Freya's 2nd Birthday

Freya Lorraine and Grandma Lorraine had a joint birthday bash she was so eager to blow out her candles that they had to be lit again so we could sing to her

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Yellowstone: Grand Prismatic

The highlight of the day for me was seeing the Grand Prismatic. All of the following pictures are from the Grand Prismatic. All of Yellowstone has an other worldly feel to it but this spot was the most amazing to me. I would alternately feel rushes of cool air and hot steam. It was so steamy my hair was wet and there were places we couldn't see each other even just a few yards away. I could have spent hours looking at those boiling blue pools. Can you see Bryan in this steam?We should have ended the day on that note but we pushed our luck and took the girls to see the mud pots. We were caught in a torrential downpour on that walk and we were all soaked. Once in the car, the girls kept telling me to "not do that again" and Bryan kept trying to explain it wasn't my fault that it rained. Then they would say things like "Its ok Mama, we forgive you, just don't do it again." After that Bryan and I decided to stay in a hotel that night. We drove back to our campground, dressed the girls in dry clothes and kept them in the car with the heater on, packed up and left the park. Unfortunately we had to drive all the way to Victor to find a vacancy but we were warm and dry. Next time we are going to plan a year in advance and have reservations at the Old Faithful Inn!

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Yellowstone: Geyser Basins

It rained most of Saturday night and the temperature dropped down to the 30s so we were chilly. Norah went to bed in long johns underneath sweats and then slept completely under the quilts. I checked on her a few times in the night to make sure she could breath. Freya insisted on sleeping between Bryan and I and we were happy to have her as our own little heater. When the girls woke up in the morning we managed to fit all three of them with us on our queen size air mattress and snuggled together for warmth. We discovered that morning that Alice radiates heat like an electric blanket and we all took turns benefiting from her warmth. Spooning Norah on the other hand only sucked the heat away from you. It rained really hard all morning and unfortunately I didn't pack their rain jackets so we headed to the gift shop and bought the only rain gear option they had. The girls attracted a lot of attention in these matching jackets. These little girls walked so far. We walked around the loop of geysers near old faithful, then drove to the black sand basin to see sunset lake and the emerald pool. The map we were looking at made it look like it was equidistant to walk from there over to castle and grand geyser vs driving back to Old Faithful and walking to Grand. We were definitely mislead by that map and we think the girls walked three miles! By the time we realized how long of a walk it was going to be it was too late to turn back so we motivated Alice to keep walking by rewarding her with one gummy every time she reached a new geothermal feature. It was a beautiful trail though and we escaped the  crowds and saw some beautiful crystal blue pools and steaming geysers all by ourselves.

Yellowstone: Firehole River

After touring Mammoth Springs and the Roosevelt Arch we drove east and then south making our way around the northern loop. We saw elk, several bison, and TWO black bears. I have pictures to prove it but they aren't that exciting. We read some books about Yellowstone in preparation for our trip and the girls kept asking me if we'd see a bear because they knew they were in the park. Every time they asked I said "probably not, I've never seen a bear before" so they were very excited about our bear sightings. We had forgotten how long it takes to drive that loop but the wild flowers were breathtaking and we enjoyed the views. We stopped at some overlooks to see the grand canyon of the Yellowstone and Tower Falls and we ate huckleberry ice cream sandwiches. Then we headed back to our campsite for a quick dinner and went swimming in the Firehole river. We didn't get to stay long because it started to rain and thunder but I'm still glad we fit it in. Next time we will be sure to make it to the swimming spot earlier in the day when it is warmer because it was a lot of fun and I wish we had left more time to swim. On our way back to our campsite we saw double rainbows. It was a perfect end to the day.

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Yellowstone: Mammoth Springs

We spent June 9th in the North part of Yellowstone beginning with Mammoth Springs. It brought back a lot of memories for Bryan and I of our camping trip to Yellowstone as newlyweds 10 years ago. In fact, we camped our first night in Mammoth Springs on that trip. After seeing the geothermal springs there we drove to see the Roosevelt Arch at the North Entrance. We hadn't bothered to see it on our last trip and I don't remember seeing it as a child I really wanted to this time because it was mentioned so many times in Ken Burns's "The National Parks: America's Best Idea." Bryan and I listened to the book version of of the documentary on the drive and I found myself thinking of parts of the book everywhere we went in the park. I certainly have an increased appreciation for John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt and a better sense of how fortunate we are to have these beautiful public lands.

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Independence Day

Bryan and the girls participated in Stapleton's bike parade through Central Park for the 4th of July. It was fun and just the right length. We are loving Stapleton and the sense of community we feel here.