Stylin' Ike

Ike is all dressed up with no where to go!!

Rainbows

We saw some really cool rainbows in Yellowstone. The first day we were there we saw a very big, bright rainbow. I was driving so I didn't get a picture of it. I figured since we saw it on the first day we would see plenty throughout the week. But it was the best one we saw while there and I wish i would have gotten a picture now. Right after that rainbow we saw a double rainbow. 2 rainbows right next to each other. Again, no picture.

Towards the end of the week we saw this one...Max was checking it out and then decided to list the colors of the rainbow (in sign, of course). I didn't get it the first time so I asked him to do it again for me....




Shortly after that rainbow we saw another one.
Here is Sam with "cricket" a fun little noise maker (that clicks) that was driving me crazy. Too bad "cricket" didn't jump out the window while driving!

Here are the kids and me in front of the rainbow that was starting to fade
Here is a good one of Me and Sam in front of a waterfall that is part of the 'grand canyon of Yellowstone'

a couple more of Sam

Sam did some coloring while we were driving in the RV. One thing she drew was a new "shell-e". I guess she missed Shell-e, who was resting at home, probably lost in reality. Here she is showing the new Shell-e off. Why yes, Sam is a nudest. She runs around in her undies most the day. Only puts on clothes so she can throw them around the house and leave them where they land. For a girl who rarely has clothes on, she goes through A LOT of clothes!!

Yellowstone was pretty chilly at times. Sam borrowed grandpas vest. I heard someone say "look, a walking sleeping bag"It's a little big!

Max on vacation

Max played a lot of Leapster while on vacation. So he looked like this...

and this a lot...

Here he is with his Yellowstone Jr Ranger badge, and of course his leapster!
While at Yellowstone and waiting for Old Faithful Max was pretty sure it was gonna be loud. He hates loud noises so he hid in the stroller and covered his ears.
Here is my handsome little guy (with something all over his mouth- I really don't remember anything on his face when I took these)

But he's cute anyway!

Ike on Vacation

Ike did pretty well on Vacation. He goes with the flow. In Yellowstone, the park itself, has a lot of driving. He slept a lot at those times. On the drive to Mt Rushmore (where we went first) Ike keep himself entertained by trying new tricks...He succeeded in getting a pretzel stuck between his toes on both feet, at the same time!


He also acted like he was sleeping by saying "shhh..."

But surprise.. he's not really sleeping!
He is my cutie pie Ike enjoying one of Joe's birthday cupcakes.

One evening at the campground all the kids played horseshoes (plastic ones, thank goodness!). Max threw the horseshoe, and can you guess where it went??

Yeah, it hit Ike! He cried but was fine.

My sweet little Joe

Joe turned 4 years old on our way back home from vacation. Here he is sleeping in on his birthday ...
That evening we stopped at Wal mart so I got some cupcakes and we sang Happy Birthday to Joe.
I'm guessing this was a tiring trip Joe. I picked out a couple other pictures of him and didn't realize they were all sleeping pictures till now.

Here he is looking so darn cute.
Listening to Spongebob songs on the Ipod (and sleeping..)
Then at the campground Joe had some 'flowers' he checked on daily. They were dandelions in a water bottle...And yes, they looked pretty pathetic after the first day.

Bear and Wolf Discovery center in Yellowstone

We visited a Bear and Wolf rescue center while in West Yellowstone. It was pretty interesting. They had lots of dead, stuffed bears inside with lots of info. Then outside they had live bears and wolves. They had about 7 0r 8 bears but rotated them around to the playing area. I'm guessing this keeps them active for good people viewing.
They had 2 different wolf set-ups. Here is one wolf.
They also had trash cans on display that had been through bear testing. They were interesting. Then the highlight for the kids, a playground! by the playground they had a tepee. So here's all the kids in the tepee.
In the gift shop they had a great bear couch for pictures...

Sam's body jewlery

While on vacation Sam got a pair of clip on earrings. She loved them and was very proud of them...

Problem is they kept breaking constantly. They were shiny pennies and every time the penny would move a certain way, pop, the penny fell off. They were from Wall's drug in South Dakota. I don't recommend buying them! Well after awhile I got tired of fixing them but Sam did not get tired of wearing them. So later on she decided to try something different...
And then it followed by this....
Yes, it is on her belly button. She tired a couple other places as well but settled for the lip.

Should I be worried!??

Yellowstone

Yellowstone was awesome. It has hot springs and geysers all over the place. First thing we saw was Old Faithful...


This is a little ways back just to show you all the people that gather around to see it. It was neat to see. We also saw the beehive geyser that is by Old Faithful. It only goes off 1 time a day and is much bigger than old faithful. It lasts much longer as well.

Some of the hot springs were so cool to watch. some just steam, some boil, some have geysers within them. Some are the prettiest color blue.

Here is a couple...

But really pictures will never do it Justice!


Here is an old geyser that is now stone...
This is Bacteria Mat... It was in one of the hot spring areas.

The weather in Yellowstone was rather chilly. However it changed all the time. It would be sunny, then rainy, then who knows!! At one rainy point we were up looking at some stuff that was a little bit of a walk back to the car. On the way back Max found some buddies!That is Max in the green. The other people? No idea!! But the guy had an umbrella so Max become instant friends with the guy!

We saw lots of buffalo, tons of elk, some deer, birds, bald eagle (and nest), a wolf, some coyote, and possibly the back side of a bear.
Here are elk just hanging out
A Buffalo walking down the middle of the street
We did go to a bear and wolf rescue center. That was pretty neat. We got to see the bears playing with each other.

We saw all of Yellowstone but the Tower Roosevelt area. I have TONS of pictures. Hundreds-seriously.

After Yellowstone we drove through the Grand Tetons. Max and Sam got their Jr Ranger badges there (and Yellowstone plus Mt Rushmore). Here they are pledging to help protect it all...


The trip was nice. We went with my In laws and by the time we were done, I think we all needed a break! I'm pretty sure my sweet angels drove them up the wall!

Yellowstone is a place to see though. The Tetons, I was a little disappointed. But maybe that is just because it is much smaller than Yellowstone. But the Mountains in the Tetons were very pretty.

Spring break-Padre Island

I finally got my Spring break pictures ready. I posted them on my photo website if your interested. CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM. Then either click last 7 days or go straight to "2009 spring break..."


OOPS--- I guess just click "last 7 days" as I forgot to link them to the 2009 spring break link. I'll have to have hubby fix it for me!