Yellowstone

  After we left the Tetons we made our way into Yellowstone.  The first thing on our list - Old Faithful. 

 Having missed seeing it erupt last year we went there right away!  We got lucky and only had to wait about 20 minutes to see it go off. 

 It was cool!

 Lexie in front of Old Faithful as it was dying down.  After we saw Old Faithful we had a snack (who knew if would take 40 minutes to eat a bag of chips!) and then we drove over to Grant Village to check into our hotel.  After a slight reservation snafu we checked in, walked around a little and then went to dinner.

 The next morning we went back to Old Faithful so we could participate in a Ranger program and fill out some information for the kids' Junior Ranger badges.  Lucas got to be a part of the demonstration (how far to stay from buffalo).

After the Ranger program we went back over to Old Faithful.  Lexie can't help but goof off while waiting for it to erupt!

 But she is a sweetheart so we'll keep her!

 Lucas timed Old Faithful to see how long the eruption lasted - 4 minutes!

 Next we got in the car for some sight-seeing.  First stop, hot springs.

 The kids liked pointing out the colors. 

 It was a windy day and the steam kept blowing in our faces.  We saw many hats that had flown off people's heads into the hot springs!

 The kids spotted some tracks in the ground.

Next we got back in the car where we found a detour.  We followed it and saw some amazing things!  Hot springs where the water was bubbling up.

Geysers steaming.

Lucas liked watching the bubbles!

 Right as we pulled up to the White Dome Geyser it started to erupt! Lexie and I were reading a book in the car and almost missed it!

 Daddy and Lucas were on the boardwalk though so they saw it close up.

A little ways down the road we ran into a herd of buffalo.  Daddy and Lucas got out to take a closer look.

 Lucas' new favorite goofball pose with the buffalo.

Our next stop was a beautiful waterfall.

 

Lexie was getting a little tired of sight-seeing!

 Finally we made our way to Mammoth Hot Springs.  We had a bite to eat and then the kids got their Junior Ranger badges for Yellowstone.

Travis got out his camera and set out to take pictures of Mammoth.  Lucas stayed with him and Lexie and I kept walking.

Lucas did lots of posing for Daddy.

 

 Lexie likes to pose too!

 Lexie found some tracks and pointed them out to us.

 

 Lexie got a ride to the top from Daddy. 

And a ride back down to the bottom!

Lucas told me lots of interesting information about geysers on the way back down to our car. 

The next morning we went to the Lewis and Clark Caverns.  Lexie really wanted to show me the beaver slide.

Lexie showing off the beautiful background.

 We didn't bring our big cameras into the cavern so we don't have any pictures to share but it was really cool.  The kids enjoyed it and so did we!

 We stopped in Missoula to ride the carousel.

 Lexie loves to pose with her horse!

 

 

 

 

 Lucas tried really hard to get the golden ring!  He got lots of rings but not the golden one.

 They played at the park and showed off their musical talents! 

 We ate dinner at Five Guys (Lucas has been talking about this place since last year!) and then drove home. We drove lots of miles, saw some amazing scenery and animals, earned two Junior Ranger badges and found almost all of the 50 states license plates.  It was a great trip!