Eggs & Kittens!
Isabelle's little cat had 6 babies. One died within the first 2 days. It was really difficult for Isabelle, a few tears were shed, a tiny box found and a little grave in the back yard. The other 5 thrived. The kids had so much fun with them all summer. We finally found a home for 4 of them. The kids (Casey included) said we HAD to keep at least one! The chickens are laying LOTS of eggs. They are free to roam so it's a little of an egg hunt each morning. They seem to have taken over Misty's dog house.
On our way...
We started off heading to Pinedale, WY. We were a bit cramped, but enjoyed our travels across the beautiful US of A! Our first stop was wonderful. Matt and Sharlyn live in a beautiful place. The kids kept saying, "We should live in Wyoming! It's the perfect weather." When discussing winters they said, "You have skiing and snowmobiling." It is beautiful there!
Next stop...
The Snake River! What fun we had rafting this fun river with family. Mark and Shelly set everything up. They brought the rafts, life jackets, duckies (inflatable kayaks) and loads of fun!! Porter rode the bull for the better part of the river. He and Dallin braved the final length of the river in a duckie. We were a bit nervous but they did fabulous through the rapids. Casey gave us a good scare while following Uncle Mark's & Matt's lead... 13 seconds is a really long time to wait to pop out of the water after jumping into a raging rapid. What a great time we had with family on the river. As we were driving away Porter said, "If that is all we did on this trip it would be worth it. I had so much fun."
Day 1 in Yellowstone...
The mountain rivers and streams are my favorite. We set up camp then took a hike following this river. It was beautiful and fun. The kids walked along then decided to go for a swim. It was FREEZING!!! We collected wood on the way back and Victoria made a raging fire that warmed us right up.
Day 2 in Yellowstone...
We visited the geysers, Old Faithful and the Canyons. By far our favorite part was hiking the Upper and Lower Falls in the Canyons. We hiked down to the river and played for a while. On the hike to the Upper Falls the kids did a little rock climbing and off the trail exploring. On the way back they found a perfect swimming hole. Porter stripped down to his undies and jumped right in. Isabelle joined him in her bathing suit, she came prepared! They swam and played enjoying the FREEZING mountain water. A couple of boys moving from NC to Monterey, CA joined in the fun. The Dad is in the military and made the comment, "Boys, I've never been more proud of you than right now!" They had joined Porter in their undies also.
Crater Lake...
What an adventure! We arrived late to find the only open campsites, despite our reservations, was in an area to be closed the next morning. Sam, Casey and Ryan went for a run as I fixed breakfast. We soon had a visit from the rangers helpers... tweetle dee and tweetle dumb. They had found us a much better site, so they said. The kids and I picked up the tent and started walking to the new site. Casey had returned so he followed in the car. What we found was a site with 2 other tents along side it. We weren't to convinced this was a better site. We spent the better part of the morning finding a site, waiting for the campers occupying the site to leave and taking cold showers. The afternoon didn't fair too much better. Isabelle, Porter and Victoria lost the privilege of visiting Crater Lake. Ryan took Sam, Casey and Rebekah and had a jolly good time exploring the Lake and taking a dip in the FREEZING water. They really had a great time. Meanwhile, Porter talked us into hiking down the VERY steep side of a cliff to explore a creek. We later found the trail head and enjoyed an afternoon of exploring creeks, trees, mountains and playing make believe amongst it all. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon with my 3 "littles".
Later we all took a hike to see the Plaikini Falls... correctly named since our girls shed their clothes and ended up in what could have been called bikinis. We kept those pictures out due to the modesty factor. However, everyone had a FREEZING good time taking their turn under the falls. Sam stepped on a slick log and landed on a sharp rock leaving an unsightly gash in an unsightly place. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh. The laughter over came the tears. It was so fun being out in these beautiful places alone. Most often on our little excursions we were the only ones there.
Our own little Puck!
What would I do without my little "trickster King"? I've been reading the Grimm Sisters books. The more I read the more I realize I have a growing Puck on my hands. How I love his little antics.
Gold Bluffs Beach and the Redwood National Forest...
Porter was in tree heaven! They loved running wild amid the crazy big trees. They found one that was hollowed out a bit and lowered all the kids down into it. These trees are amazing. The kids swam in the FREEZING cold ocean the entire time we were there. They had to have been numb the water was so cold. They saw seals and dolphins, no sharks! It was so peaceful sitting on the sand watching the kids play listening to the waves crash. Again they followed creeks and created their own trails.
San Fransisco...
It was a wildly fast weekend in California. We had a wonderful time together. Aaron married Carolyn on Saturday, August 3rd. We took a fast trip downtown to Fisherman's Wharf to see the sea lions and gaze at Alcatraz. We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and everywhere we drove we found more and more traffic!! The kids and I had a fun screaming session taking over an hour to drive 15 miles. We rolled the windows down and let it all out. It was a beautiful wedding and we are so very happy for Aaron and Carolyn.
Our trip home... to be continued.
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