Yellowstone vacation!

We had such a blast these past four days. Dan had a work conference in Montana and so we decided to make a family vacation out of it. Tuesday we spent the day in Idaho at Lava Hot Springs. All I can say is ... what fun! It reminded me of South Africa with the warm water. We then went to visit Dan's former roommate and best friend from college, Nick Toyn. I'm sad that we forgot to take pictures of his beautiful family and home. It was so good seeing him again!
We then spent the night with Dan's cousin in Idaho Falls (again forgot to take pictures). They have two daughters around the ages of Sharon and Katie and so they had so much fun. They even had a sleep over:)
Wednesday morning we left for Yellowstone. On the way we drove past a sign that said "BEAR COUNTRY"...we decided to give it a try. It was a little pricey but so worth it. It could be the highlight of the trip. The girls were able to see bears as we drove right past them. One even came and sniffed our window. We saw wolves, elk, buffalo, bear cubs and wild turkeys. There was also a petting zoo where they pet a deer that had just had a baby fawn the day before. The girls and Dan loved petting the pig (much to my distaste;) There was a mini amusement park with rides which they loved.
We then went to Yellowstone National Park. IT IS BEAUTIFUL! I've always admired the beauty of this country and this was just another part that took my breath away. There were pine trees as far as you could look. Then just a little drive into the park we saw hundreds of wild buffalo (we even drove right next to some...I was nervous about that;)
We then saw geysers and mud pots that Dan and I found fascinating (the girls just kind of grinned and bore it). We of course saw Old Faithful...which was worth seeing. The girls loved the ice cream treat at this stop.
We then drove to Bozeman Montana along a beautiful river. This was a not so fun part of the trip because the drive from Yellowstone to Bozeman was 2 hours and our little stud (and the girls for that matter) were completely maxed out with driving! So we sang some funny songs and played "I spy" and all was well (sort of at least).
Needless to say we arrived at the Holiday Inn in the nick of time before anyone lost their life...And of course we had to try out the biggest swimming pool in Bozeman (YEAH!)
IT really was an amazing pool...heated and so fun for the kids. There was a hot tub which I was thrilled about.
The next day Dan was gone at his conference for the majority of the day so what did me and the kids do...we swam and swam and swam. Some guy at Dan's conference (because it was right next to the pool) would often comment that we're always at the pool. He said something like "wow you guys are here again." And I just said "yes, my girls love to swim and so that's what we do."
Anyway we also went to the Children's Museum for a few hours. Katie took a little test about making healthy food choices and aced it! Sharon enjoyed reading and doing a father's day craft (which Dan never gets to see because we left it there on accident:) Be honest Melissa...you threw it away!
Then we went swimming with Dan when he was done with his conference. Katie and Sharon are getting so good at swimming. Katie can swim the whole length of the swimming pool without any help...Dan even measured the length (it's about 15 meters).
Sharon thinks she can swim and feels very comfortable in the water (she also LOVES the hot tub...must be the SA blood in her.)
Then this morning Dan had another meeting and so I asked the girls what they wanted to do and what did they say...SWIM SWIM SWIM!
The girls made some friends. I got to know a few of the wives with husbands in Social Security. All of us have great aspirations for our hubbys.
We had such a great time! Really. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be with my family and spend such quality (even if it was crazy and difficult at times) time together.