was not faithful according to Michael. He is obsessed with time. It blew up 15 minutes late. He was very impatient. We have learned to not give him an exact time if we can not guarantee it is going to happen then. The park rangers are lucky I didn't turn him loose on them.

Wyoming

We stopped to see Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Our goal was to make it to Yellowstone that night. I guess in Wyoming there is always road construction. It took forever!!We decided to stay in Cody for the night. Cody, Wyoming, all hotels sold out!!!! So we drove another 20 min. out of the way to a town in the middle of nowhere. The kids did really good after driving 12 hours. Seth put on his disguise and started drinking through his nose. We were all laughing a lot. Thanks for your silliness Seth.

Come again another day

We all really enjoyed the rain while on vacation, since we rarely see it at home. The rainbow was unbelievabley beutiful. Breathtaking. After the rain, we were thankful for a t.v. and hook ups so the boys had something to do while it dried out.

Evan's Plunge- Day 6

While in South Dakota, we went to Hot Springs. They have a water park called Evan's plunge. The boys had a blast!! The water was the perfect temperature. Mikey was the only one to attempt the steep tube slide. He seems so at home in the water. It's like he is missing his gills!!

Our Campground

We stayed at Beaver Lake Campground in S.D. There were wild bunnies that weren't so wild. The boys had a good time petting and feeding them. The campground also had bikes for the kids to use, a pool and waterslide which we didn't have time to use, a store, cable T.V.(great for the rainy afternoon), and wi-fi(great for sending pics home). We were real happy there and loved the location.

The Alpine Slide

The kids were real excited to ride the Alpine Slide. We took a ski lift up. Super Scary. Its basically a park bench with no seat belts that flies really high off the ground. Erik has no fear so he kept wiggling and looking over the edge. Layron and I who do have healthy fear didn't so much as breathe. I think Erik had red marks on his arm from my death grip. Then we rode a slide down the hill on little scooters. That part was fun. Afterwards Neil really wanted to ride a helicopter. The people said he could take 1 kid. They picked numbers and Erik won. He had a great time because he has no fear. It was something Neil has always wanted to do.

Day 5- Mt. Rushmore

So the much anticipated day had arrived. We all couldn't wait to see the "Guys on the mountain." It didn't dissappoint. We drove the scenic route on the way there. We couldn't stop taking pics and video. I don't think I've ever seen so much green. There were so many trees that I started to get claustrophobic. We drove through one lane tunnels. Mt. Rushmore was breathtaking. We had lunch and some ice cream. By the time we left, Erik could say Mt. Rushmore. Later that night we also went to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. It was awesome too.

Vacation

We saw a lot of wildlife on our trip. Buffalo, burro, and prairie dogs.

Day 4- Martin's Cove

From Salt Lake to Casper Wyoming we followed the Mormon Trail. It was an amazing experience. We researched info. before we left but we had no idea what was in store for us. We found Martin's Cove area and pulled over. The couple missionaries there were so helpful and kind. We pulled handcarts, went into museums, saw a baptismal font in the Sweetwater River and the kids got rings made out of nails. It was great. We couldn't help but feel the spirit there. I think we all have a much better grasp for what the pioneers went through. We also saw Devil's Gate and climbed on Independence Rock.