Home again!

After listening to my kids excitedly tell Grammie all about our trip to Yellowstone, I decided to let them help me do the following posts. I want to record what they remember about it too.

My main thought...Had a fabulous trip--but I'm glad to be home. And THANK GOODNESS for indoor plumbing! I will never take it for granted again.

Days 1 and 2--The trip there, Cody, Wyoming, and Dead Indian Monument


Isaac: We were in the car, watching a movie. As soon as it was done, Lincoln started crying. Then I tried to cheer him up. When I stopped he started crying again. It was a long trip.

Audrey: I was happy when we were driving to Yellowstone. I don't remember what we were watching though. It might have been "The Cat in the Hat."

Chloe: We were driving a long way to Yellowstone. And then we were watching "Tom and Jerry" on our way back.

Lindsay: The trip was long--over nine hours the first day to Cody, but the kids did exceptionally well! Of course the tv helps immensely, but it is also nice that they are just getting older and car travel just keeps getting easier. Lincoln had a major meltdown on day 2. One of the major roads we needed to use in Yellowstone was closed, which made what should have been a 45 minute trip to our cabin into a 4 hour detour through all of Yellowstone. Two hours into that is when he started screaming "Mommy". By the time we got to Old Faithful I was ready to take a flying leap into it. But after he got out and got some food he was good to go again. That was really our only major issue in the car. And we spent a ton of time in the car. Way too much in my opinion. I knew we would do a lot of driving, but I wasn't expecting to spend 4-5 hours a day in the car. That is not my idea of a vacation. Let's just say that I will do things a lot differently next time!
Isaac: We stopped in Shoshoni to take a picture.

Audrey: That is me when we parked at the bathroom and we were taking a picture.

Chloe: We were driving over to Yellowstone. On the way back we saw it (this place) again and we were eating fruit snacks. And we loved watching that "Tom and Jerry."

Lindsay: Yes, this was at one of our many bathroom stops. Oh, the joys of public restrooms.

Isaac: At the end of our trip on the first day, we stopped at the Big Bear Motel. It was very fun because we got to have Root Beer for dinner and play at the playground after.

Audrey: That is when we were taking a picture at the wagons. We didn't get to see the rodeo because it costs $60.

Chloe: And we were pretending to ride on a covered wagon.

Lindsay: We stayed at this hokey little Mom and Pop motel. It had a lot of rustic charm--and plenty of room to board your horses if you happened to bring them along. Cody was a really fun little town. I would love to go back and explore it more some day! We walked over to a fun museum across the street from our motel that had a huge model train display and tons of Indian and pioneer artifacts.
Isaac: The next day we stopped at The Irma Hotel and took a picture. Then we went on with our journey to Yellowstone.

Audrey: That's us taking a picture at a museum, I think.

Chloe: We parked at this. It was a hotel plus a museum. And we got to look inside it. We took lots and lots of pictures.

Lindsay: This is the famous Irma Hotel, founded by Buffalo Bill himself and named after his daughter. It is over 100 years old and you can still stay there!
Isaac: Near the end of our trip (the second day) we were right outside of Yellowstone at the Dead Indian Monument.

Audrey: That is us at my favorite place, the Indian place. And this is my favorite place of all time. We got to see the horse statue.

Chloe: We were going to take a picture at this. I saw some statues about boy Indians riding on horses.

Lindsay: What more can I say?Isaac: Then we took a picture by this Indian statue. I wanted to take a rock home, but my mom and dad wouldn't let me.

Audrey: That is us taking a picture at the Indian place. I love Indians. I'm going to be an Indian for Halloween.

Chloe: Look at those boy Indians. They are so cool.
Isaac: Then we stopped for lunch right inside Yellowstone. We still had a long way to go.

Audrey: That is us at the bathroom taking a picture at a picnic table.

Chloe: We were at a bridge playing big sister on a boat.

Lindsay: Yes, another bathroom break/photo op. We had just crossed into Yellowstone and so I was on the look out for bears. My fear of bears did hamper my ability to truly relax and enjoy myself as much as I could have and wouldn't you know it--we didn't see a single one!

Much, much more to come!!!