Our Last Day in Wyoming

Happy Father's Day, Scott!! We spent our last full day at Jennie Lake. It was beautiful. We stopped for lunch at Dornan's and ate inside a teepee which was really cool. I had buffalo burger and it was yummy! Then we shot over to the lake. You can take a boat across the lake so we did that instead of walking the 2.5 miles around it. We wanted to hike up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. The map said they were moderate hikes. I don't know what these people consider difficult hikes, that's for sure. We almost died. It made the Bradley Lake 4.5 mile hike look like a walk in the park! We had to climb on rocks along the side of this mountain -- one side wall and the other side, drop offs. And the elevation was making it difficult to breath! We were laughing at one point and Erica was crying at one point and Spencer just wanted to throw things off the mountain!! Happy Father's Day .... we did make it and it was definitely worth the fight to the top. Spencer made a friend when he opened the cheetoh's bag ... a chipmunk, of course! It was an amazing day ... we drove home tired and winded but felt great. We are hating to leave this place. We all fell in love with the scenery and the area. It will be boring to be back in Florida ....

So Long, Wyoming!

Karen and Tim left a day earlier than us so Saturday was our last day together. We had breakfast out in the morning before Yellowstone and then Saturday evening, we had a wonderful dinner at this amazing steak house. They had animals all over the place, stuffed of course!! We took this picture of them with the kids on the last day. Scott took them to the airport Sunday morning at 6am and guess what they saw .... a momma moose and her two little ones following her in the middle of the neighborhood street!! It was as if they had all come out to say goodbye to them!!! They said it was beautiful and of course, did any of them think to take the camera??? I'm still wondering if this is just another big fish story to tease me for not getting out of bed ....................

For Beth --- From Spencer!

My friend, Beth, is a photographer. When she was taking classes, she needed a picture of something in motion. So she got Scott to throw Spencer in the air as high as he would go and when he did, she got this picture that made Spencer look like he was jumping off the roof! It turned out really cool. Well, I got this picture and when I opened it up, it looks like Spencer is lifting or pulling this huge log right out of the forest! I thought of you, Beth, and knew you would enjoy this picture! What a man .....

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

This is a few pictures of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was amazing ... the color of the rock, the dimension, the depth .... my pictures almost look 3-D. I could not get over how deep the canyons are and then there is this turquoise rolling river running through it. Waterfalls that were so high and the water running off was so loud and intense. It would almost take your breath away. You would look down and see birds flying through the canyons on the wind and the boys spotted a small animal on a cliff. I wasn't sure what it was. Karen watched an osprey through the binoculars dive into the water and grab a fish. He landed on the edge of a rock and swallowed it! So cool ... Keeping the boys from the edges was the hardest part --- no clue, none. I found myself wanting to grab them by their shirts every time we made a stop!!! There weren't many safety measures -- not a good thing with Spencer. But they did finally see how high we were and got a small fear for it. Thank the Lord! These were taken prior to our buffalo encounter on our picnic ... we are still laughing about that :) I really wish you could have seen Scott's face!

Finally ... the Picture!!!

There was one picture I wanted on this trip. I just wanted that one picture where the water was so still you could see the reflection on the water. I FINALLY got it Saturday morning on our way to Yellowstone again. It was early morning and the wind was so still. It was so quiet except for the birds singing and we came around the corner and there this was! Exactly what I had been waiting for ......incredible.

Another Gift ....

While we were riding ATV's on Friday, we were heading back down to return them and Scott yelled for us to stop. I was the only one who heard him and when we did, he had found a doe with two small fawns!! They had apparently just been born. The mother shot off from them into the brush hoping that we would not see them. But the two little fawns were hobbling and trying to walk over to the brush and hide! We think they had just been born maybe an hour or less prior to us riding up. They still had a matted wet look to them, too. It was absolutely amazing standing there watching them and taking pictures. We were sure the mother had not gone far from them either. We left so she could get back to them. All we know is we didn't see a bear but this was surely a wonderful gift from God - to see His creation in true nature like this and the beauty of each one ..... it was truly amazing .... an absolute gift.

A Crazy Papa ....

