The first day at the cabin we just hung around and waited for everyone to get there. Nathan really wanted to ride the 4-wheelers- he had his helmet on and was ready to go way before we were!
Jake was a little more apprehensive about it, but once he got on there and we went for a ride he had a good time. Although, he was more than happy to get off when we got back and didn't want to ride them again the rest of the time!
Jon's mom and sisters were so helpful with the kids the whole time we were there. The kids loved playing with them and getting so much extra attention. Jon and I loved having a little break and even sneaking in a few naps!
Aunt Annie and Max reading a book together.
Aunt Genevieve playing cars on the porch with Jake and Nathan.
Aunt Heidi and Grandma Lorelei playing a horse card game with Jake. Notice the horses set up to watch the game! (Thanks, Grandma, for all of the horse stuff- Jake loves horses!)
Jon, Heidi, Annie and I all went on a bike ride to Big Springs later that day. Nathan really wanted to go so he found this little bike in the garage and started following us! He didn't actually get to go, but Jon did take him for a little bike ride when we got back. Nathan was a little too big for that bike, but it was the only one with training wheels!
Sunday we went to church and then took family pictures. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out and going for a walk down to the river. Here is Nathan with his cousin, Hannah, on the hammock swing. They got along really well!
It started to rain Sunday afternoon so the boys all got out buckets and tried to catch the rain! They were soaking wet, but had a great time.
That night we decided to start a fire and eat some S'mores. Jon had fun playing with the new lens for our camera and was able to capture some fun shots.
First the marshmallows...
Then the graham crackers and chocolate...
Delicious!
You might notice the tape on the sides of Nathan's glasses in all of these pics. That is because he broke not one, but both of the sides in the car on the way to the cabin. So the rest of the trip we had to keep fixing them with either tape or Band-aids (whatever we had with us) whenever they would come apart. Maybe this will teach him not to fight in the car with his brother anymore!
Jake wasn't as interested in the S'mores as much as just roasting and eating the marshmallows. He kept saying the whole time driving up to the cabin that he wanted to eat marshmallows!
Aunt Heidi helped Max eat his S'more.
The boys and I hanging out around the campfire.
Monday morning we headed into Yellowstone. Our first (and only since we were there for 4 hours) was Old Faithful. When we got there we had a while before it was going to erupt again so Jon's dad suggested that we walk down to Grand Geyser. It was supposed to go off soon and was supposedly much taller and stronger than Old Faithful. So we all decided to follow our fearless leader and walked down to the geyser. The kids waited patiently for a while, but after 45 minutes or so they were getting pretty restless and we were getting sick of waiting. Jon made the executive decision that our family was leaving and going to try to get back before Old Faithful erupted. Slowly everyone else followed suit except for Ron and Lorelei who were determined to see this geyser. After 2 hours of waiting, Grand Geyser finally erupted and the report was that it was pretty grand! Maybe next time...
The hot springs all around Yellowstone are amazing.
Here we are in front of Morning Glory. I was a little disappointed this year as it seemed much smaller than I remember. I then read that people keep throwing things into it clogging the hole down below and causing it to shrink. What is seriously wrong with some people?
We finally made it back just in time to see Old Faithful. I asked Nathan which geyser we were going to see. I started it by saying, "Old....?" to which he replied, "Lady!" Something like that!
It was pretty spectacular as always.
Max wasn't quite as impressed!
He did however, enjoy the Mountain Berry ice cream that Grandma bought for all of us as we were leaving Old Faithful!
This was the bald eagle that we saw on our way out of the park. We finally decided to call it a day and headed back into West Yellowstone where we watched an Imax on Yellowstone, ate yummy pizza and let the kids run around at the park. We were all pretty tired by the time we got back home. I think we all slept really well that night!
Tuesday morning we blew up the rafts and went floating down the river. The water was way higher than I have ever seen it so the river was moving much faster which made it all the more fun!
The kids had fun throwing rocks into the river while they waited for the guys to get back from dropping the cars off down below.
Here are the Gammons ready to set sail!
I love that they both have those orange life jackets on!
Jon is ready to push us off and guide us down the river!
Nathan helped Jon paddle and Jake wasn't too sure about the whole thing.
I spent the entire time holding Max's life jacket so that he didn't fall out of the boat as he lunged himself over the side and tried to get his face wet. Crazy kid!
Later that evening we went to the Playmill in West Yellowstone and saw The Secret Garden. This is always a highlight to our trip and this year did not disappoint- especially because we were able to go without our kids!
I know you can't believe that there could be more pictures and things to write about our trip, but there are! Stay tuned...
