Arriving in Ogden

Today we got up at Kristy's and got all our stuff together.  We ditched everything from the van that we didnt' need and then headed up to Ogden around 10.  It was so nice to see my honey again, and it was nice to see Laura after 2.5 years.  the kids were happy to have a new house to explore, and to see their cousin Olivia who they met 4 years ago at Disney World.  We had a nice afternoon visiting.

Rexburg rapids and on to Utah

Since we left Yellowstone a day early, we had to figure out what to do with ourselves.  We considered several options, but in  the end we decided to stop on our way through Rexburg Idaho and go to their new water park for a few hours before heading down to Kristy's house in Utah.  We would get to Utah a day early, but we wouldn't have to pay for an extra camp site, and bonus, we would get a break from setting up and sleeping in tents.  Rexburg rapids was really cool.  They had 2 big water slides, a lap pool, a big splash pool and an awesome lazy river.  Grandpa took Evvie to the baby pool to play and the rest of us mostly hung out int he lazy river.  everyone but mom, dad and evvie at least tried the water slides once too.  It was a nice couple of hours to relax and play.  Once the grown ups were done, (cuz you know the kids would never be done!) we dried of and got dressed and headed back on the road.  It was just a few more hours to the Kuglers in Layton.  Kristy and the kids in her car zoomed ahead and got home first while the car pulling the trailer took it's sweet time.  But bonus, chris had pizza for us ready to eat when we arrived.  It was so nice to sleep in a nice warm house!  Tomorrow  I pack up the car, unhitch the trailer and head over to laura's house to see Jon!

last day in yellowstone

Dad decided to take pity on all us freezing people and cut our time in Yellowstone short by a day. we were all dying of cold, so we appreciated it.  So today was our last day.  We went to see the bubbling paint pots, which is one of the things Jamie really wanted to see, and I wanted to see the travertine terrace, so those are the two places we stopped today. James was completely fascinated by the bubbling mud. He stared at it for like, 15 min!

It was pretty cool.  The travertine terrace wasn't as impressive as I remember, I guess the formation is a pretty quickly changing one and it has moved on quite a bit since I was here 15 years ago.  IT was still pretty.  Evvie was not interesting in walking up all the stairs, and mom couldn't, so mom dad and evvie stayed at the bottom and hung out while the rest of us went up a million stairs to see the formations.  They were pretty cool up top and definitely worth the walk.

After we climbed back down, we started off towards camp.  We pulled over at "sheepeaters cliff" and all the kids had a great time climbing on the rocks.  Elinor climbed all the way to the top, twice!  Evvie slept in the car, so it was nice to get her nap in and also not have to watch her try to kill herself on the cliff.

 On the way back to the campsite, we stopped at the little store and got some french fries to warm us up.  Then back to camp to relax and play in the fire before we pack up and head to Utah tomorrow (a day early)

Geysers and wading and camp life

This morning i cooked up a big breakfast of sausage eggs and hashbrowns. After we ate. Mom and dad took sponge baths in our little shower tent then dad helped me wash Evvie too.  We started our day back at the grand canyon of yellowstone, this time we went to artists point.  Dad challenged the older girls to a 5 min drawing contest.  They were supposed to draw the falls in their own style.  I think they both did great!  Then we went to a geyser basin. It was a 1.6 mile hike that SUCKED because Evvie did NOT want to be there. I had to drag and carry her the whole way. The the geysers were super cool and she finally stopped crying enough to talk about the "dragons" blowing smoke from the ground. James loved seeing the boiling water and mud. It was nice except for Evvie.

 After we finished the hike we drove to a nearby picnic area. We passed by a really pretty stream on the way so after we ate we went back and let the kids go wading. Dad is the only grown up who got in and he said it was freezing.

After the kids were done we went back to camp and i put evvie down for a nap and took one myself. When we woke up i took evvie on a drive to the nearby store/restaurant and we shared an ice cream. Then we drove back and i made dinner, nachos. During dinner grandpa had the kids to a narrative play, red locks and the 3 bison. They had a lot of fun with that. At dusk, after the kids had cleaned up dad took the 5 older kids. On a drive to a nearby wildlife viewing area. They saw a huge elk and some other animals. Then it was bedtime. It is still freezing every night. I can't wait to get somewhere warmer.