I got this great picture of Tim. If you will notice, he is ALONE on the 4 wheeler. We approached this creek and bank. The bank was really steep and Karen and I REFUSED to try it. So Tim said he would cross the FAST MOVING water and go up the hill. He made it across and he got up the very steep bank .... it was not fun to watch. But then to come back, he almost lost it -- the ATV started to be move sideways from the rush of water. Had it not been for the big rock that a tire landed on, he would have literally floated down the creek! He did make it across but not without getting soaking wet. Karen and Scott said they would have paid money to see him get washed down the river and both would have layed down on the ground and laughed until they wet their pants! He was alone on this one ..... all alone!

BUFFALO PICNIC

So, it is lunch time and we decided to stop in the Grand Canyon in Yellowstone and picnic. All the tables were full. So at this one area, we backed the cars up and started to unload in the ants. We couldn't stay there so Papa Tim points out this grassy field and said, "hey, let's go up on that grassy meadow and picnic there." So we did. We sat where the star is in the picture. We spread out and made our sandwiches and had chips and cookies. We were there probably 20 minutes or so having fun and eating. And we looked down in the parking lot and these people were pointing up at us. I said, "why are those people pointing up here at us? Is there an animal or something?" Scott turned around and I wish you could have seen the look on his face. About 20 yards or so behind us was a buffalo grazing and we had no idea he was there! Apparently, the buffalo had crossed the road and then came up on us but we didn't know it. The look on Scott was priceless as he started down the hill yelling for us to get out of there .. we were scrambling grabbing the cooler and throwing stuff in it and getting down the hill! It didn't help any that I had read the flier tucked in the Yellowstone paper that people get gored by buffalo and they can run up to 30 mph - 3 x's our speed. So we were officially freaked out that it was that close to us!!! Had it not been for the people in the parking lot pointing, who knows when we would have noticed him! He was huge but he sure was quiet!!! This is so cool!!!! Everywhere we turn, it has been another adventure!

STOP!! BUFFALO!!!!!

Today was our day for buffalo .... this one came out of the bushes as we were traveling to Yellowstone again. We traveled the highway looking for animals and Scott had to slam on the brakes to stop from hitting him!! You really have to pay attention while you are driving which is difficult for Scott as most of you know who have rode with him. He tends to look all over as he drives! Anyway, we stopped because we weren't sure what the buffalo was going to do. He meandered over to the other side and went about his business!! It was so cool!

Hellllooooooo State Trooper!

If you were wondering what the paperwork from a Wyoming State Trooper looks like, you can see it here....we were on our way to ride ATV's in Alpine and Scott is cruising along when out of nowhere a trooper flies up behind us with his lights on. So we move over thinking he wants to go around and nope. He comes in behind us. And he motions for Tim to pull in behind him and wait! TWO FOR THE STOP OF ONE!!! We had no idea what we had done. So here comes the trooper to our window .... did we not see the 25 mph speed limit on the bridge as we flew over it at 50mph? "We went over a bridge? It was 25 mph? No sir." Did we not see him pointing with his finger to slow down? "You were sitting somewhere? No sir." Yes, you can have my license and this is a rental car. Off he goes .... we looked at eachother and almost cracked up because I was looking in the paper reading and Scott obviously was listening so "intently" to me that he missed all the stuff on the road!!! The trooper returns after about 5 minutes .... so we flew over a bridge that is damaged and about to fall in ... this is the WARNING citation that he gave Scott!!!! Can you believe that? He NEVER gets a ticket! It is so ridiculous - don't get me wrong. I'm glad we didn't get a ticket or that he didn't take Scott to jail but seriously ... he never gets a ticket. I so would have gotten a ticket. And by the way, the trooper never went back to Tim. We told him they were with us and he let them go, too! This is so much fun :)

ATVing ... w/out sunscreen

Today, we went ATV riding all day .... why none of us remembered sunscreen is beyond us considering we are all sitting here tonight with burned arms and raccoon faces. It's pretty bad when you are 5500 feet closer to the sun than what you are used to and we rode from 10am to 4pm. I wish I was kidding ... anyway, we rode almost 70 miles today all over the National Forest. It was so cool .... we saw amazing sights. The Greys River is so pretty. The valleys were beautiful and we took one trail that was really rocky up high and felt like we were really in Bear Country. I even was a little scared while we were up there. The kids love to ride. We had a picnic by the river, skipped rocks and found bugs. It was a good day!

