Pictures for Jason (and anyone else who wants to look)

I'll start off with some pictures from when we went to the cabin on the 11th of July. Alyssa spotted a water snake out in the field. Grandpa helped them catch it. Ian was fascinated, of course.That afternoon we went up to "the basin" for a drive to see the wild flowers. I took some cute pictures of the kids up there.


This past week I went to Yellowstone with my parents and my brother and his family. I guess I really wasn't focused on taking many pictures of the trip because I didn't. I got very few. Maybe when my family sends me some of theirs I can point you in that direction so you can see some better pictures. This first one is on a hike we took on Tuesday.
Ian caught a stone fly near the falls. As you can see from his face he was quite happy with his catch. He carried this bug all the way back up to the parking lot (I think it said 2/3 of a mile, but I'm not sure.) Then he kept it in his bug house and played with it until later the next day when it finally died.
Playing in Danny's hammock.

Sandra was such a good sport with the kids. Despite being quite pregnant here she is sitting on the ground making crafts with Alyssa.
Upon visiting Yellowstone Lake we let the kids get in the water (I did pack swimming suits but did not bring them to the lake that day.) We just let them go in their clothes (or underwear in Ian's case.)


He had sand up inside his underwear. I think that would make me crazy, but kids are resilient and he didn't even seem to notice.

Alyssa and Ian resting at the bottom (or temporary bottom as the remainder of the hike was closed due to some rock slides or something) of the Tower Falls hike. Yes, Jason, that is a cliff just beyond that fence that drops off into the Yellowstone river. Don't worry, we stayed back.
Waking up is so hard for these kids.
Alyssa completed their "Jr. Ranger" program which consisted of tasks such as going on a hike, attending a ranger program, learning the rules of the program, completing a bunch of educational activity pages. Here she is receiving her Jr. Ranger patch. The ranger asked if she wanted it handed to her quietly or if she wanted it announced to everyone in the foyer of the Visitor Center. She chose the latter. She isn't shy.

When we returned home yesterday Jason's parents and sister had been working at our house and cleaned it for me. They also weeded my cute little garden and his dad completed our fence. These pictures are just for Jason to see how nice they look...maybe before/after pictures would prove my point better, but trust me, its a million times better.