Day 2: Island Park/Yellowstone...

October 3: We went to Yellowstone National Park...probably one of the most amazing places on Earth! Bridger has been asking for so long to go to Yellowstone...I am not really sure why, but I am glad we were able to take him! We were lucky because my grandma and Merlin both had Golden Age Passes so we were able to get into the park for free, which is great because they charge $25 to get in...what, that's crazy!! My grandma and Merlin were in their car, us in our car and we brought 2-way radios, so we were easily able to talk to each other...that was sweet! Anyway, not too far into the park we saw people pulled off to the side of the road, so we knew there was something...sure enough there were elk! Bridger thought it was awesome to be able to get out and see the elk.After a quick potty break, we saw this beautiful waterfall and of course I can't remember what is called (why did I take so long to journal this?!) Along this little scenic detour, we saw a warm swimming hole, that was complete with little changing houses, etc...how fun would that be during the summer?!


The paint pots are one of my favorite things to see at Yellowstone...they are so gorgeous and amazing to think of all the thermal activity that goes on to create them. We told Bridger how important it was to stay very close to us, so that he wouldn't fall off the walkway...he was very nervous about that the whole time...it was hard to get him close to the edge for pictures, which is why I am holding him in one!





We packed a picnic lunch and decided to eat lunch before we went to Old Faithful. We were trying to find a good area with picnic tables, and as we were doing so we kept climbing higher and higher and eventually saw snow...the first snow we had seen of the season! We finally found picnic tables, but they were covered in snow so we scraped them off, bundled up and enjoyed a yummy lunch. It was so super cold but beautiful too!
Cute little Kenna stayed with my grandma and Merlin for several of the places we had to walk around, such as the paint pots and Old Faithful. It was nice for us to not have to worry about her staying warm, etc and I think she had fun being entertained by her great grandma!

These are the Old Faithful Paint Pots...

Meet BILL! As in Buffalo Bill...ha ha...we got this for Bridger at the Old Faithful Lodge for his souvenir...he thought it was the best thing ever...my grandma helped him name him...good old Bill!
Bill likes to just "hang out" while we were waiting for Old Faithful to erupt!
Always awe-inspiring to see Old Faithful erupt! Bridger thought it was awesome!

After Old Faithful, we were going to head back to the car when we saw a buffalo a ways up...perfect, especially since Bridger just got a buffalo! He was so excited to see the buffalo. Okay funny story about the buffalo encounter...as we were getting ready to head back the buffalo decided to "do his business" which was gross, but Bridger was interested! So, the whole way back to the car Bill had to "do his business" everywhere (so we had to wait)...over the weeds, over the bridge into the water, etc...complete with sound effects...thank you Bridger! Seriously, yes that is gross, but it was also hilarious!

After we saw the buffalo, we drove around some more and saw some more elk and buffalo and then headed back to West Yellowstone. My grandma wanted us to go to Bear World (or whatever it is called) so she watched Kenna for us to make it easier, and we went in with Bridger. It was awesome and very interesting! The wolves were incredible to watch! They had several bears there and we were lucky enough to see them hide food around and then they let two bears go to find the food...the bears we saw were Sam and Illie, brother and sister. It was so cute watching these two bears run around to find food! Bridger was pretty much in heaven! Afterward we let him get a button with a picture of Sam on it and he was so proud of it! While we were watching the bears, my poor grandma came in with a crying Kenna...she had tried everything, but Kenna would not settle down, I think she was just over tired! She finally settled down when I took her (which is usually the way it is). We loved seeing the bears and wolves!

Alpha male and Alpha female...
Alpha female...


It is tradition to stop to eat at "Gus's" (really called Canyon Street Grill) in West Yellowstone. When my grandpa was in the stake presidency for church, he used to have meetings with Gus at his restraunt. Gus's is super delicious and is an old 50's diner atmosphere. We always get a chocolate cherry cordial shake and split it...we eat it while we're waiting for our burger and fries to come. Gus's never disappoints! Okay, so my dear Kenna has a major sweet tooth and makes us laugh when it comes to sweets! Here she is wanting some of my grandma's shake!



Mmm...yummy!!

After we finished eating, we headed home...exhausted from a full, but fun day! You really could spend several days in the park but with two little ones, one day is just right!