Laughing the Week Away

Papa Tim and Erica have had a great time! The kids have followed him around all week long! They have been pretty entertaining for him! He has laughed almost non-stop!

Jack Lost a Tooth!!

He is sooooo excited! He lost his first tooth in Jackson Hole! Erica said, "why couldn't I have lost a tooth some place cool like this ... I lost my first tooth sitting on the couch in the house!" He is so proud of his first loss and can't wait to get his "adult" teeth as he said. As if he gets them and he is going to be an adult ... is he going to get a job?? That is the question! Isn't it

cute though?!!!

A Cross-Dresser Mountain Man

So we went shopping in downtown Jackson Hole after dinner this evening. The kids all got $5 from Nana Karen if they wouldn't sing "she'll be coming around the mountain" in the car! So they were as quiet as little church mice in their car ... it's all about "show me the money!" The boys found the coolest coon skin caps and cap guns. They decided on guns instead of hats -- Florida weather is too humid for animal fur on the head they decided! But then Jack found a silver necklaces in another store that he thought would make "cute" earrings!! I decided he might be a cross dressing mountain man ..... should we be concerned?????!!!!! :)

Whitewater Trip

These are the pictures we got from our rafting trip! We can't believe how much fun we are honestly having! I never would have dreamed this trip would be so spectacular! (I thought of a new adjective!) I am just so happy looking at these pictures and especially that we can say NO ONE fell out of the boat!!!

Spring Creek Ranch

Today, Karen, Erica and I went horseback riding!!! We had a ride scheduled at Jackson Lake through the Tetons. However, last night they left us a message and cancelled our ride because of "increased bear activity and had set up camp right along the trail!" Soooo.....this morning, Scott called around and found us another place called the Spring Creek Ranch!!!! It was just as beautiful and I was quite happy to not be on a horse and come across a bear! No need to get thrown off a horse in front of a bear! The views were spectactular ... I'm really running out of adjectives to describe this place. I know I keep saying it but it is just wonderful here! Erica rode the horse like a pro. She LOVES to ride and really wants to move here and buy a horse! I told her she should come work summers at a horse ranch when she gets older!!! Karen was afraid she would get thrown ... to no avail, she wants a horse for Christmas! Me? I was just glad when we got off and I was able to work out the tendons and ligaments in my knees! Man, I am sore from all this activity!

Cowboy Pictures

Here is the exaggerated cowboys I was talking about in my other blog. Erica even got to drive the chuckwagon for a little bit with the cowboy's help! Spencer LOVED the BBQ chicken as you can see from the leftovers on his chin!!!! Jack still didn't find that second brownie .......

River Trip and Chuckwagon Dinner

So, Wednesday, we got up and in the morning, we went on a scenic Snake River boat trip. We have no pictures yet because we took a waterproof camera. I should have them later to download. Anyway, we took a bus ride down where they put the boats in. We floated 8 miles and saw the most beautiful canyon type settings. We saw lots of Canadian geese, mallard ducks, osprey, a buck and two bald EAGLES!!! When we went the eight miles, we stopped and hiked the ridge up to a campside breakfast of scrambled eggs, BUFFALO sausage, wild rice pancakes, melon and cowboy coffee! It was delicious. We then went back to the buses and changing stations and wrestled, literally, into our wet suits. I don't think I have EVER been so uncomfortable in all my life and you can't get the stupid things up in the crotch! So you walk around feeling like a duck! The kids of course fit right into theirs ... skinny little twits....we got back into our raft and headed for the WHITEWATER RAPIDS!!!!! AAHAHAAAAAHHHH! The water was 42 degrees and would take your breath away when it hit you. It was SO much fun! We laughed and yelled and paddled for all we were worth! There were Class II and III rapids so it wasn't so crazy but enough to make us laugh and scream all at the same time. We traveled eight miles and got back to the buses to ride back. It was awesome. Then in the evening, we did a chuckwagon dinner! We rode in the wagons 2 miles to camp and had a dutch oven BBQ dinner. Then the cowboys put on a show, sang some western songs and Spencer got picked to help sing "She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes!" It was so cute ... Jack was more concerned that he didn't get two brownies with icing instead of the one he got and he wanted to check all the little pots on the table to see if there were any left! Erica laughed watching this one cowboy sing --- his expressions were so "over" exaggerated and it was hysterical to watch him sing! We got home and we were exhausted from our day for sure but had tons of fun and saw such great sights!

