Vacation time!

WARNING...there are a lot of pictures!

(since we were waiting for passports to arrive so that we could travel to Canada, and time was running out, we postponed our trip to Alberta until Aug. and made plans to see things relatively close to home)

Before the trip, the kids had built a serious fort in Chay's and Blade's room and the THREE of them actually slept in it for a few nights (with movies and treats).

...then we headed out for our trip to Yellowstone in our rented Explorer (how ironic) and alot of treats for the trip!

Our first stop was at Bear World, closer to Rexburg than Yellowstone. The person at the entrance asked how we heard about Bear World and Nicole whispered "The Great Outdoors" (a movie with John Candy and Dan Ackyroid) but Dave didn't repeat that...

There were bears walking all around, and some came close to the vehicle...that was exciting.

Nicole and Chay noticed bears "mating" and they may have been "bear naked"... so it was an educational visit...I'll have to see about getting school credit for Chay. (I didn't take pictures of that because, that's just wrong)

Blade loved the few rides that were at Bear World.
You can see that Chay enjoyed this car ride also. Just at this point it whipped around the corner and was very bumpy.

I thought this next ride was like the free drop rides at the Strastosphere in Vegas and at the fair and was wondering how it going to be a kids ride...well, it went up very S-L-O-W-L-Y and came down in the same manner... I could have handled this one.

Chay's favorite part was watching the bear cubs, he wanted to take home a brown one.

...and the boys had to make a souvenir penny.

Our room at West Yellowstone was like a separate cabin and was cute and clean. The owners were very nice and had free granola, gum, gatorade packettes for bottle water, and hot chocolate in the office.

THEN we made it to Yellowstone!

At the first visitor center it was geared towards the younger group and was hands on. I was telling Blade "don't touch" until Nicole pointed out that I misread the sign that said "Please touch"...you don't see that very often.

It was raining off and on our first day at Yellowstone and alittle chilly.

...and then minutes upon our arrival, we saw it...OLD FAITHFUL...

We walked around and looked at the different gysers and hotspots.

Chay signed up for the Junior Scientist program and had a booklet he had to complete and it came with a backpack of tools he could borrow. The best thing for Chay was the laser thermometer which he kept in his hand constantly and took the temperature of everything. The hottest pool he measured was 165 degrees Farenheit (sorry, no conversion at this time).

...there was a lot of steam...

...again, evidence that I do exist...

....a typical Blade shot...

This was a fun one, it was called Dragon's Mouth Spring and the steam came out of a cave and you could hear a moderately loud rumbling. The sign mentioned that years ago, water sprayed out to the boardwalk.

I felt for Chay at this moment as he looked at the keychains with names engraved/imprinted on them...and never found his name. Nicole found hers numerous times but...nothing for Chay. Chay tags are grouped right next to Wilma tags.

Nicole saw these "Yellowstone animal cookies" that looked cute. Not cute enough to buy at the gift shop but cute enough for a picture.

...and a must, ice cream while we planned out the rest of the day.

West Yellowstone had decorated buffalo around town (like Salt Lake City) and Chay wanted to have pictures taken by each one but, we managed only one. It was cool/cold and so we didn't walk around town.

Even with the high temperatures, this pool had fly looking things living in the water.

Our second day at Yellowstone started out with snow. But there weren't any crowds.

The "neatest" thing that was spotted by Chay was a yellow mushroom. There was only one.

...just me and my boys...

I tell you, that steam felt good but when you walked out of it, the chill was even colder.

And my camera was only good for one shot at a time before it steamed up...that can't be good can it?

Nicole and Chay cringing in fear in the low visibility.

What I thought was interesting were the purple/pink flowers on the tips of the pine trees. I've never seen that before.

And I couldn't get over how desolate this area was. It was like a scene out of any movie about the end of the world. This is part of the walk we took in the morning when it was snowing and there was NO ONE else to be seen...it was kind of eery.
(and yes Sheila, I did take this picture. I'm glad you like it. I was surprised myself that I was able to capture a bit of the feeling. When I saw the isolated tree, I just saw a picture there)

This was another lookout point and as a mother, I kept getting a pit in my stomach with Blade's energy around the edges and no barrier.

Dave comforting Blade after he lost his Go Diego Go flashlight over the edge. The flashlight hit a rock and came off his wrist. It was soooo close, but not worth the risk to try to get it.

...see that orange spot?

...it's Blade's flashlight...

This waterfall was beautiful and breathtaking.

At the top of the falls, there was just so much water and power, it was amazing. Despite all the power, it was a soothing sound to listen to the waterfall.

Chay completed his booklet and became a Junior Scientist.

He chose a keychain instead of the badge.

Blade spotted more than 7 different animals in the park and earned a sticker.

