our Yellowtone trip

My husband always points out that there is a difference between a vacation and a trip. A vacation is where you go somewhere and relax... sleep in, sit by the pool, sleep some more. On a trip you go and do. I'll give you a wild guess which one I plan. My in-laws are probably chuckling already, remembering the time they took the family to Spain, and I, along with my travel books (and I was the only one who brought travel books), forced everyone up and out the door one morning with a list of places we were going to visit that day. Bless your hearts for putting up with me! Aren't you glad you did? I figure, if I am going to just sit in a hotel room or by the pool, I could have done that at home. Plus, my kids don't sleep in any way.
So, after finishing all of the sicknesses, we headed out for our family vacation... er... trip. We first stopped at Jackson Hole to visit Aunt Nene and Uncle Kevin. We had fun playing games with them while the kids slept, and then the next morning we went on a lovely little hike to find a geocache. These things are great! My husband loves the techno-side of using his GPS to find them. The kids bring a little toy that they can trade for another toy in the geocache. And I love walking in the beautiful parks where they are hidden. Afterwards, Uncle Kevin probably spent an hour doing the same magic tricks over and over for my kids. They just couldn't get enough! Note to the other uncles out there: You have some stiff competition! Who doesn't love a MAGIC UNCLE!

So Tuesday afternoon, after a quick stop at the Tetons, we rolled into Yellowstone. And we took off running. We went to so many places, saw so many things. We figured the kids wouldn't go to bed on time anyway, so we stayed out hiking until it got dark. Thank goodness we stayed in warm cabins, because it dropped down to the 20s at night. Occasionally it rained or once snowed, but that was usually when we were driving. We always wore jackets or coats and the kids wore hats, so we were always warm enough. We had such a great time! I think that the waterfalls were our favorite. That might be because Bekah hated the smell of sulfur. Rob (brilliantly) gave her sticks with sap on it to smell, so that helped some. Once we took a wrong turn on a hike and ended up hiking to "Solitary gyeser". It was supposed to erupt every 4-7 minutes, and just as we arrived, people were leaving and assured us the eruption was worth it. We waited... and waited. After a little while, "solitary gyeser" was not so picturesquely solitary, as a 3 year old decided that she had had enough. After 20 minutes without an eruption, it started to drizzle and we also decided we were done. Aahh well.
But, most of the time we had very happy campers! They both did great on hikes and got along soo well. We enjoyed the wildlife: bison, elk, wolf, birds, marmots, chipmunks, deer, and even a bear (seen from binoculars... very far away, but a bear nonetheless). We hiked out to Lost Lake to see a moose, but had no luck. It was a really nice hike, though.

One day we were out the door at 8 am and didn't get home until almost 9pm! That evening, we decided to go on one more hike down to see a waterfall. After we were hiking for a while, we came across big warning signs that said: "Warning, 328 step descent. Very difficult hike. DO NOT Continue unless..." It was already after 7, and I asked Rob if he thought we should really do this. After all, we had been hiking a lot and were pretty tired. Not to mention we have a 2 and 3 year old. Well Bekah, hearing this, piped in: "Let's have a prayer!" We then gathered together while she prayed that we could do the hike and be strong and not whine. What a good example! So off we went, down down down. It was pretty nerve wracking going down steep stairs, looking through the metal stairs straight down the mountainside, clutching a child's little hand. It was a beautiful view at the bottom. Then we turned and began the ascent, counting each step as we climbed it. And WOW! The kids did great! Bekah climbed almost all of those 328 steps, and there was not even a little whining... none! We stopped and rested regularly, but I was amazed that by the time we were done, it seemed easy; we weren't even winded! It reminded me how I need to pray more... how much help we miss out on just because we think we can do it alone, and thus fail to ask the Lord for his help. Thank you, Rebekah, for teaching us all.