The Views!!!!

Okay ... that's it ... we're done. We are moving.

Yellowstone Part 2

This is the other pictures we took while we were at Yellowstone. The coyote cubs were amazing and so was the Artist Painted Pots. And of course, how many pictures do we have with buffalo behind us in the background in Florida!!! Amazing ... absolutely amazing .... I wish you were here with us ..........

Yellowstone National Park

Tuesday, we spent the day at HALF of Yellowstone, and yes, I mean half. OMGosh ... you just can't even imagine how much room there is here and how much stuff to see! It is absolutely breathtaking. We saw Old Faithful which was so cool to watch. We got to see her "blow" in the afternoon and then again in the evening. We got stopped by BUFFALO which were crossing the road and caused a major traffic jam. They were laying along the side of the road and one of them was literally only 20 feet from us just laying there under a tree looking at us. It was pretty intimidating .... today was just amazing. We saw so much. Buffalo, elk, moose, deer, coyote and her cubs playing in some small grass ... it was amazing! We just drove around and got out to see all sorts of things from rushing rivers, to canyons, to the Artists Painted Pots, to holes everywhere with steam coming out and falls and valleys and the list goes on and on. These are a few of them we saw today. The kids were hysterical looking for animals ... we just had so much fun today! And they did so good being stuck in the car all day making tons of stops ... they were great!

Mesa Falls, Idaho

Monday, we went to see the Upper and Lower Mesa Falls in Idaho. When we got to the falls, we stopped in to visit this cute little Trapper's Inn which was converted to a Park Ranger station. The first picture is the Park Ranger with HER deer that she killed all by herself! She was pretty proud - we had to stand next to it for our picture with her. And then there was this room that had every type of animal skin that is found in this area, their skulls, claws, paw prints, and stuffed all over! The kids were in heaven looking at all the items and of course, we saw this bear and it scared Papa Tim and Nana Karen half to death! LOL! Jack also got to look through a telescope and check out a nest of Osprey on the side of the mountain. You could see the babies peaking over and their mom sitting with them. The falls were beautiful to see and amazing to watch God's handwork. The state of Idaho is very rolling and gives you a backside view of the Tetons which is incredible. We went through several small towns and it was very much like what you might see in the movies! It was just so bizarre! And the rolling hills were green and they are growing their wheat and barley right now so the irrigation systems were running which you see in the picture. We stopped and had lunch in the small town of Ashton called The Trails Inn. They had a huge map where you could put pins in where you are from. There was no one from Lakeland so the kids thought that was cool to put our pin in there. All in all, we had a great time viewing Idaho and having lunch and sight seeing. Today, we get to check into the condo. Jack is soooo relieved!!!! In fact, all the kids are ... it has stairs!!!

Patches of White!

Wow! We found this small patch of snow to play in with the kids on our way to IDAHO! Hello Krista Brickhouse --- we are in your old stomping ground and we found someone that knows you !!! Just kidding .... but we did go to Idaho Monday. It was very cold and on the side of the mountain, Erica built a 4" snowman, as she called it, and the boys threw snowballs and me and Scott. And yes, we almost lost one child and guess who .... we were on the side of this mountain and it was very, very steep. Spencer started down the hill and couldn't stop, heading for the patch of pine trees head first! Scott and I were yelling, "Get down! Get down! Throw yourself down now!!" He FINALLY threw himself down and slid on his belly a few feet and stopped about 6 feet from the trees ... you talk about freaking out. It was pretty scarey there for a minute. And somehow he ended up with sticky sap on his chest ... he had TWO shirts on and still "somehow" got sap on his chest and of course, that was enough to send him over the edge. He ended up sticking a tissue to his chest so it wouldn't bother him! It was too funny!

Fun Pictures

Last but not least of day one and two, a few funny pictures. Erica was pretending to be Teton's first and only "ROCK" star ... she is standing on this rock outside the restroom waiting her turn. Spencer just loves this cowboy hat he got and is so cute in it and Jack sits on every fallen down tree he can find and smiles at us ... of course the second one he sat on was a little high and he toppled over the back of it, but we won't go there right now......he was okay and no blood. YEEHAW!