Yellowstone

We went to Yellowstone whilst traveling in Idaho since we were already so far north and decided we'd better take advantage of the opportunity. 

One of our stops was the Dragon's Mouth...named for the hiss of steam spewing out and the rumbling from within that sounds eerily like a dragon.  Dennis had a love/scared relationship with it.

The scenery was surreal and out of this world ... I mean check out this circle river.  Crazy.

We saw about 56 buffalo, this was the first one.  Q was intrigued with the beasts and fondly dubbed them "buffos".  We also saw a couple of bald eagles, a yellow-bellied marmot, and an elk.  The kids kept track.  We brought a cousin along and boy does she ever have sharp eyes.  She spotted most of the animals first.

We hiked down a trail to view the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  It was spectacular. The hiking attire was too. We somehow lost one of Mr. C's tennis shoes in Idaho somewhere so he hiked with one flip flop and one tennis shoe for at least a little traction. He got lots of raised eyebrows and quick glances.

This is just a reminder to never scratch your eye and look like a dork when your mother is asking you to hold still for a picture, and then run off so she can't get a decent one... or you may end up with something like this...

The kids enjoyed the wonderful smells the park had to offer.  Sulphur greeted their nostrils at every stop and they complained heavily and with lots of drama.  Funny kids.

We stopped at some picnic tables for our nutritious dinner of hot dogs, Cheetos and Kool-Aid.   And we got to use our brand new sweet little 3-in-1 grill for the first time.

The kidlets were ecstatic to let loose and run wild like crazed maniacs with Cheetos.

Next we visited Old Faithful.  It was great.  Everyone ooohed and ahhhed at the appropriate times.

We even stayed in a very quaint (and by quaint I mean teeny) cabin right by Old Faithful.  The next morning we got up and ate our Instant Oatmeal overlooking a river sparkling in the morning sun.  It made me want to burst out in song.

We went on lots of little hikes and saw tons of hot pots and blow holes.

It was definitely an experience to remember.