On our way home we took the scenic route through the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole Wy. The Tetons were an impressive looking mountain range but other than that, nothing too exciting. And we didn't stop in Jackson Hole, just drove through. It's just like a bigger Park City.

We made a pit stop by the lake and the boys had a fun time playing in the water. There's something about boy's and water. Ask Doug, if he could, he would have tried to build dams...

We had a layover at home for one night and then headed out to Southern Utah to Bryce Canyon.
My friends Kris and Kevin know people in Bryce that own hotels and they had recieved an email about an open house for their new hotel and it happened to be when we wanted to go and so we got a great price for a GREAT room and free hot breakfast (I so enjoy FREE).

If you remember the Yellowstone motel shot, Blade was in the background at the sink. And at Bryce, he went to the sinks before anything else. I think he likes water...

Because Bryce is only 3 1/2 hours from SLC, we had all afternoon to enjoy the park. We were able to make the "one" hike that is a must if you can do only one hike. It's a 2.9 mile loop that is rated easy to moderate. Nicole and I really loved the hike amidst the red rock and being at the bottom walking through the canyon. It's quite impressive!

Blade was trying so hard to make it up the hill for a picture with Nicole and Chay but he would get so far and then slide down.

...but he had no difficulty climbing this tree...

...and then just holding on...

...and holding on...

Chay gave it a try next and could climb easily but couldn't hold on to just the trunk like Blade.

The kids sat down for a break and Chay sat on Nicole's lap. I wanted to get a picture of that but got something even better, a picture just after Chay fell off Nicole's lap.

There were alot of narrow paths like this.

And tunnels/arches like this.

Blade took numerous short breaks to sit on rocks ("I need a rest. Take my picture on this rock") but I was impressed with how well he did overall. Again, he "made me sick" as he would run on the trails and in my opinion, too close to the edge. That boy has no fear... which is a great quality, but not when there's a "cliff" and I'm beside/behind him.
The last stretch of the loop was uphill and Blade had had enough. So being the great father that he is, Dave picked him up, put him on his shoulders, and carried him the rest of the way!

Then it was time to relax in the pool, even though it was chilly. Chay said "it's warm in the water".

Day two we actually stopped at the visitor center/gift shop and Blade had fun with the puppets.

Chay had just as much fun with them also, he had a raven attacking a rodent. By the way, both Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon have huge ravens that are kind of intimidating.

The majority of hikes are too strenuous for Blade but we did take a short hike that is the only hike with water.

And "the boys" had fun again playing in the water at the end.

...what can I say?...

Nicole finds these very humiliating but Blade loves them and so Nicole was nice enough to pose with Blade. (We did miss the photo op with one at Bear World because of the sudden down pour)

This bridge looked impressive in person. The interesting thing is that because of the weather, the rock formations are always changing and over time this hole will be getting larger and larger and the bridge part smaller and smaller, until a bridge will no longer exist. There was a large one in Moab that collapsed this past year after being a landmark since the beginning of the park.

Back on home turf, we decided to go see the new 3D movie "Up". No, the picture below is not the movie "Up" but an ad for an up coming movie that caught Blade's attention. But "Up" is a cute movie that had me gasping out loud, laughing out loud, and crying quietly. There's a young boy scout type of character that reminded all of us of Uncle Doug. (Doug never had the physique this young boy did but in other ways, he's Uncle Doug)

So, we're still technically on vacation ans so we took a drive and stayed overnight at Wendover.

We "treated" the kids and got a room with two KING sized beds since they complained about having to share a bed and how each one of them is ALL OVER the bed. One night in Bryce, Chay actually slept on the floor. And Blade often ended up in the "adult" bed anyway. BUT, even a king bed was too small while Nicole and Chay were watching TV. I don't know what to do with these two...I refuse to get two rooms!

As I was getting the room organized after we brought all the bags in, I heard Blade's excited voice coming from the bathroom, "they have a phone in the bathroom! They have a phone in the bathroom!" He was so amazed and excited! I can't blame him, I remember experiencing the same amazement the first time I saw a phone by a toilet.

And then it was off to the pool that evening and the next morning before checkout.
FINALLY nice weather for swimming.

On our way home, a quick stop at the Salt Flats to walk out on all the salt.

And a quick foot wash to get all the salt off the feet and flip flops. Chay had scrapes on both big toes and was brave and walked out on the sand, he successfully walked without getting salt in either wound! Nothing is impossible!

Then a quick change to go to the Oquirrh Temple house in West Jordan.
It was hot out there today, it finally feels like summer.

Blade was in awe over the chandelier in the Celestial room and that was his favorite part. This was Chay's first opportunity to see the inside of a Temple and he liked ALL of it!

...cookies and water in the reception tent afterwards...
It may have been a tent, but the furniture in it was quite elegant.

And now.... our vacation is over...back to work....