A big boy milestone!

Since we had Callum sleeping on a regular mattress (on the floor) in Yellowstone, we thought it's probably time to convert his crib into a toddler bed. Last night was his first night in it and he did really well! :)

Homeward bound

Goodbye Montana! Goodbye Wyoming! Goodbye Yellowstone! We had a blast! 

Squashed penny

Logan was very excited to show me his new treasure. Look Mom! Daddy put in three dollars and I got this flat penny!

Wine anyone?

Total damage done during our week here.

Note, I don't actually drink (save for a couple sips from Jon's glass) and Jill probably has one glass a night, since the bottle is usually done by the time she's going for her second! ;-)

Steamboat Geyser

We had a shorter day out to the park today, since it was raining, we're all getting tired and the Cables have an early departure tomorrow morning.

So today we checked out the Norris Geyser Basin and took in a few more geysers, hot springs and fumaroles. We did a 1.5 mile hike which tired everyone out!

We ended our outing back at Canyon Village for some grub and chocolate malt shakes. Yum!

Double rainbow!

We haven't been hit too hard with bad weather but we have had a couple rains during our week here. Yesterday, we enjoyed a gorgeous double rainbow. Eric commented that we are surrounded by, and have seen endless, natural beauty during this trip. I couldn't agree more! :)

A serious hike!

Uncle Tom's Trail is a half mile trek that takes you from the top of the Canyon to the base of the 308 foot high Lower Falls. 

You lose 500 feet in elevation during the hike, so you can imagine how steep the descent (and then climb!) is. Logan was a champ and conquered the roughly 600 steps (roundtrip) by himself! Whew!! :)

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Wow, is that yellow stone I see along the canyon? ;-)

Today was all about Yellowstone's Grand Canyon and the Upper and Lower Falls (the latter is seen in the distance here). Breathtaking views all around, as you can imagine!

One brave fox!

He came right up onto our balcony and peered inside the living room at us a few times. :) Poor guy was pretty scrawny too, probably looking for some food. :/

Yellowstone Lake

I think today was our longest drive of the trip, around to the east side of the park to see the Lake. We also visited the Sulphur Caldron/Mud Volcano area, saw some rapids, more cool wildlife and gorgeous scenery all along the way.

I've been so impressed with how well the boys are behaving this trip. Especially Logan, since we're walking about 2 miles a day, which he's doing all on his own!  (Callum is doing fairly well too but tires out much sooner of course! So we finish his walks either in the stroller or with Jon carrying him)

The grand finale: Old Faithful

Logan and I saw Old Faithful spout off THREE times this afternoon, and they were all fantastic! (everyone else only saw it spout twice - haha!)

In between wait times, we explored the Visitor Center, had lunch at the famous Old Faithful Inn and walked all around the surrounding Geyser Hill (which had several other geysers, springs and pools to see!). :)

Next stop: Black Sand Basin

Interestingly, hardly any black sand around this area. :)

This is a shot of Emerald Pool, one of my favorite shots today.

First stop: Biscuit Basin

Sapphire Pool, one of the larger features at Biscuit Basin. 

More hot water!

Today we explored more hot water - geysers, springs and mud pots. Every single one was super neat! 

We started off on a drive around the Firehole Falls (not hot, but still plenty of water!) and then spent most of our day exploring the Lower and Midway Geyser Basins, which included the Grand Prismatic Spring, the Great Fountain Geyser, the Firehole (hot) Lake and the Fountain Paint Pots.

Callum liked to warn me about the hot water (guess what I was warning him of!) while Logan noticed all of the steam made the areas look like a haunted house. :)

Midway Geyser Basin

The colors of this spring (Grand Prismatic Spring) were amazing!

Peeping Tom

Some excitement at the house this evening as a ton of Bison traveled across our yard. Jon got mad at me for taking pics of this guy since he could easily break thru the window if he had wanted to. As you can see, he was close enough to be fogging up the glass! :)

Visitors

Underneath our balcony and in our backyard when we got home. :)

Loganisms today

1) Mom, I want to stay at our vacation house FOREVER.

2) To Jill:

You're old because you have a lot of spots.

(We think he was talking about her moles. Poor Jill!)

Big brother Logan

Logan is pretty popular as the big kid in the house. Here Trent decided he'd make a comfy chair out of Logan, who didn't even stir or blink at the idea. ;-)

Mammoth Hot Springs

We covered a lot of terrain today during our first park visit! Saw tons of bison (got held up in a traffic jam while a herd decided to use our lane as theirs) :) , a herd of deer, a pronghorn (I think) and some magpies picking up a few of our picnic leftovers.

We spent most of our time exploring Mammoth Hot Springs. The entire area smells of sulfur, which Logan noticed smells a lot like Daddy had farted. ;-)