Yellowstone

Before Erin became a grown up and got a job, but after she took the bar, my family wanted to get together for a vacation.  We decided Yellowstone would be a great location.  My best friend in high school had a cabin near Yellowstone and I joined her family on several occasions during the summers.  One time my dad and brother came too and then it became a summer tradition for our family as well.  Even though we'd stay in a hotel instead of a rustic cabin, it was still so fun.
Yellowstone was a nostalgic choice, plus Paul had never been.  We rented a cabin so that we could all be together and I'm so glad we did.  It was perfect!

On Friday we went into the park and saw clay pots, paint pots, Old Faithful and lots of other geysers.  That evening we saw a play at the Playmill, which is an absolute MUST in my opinion when visiting Yellowstone.

On Saturday we went to a lake and rented stand up paddleboards and canoes and had a picnic lunch.  That night we played a silly game of Munchkin after the kiddos went to bed. I recall that a lot of M&Ms were eaten that night...

It was a wonderful vacation and the only downside was that it was too short.  Aren't they always?

When planning this vacation, I didn't really consider travel time.  Except for Matt and Jamie who live in Rexburg, I knew that getting to Yellowstone would require 5+ hours of driving for everyone (we flew from San Diego to Salt Lake City, then rented a car), but I didn't think it would be a big deal.  It actually wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good, if you know what I mean.  There were several candy stops along the way.  At one of these stops Paul insisted on getting an Idaho Spud.  A "when in Rome" type of thing, I guess, even though I told Paul that real Idahoans don't eat those nasty things.

 Parker did this weird claw thing in most of the pictures.  He said he was being a Minion... ???

 I love this picture because Kate and Paul have the same smile.

 Our plan was to hike down to that waterfall you can see in the background here, but we ran out of time.  Next time!

 Parker is not bugs' or small animals' biggest fan.  He liked this little chipmunk from a distance, but got nervous when it got too close.

 Look!  Joe's profile and Erin's arm!  Next time I need to pay my photographer extra to also take photos of people that aren't named Parker or Kate.  Or I need to do a better job of getting pictures from other people's cameras...