Yellowstone National Park

for several months leading up to our trip out west, our family researched yellowstone national park. we watched several documentaries on the geysers, waterfalls, and of course, the wildlife. these kiddos were so thrilled to be going and exploring it all first hand! so on july 1st, after spending the night at the cabin in island park, we went on our yellowstone adventure! we entered through the west entrance of the park and followed the bottom loop. our pictures can not do the beauty of the park justice.

the kids really loved hearing the bubbling sounds coming from the paint pots... the sulfur smells coming from them though... whew!

we sat in the perfect spot to watch old faithful. and by perfect i mean we could hardly see it because the wind blew the mist perfectly in our faces haha! but the kids loved feeling old faithful :)

i remembered old faithful drawing a big crowd, but man! it was busy! and I'm pretty sure every single tourist there was asian.

charlie was probably the most excited to see buffalo. the buffalo pictured above came right up by our sequoia and then walked behind us and across the street. it was pretty spectacular! this was charlie's "i saw a buffalo herd!" victory cheer.

we ended up seeing so many buffalo, individuals and herds, that by the end of the day charlie said "i'm tired of buffalo". yellowstone sure delivered!

we saw quite a few elk. several cows right up close to the car, but only a few bulls. we even saw a bear, although it was quite far away.

owen was so happy when he wasn't strapped in. poor kid spent most of the day strapped in either a carseat, stroller, or backpack.

when we got home that evening, the family had set up an outdoor movie night. it was a perfect day!