a yellow stone

The whole time we were in Yellowstone Brennen kept asking, "are we in Yellowstone?"  Our answer always in the affirmative.  Finally his frustration got the better of him and he asks "well, where's all the yellow stones?"  
We all cracked up.  Then I saw the look on his face that he was so serious so I told him that was the name of the place not necessarily what was there.  He was a little bumbed, until he found his yellow stone.
We were walking along a trail in Norris geyser area when just on the side of the trail was this really large yellow stone.  Brennen was so excited he exclaimed "a yellow stone, a yellow stone!!"  Indeed it was.  so from then on he kept his eye open for yellow stones.  He even brought one home.

Brennen and his yellow stone

waterfalls

We hiked the upper and lower falls to see the amazing waterfalls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  This was a pretty hike but I'll admit I was a little nervous.  One side is quiet steep.  As long as you stayed on the narrow path it was fine, but 2 of our more adventurous hikers kept straying and jumping off logs trying to do tricks off rocks.  I was so worried they would miss and tumble down the steep ravine. They were so fast that I couldn't keep an eye on them because Peter insisted on walking the whole way even though he is the slowest person on the planet.  They would run ahead until I couldn't see them then I would shout for them to wait.  All was fine they didn't fall off the cliff but it didn't keep my mother radar from being on high alert.

The water falls were beautiful and the temperature was perfect.  This is the place where we saw the baby eagle in the nest.  As we basked in the glory of the torrent of water I was again reminded of the song "For the Beauty of the Earth."  It truly is beautiful.  On the way back the speeders headed off toward the RV with the older on promising the first one back to the RV $1.  Paul determined to win that $1 went faster than his legs could go.  He kept slipping and tripping over everything and nothing.  Finally I had to tell Paul that he was no longer allowed to run.  I wasn't sure I had enough bandaids.

 

what's that smell

The geysers put off a very unpleasant smell. William our super sniff had a hard time with it.  He kept asking what's that smell?  We informed him that it was sulfur escaping from the geysers.

 5 minutes later he would ask what's that smell?

 Scott reminds him "Sulfur!"

Oh right

10 minutes later.   "What's that smell?"

My turn , "William its called sulfur, say it with me sul-fur."

5 minutes later, "What makes that smell again?"

everyone in unison shouts "SULFUR"

I don't know why he couldn't remember that.  So though out the whole hike it was a joke.  He William what's that smell?   William, what smells like rotten eggs? Hey Will what's that smell?  

He finally got it.    Then it turned into another joke.  Hey William what smells like rotten eggs?  William answered back "sulfur"   then the kids said "NO, rotten eggs."

Norris Geyser

Norris Geyser was one of the more lengthy hikes we did.  We pulled up right in front of this tepee that someone make with all the fallen lodge pole pines.  After our hike we let the kids play in it while Scott took his nap for the day. All over the park they have this picture to show the ground is unstable.  Scott thought it was so funny and begged me to take a picture.  Notice its a boy that went off the path.  We had that problem the whole time.  All the boys wanted to wander off the path to "go see something"
 There were so many geysers in this area.  The biggest called steam boat only goes off every 50 years.  they said when it goes off it totally drains the pond below it.  Pretty awesome. Peter was super grouchy on this hike bossing everyone around and telling people not to touch him or talk to him.

that's what happens when he doesn't eat. Then he and Brennen started fighting over Scott, each claiming that he was Peters daddy, then Brennen retaliates "no, he's my daddy" and so on and so forth making it very difficult for Scott to walk.

this area also had a lot of water running through it.  The boys kept asking if they could touch it, after so many times I finally consented just so they could get it out of their system.  When I asked them what's the verdict? Is it everything they hoped it would be?  They said "its warm"  That was the end of it.

Ellie was so excited to find the only bookstore out in the middle of nowhere.  We teased her at first and said she wasn't allowed in.  When the draw was too great we let her check it out.  

Hiking back up to the RV my nephew Paul stops in his track and exclaims, "Hey check this out."  We all gather to see what cool thing he found.  He points to a rock and says, "this looks just like a PS3 remote."  Oh Paul with all this beauty surrounding us his mind is still on video games.

he's my daddy

escapee

While planning for this trip I was secretly hoping for some good stories to come out of it.  You know the good bonding kind of stories where we look back and say remember when. . . .After putting in a late night and a really early morning dealing with many children in a confined space, I had the gall to lay down in the back of the RV to take a quick power nap while Scott drove to our next destination.  I was at that point where I was just about asleep when Peter came back and started jumping on me, and trying to do a dog pile on my head.  At first I tried to ignore it so he would get bored.  He didn't.  I sat up and pushed him away saying "leave me alone, mommy is trying to take a nap!" He did as he was told for about 60 seconds. Then I hear this whooshing sound.  Peter has open the back window which is an emergency exit and is trying to climb out of it while we are driving!  Immediately my head pops up I shut the window, scold him and dump him off the bed with instructions to "go bother someone else."

I was just back to sleep when I hear Scott yelling "Ahhhhh get the kid! get the kid! someone help, Ahhhh!!!"
Peter had climbed in the front seat and opened the door, again while we are going 45 mph down the road.  He is holding on for dear life to the chair and the open door.  Scott knew that if he put on his breaks the g-forces would swing the door all the way open.  It was the forced air that was keeping it just slightly ajar.
Shane was asleep on the loft bed, William, Brennen, and Paul were playing cards at the table.  Ellie was in the chair directly behind Peter.  Being the closest she quickly stood up turned around and stared at me.
Hearing Scott's cries I jumped up ran up front reached across the back of the chair, grabbed Peter by his shirt and threw him to the back of the RV. I then grabbed the door and tried to slam it closed only to find a bottle in the way.  I pushed open the door, kicked the bottle out and slammed the door closed.  All the while going 45 down a 2 lane road.
It was exciting to say the least.  With adrenaline running through me I put Peter on the back bed spanked him, asked him, "why are you trying to escape?!" Then tossed him his woobie and said in a VERY stern voice "go to sleep." After all that he went right to sleep without any more fuss.

dragons breath

Another place we visited while in Yellowstone was the mud volcano and dragons breath.  The mud volcano was not very inspiring but the dragons breath was really cool.  There is this natural cave that is a vent for the gases that build up.  As it releases its gases it sounds just like a dragon breathing complete with smoke (steam) that shoots out of the cave in huffs.  William was sure that the dragon was just sleeping in there and was going to wake up any minute if we were too loud.  It was quite the scene for a dragon fantasy.  One of my favorites actually the whole backdrop was just surreal. 

my nephew Paul

mud volcano

Yellowstone Beauty

As we drove around the park the hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth" kept popping into my head.  I saw beauty everywhere.  As I witnessed one amazing view after another I couldn't help but truly know that it was created by a higher power.  Heavenly Father has blessed me in so many ways.  I am grateful I was able to partake of the beauty of the earth.