Much Awaited Yellowstone National Park Photos- 2010

What did we see in Yellowstone? Wildlife everywhere (LOTS of buffalo), trees, canyons, river and waterfalls, stink pots, geysers, beautiful pools, and happy families (ours included)! Over two days, we drove through most areas of Yellowstone, stopped at most overlooks, did lots of short hikes and one longer hike to a secret waterfall, and took hundreds of photos. It was difficult to go through the photos and decide which ones to share, which is part of why it took so long to post these.

Seeing the pictures does not do the beauty of the park justice (except the stink pots) and we already look forward to returning one day when the kids are older and we can do more hiking and maybe even camping. It was hard to resist stopping at every stop, which didn't leave much time for hiking. Despite the crowds of summertime, it didn't often feel crowded- except at lunchtime at the general stores, especially at Old Faithful when we were all starving for a late lunch before we started towards Grand Tetons.

Here are some of my favorites (out of hundreds)- remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it if you want a better view- be sure to check out the baby buffalo- one of our favorite sightings! Also near the bottom is Grand Prismatic Spring, one of my favorite views seen from a hillside we scaled to get the best view while on our hike to the secret Fairy Falls.











































































Looking through these photos makes it hard to go to work tomorrow... why can't every day be a vacation adventure?

O'Neill Crew Road Trip 2010- Part 2

I'll pick up where I left off (check August post- just realized it posted for the day I started writing it).

Sunday- still in Idaho- we went to Pocatello Zoo, a small intercity zoo celebrating the animals of the American West. It was a pretty day and it seemed like we were the only family exploring the zoo. Not only did we see the zoo animals, but also saw our first marmots running around- we were always on the lookout for wildlife!





Across the street from the zoo was a swimming park with a lazy river and splash ground. After spending a little time swimming and trying to stay warm (the water was too cold for the kids), we piled back into the van for the drive to Montana. I got a huckleberry slushy for the road. Along the drive to West Yellowstone, we made a little detour for a waterfall and found a gorgeous overlook and a creepy lodge filled with stuffed animals, skins, paws and bones. Even though it was creepy, the boys enjoyed looking at everything- a "museum" where touching was encouraged. We were also able to see Grand Tetons in the distance. It was a beautiful drive!















West Yellowstone sits just inside Montanas border, not far from Idaho or Wyoming. We checked into our rustic hotel (Kelly Inn- the only place we stayed that wasn't a hilton family hotel) that was bear themed and made a great headquarters for our Yellowstone adventure. We were pretty exhausted so only explored as far as to get dinner- started in one smelly restaurant with only a few things on the menu and no other people and bailed after a few minutes and went to Trappers Family Restaurant- a much better choice with great variety. We hit the sack early so we could get into the park early.

Not trying to tease you, but check back tomorrow for day 4 and 5 of our adventure- Yellowstone National Park!!!

What You've Missed....

So, I haven't posted pics of Connors 3rd birthday....

And no details or pictures of our trip out west last month- this is in the works and will be coming... I promise! It was so much fun and we took SO many pictures- it has just been overwhelming to go through.

So, would you settle for just cute pictures of the kids for now?
These are from our most recent trip to Portrait Innovations- representing Connor's 3 years photos and Mannix 1 1/2 year photos! Enjoy!