Matt and Carolyn: Yellowstone

Yellowstone, day 3. July 29th. The night before was probably colder than the first night, we just didn't have rain and wind. But man it was cold. We rearranged the beds and we stayed warm enough. But this day was much warmer than the previous days. We finally had sunshine! So we ventured out and saw as much as we could. I should probably split this in to 2 or 3 different posts, but eh, oh well.

We decided to hit the other paint pots. These ones were fun, but I liked the first ones better. But it was more fun to have everyone together for all the fun. We let the kids have turns with the camera, and so we had a LOT of pictures. And it was fun to go through them and see what pictures they had taken, and see things from their level.

The paint pots. We hiked about a mile in. I guess it was more of a walk on a dirt road, not too strenuous.

I have a video of these somewhere, they were bubbling pretty rapidly, that was fun to see.

The look down on the Norris Geyser Basin. This was a fun hike. All of this is hidden from view on the road, then you come down a little hike and bam, here's this amazing view with all these springs and geysers, it's really cool.

This one had amazing colors. The green and the yellow were amazing.

This is a look back on where the boardwalk starts. You can't really see the visitor center thing at the top but that's where you come down and then you loop around in a big circle.

I got to carry Jacob this day. Man he's heavy! But I loved having the hiking pack for him, it made things SO much easier.

The sediment deposits and pockets were amazing. The earth is so cool!

Gorg.

Crackling Lake.

Some mud pots.

I think I'm submitting this one to the Yellowstone photo contest. Such an amazing view.

On part of the boardwalk, I spotted this little trail and was surprised to find it led to a lake just 15 feet away! It was a fun stop. Jacob and Jensen were having fun throwing rocks in the lake together. Look at this cute picture of them. Love.

On the way home we stopped at a small spring. I loved watching the bubbling on the side.

We stopped at this waterfall, and cursed me I can't remember the name of it! I'll edit it in later when I remember. :) I was a little freaked out because the wall was low and then it just dropped off on a steep edge. And I was terrified I'd lose a kid. But I didn't! Success!

This is the river that comes from the falls.

And the falls.

Another cute one of Bethany and Jensen, and Jacob in the background!

Oops, these are back at the Paint Pots. :) haha, my picture uploading gets all screwy when I transfer it to the blog. Sigh, what can ya do.

Reagan and the amazing view. I'm not sure who took this picture, but I love it.

Jordyn

I took this one for my parents! This reminds me I need to send them my pictures...

A family picture at the top of the paint pots. AMAZING view. Also, we took more family pictures this week than we have all last year. Win!

We stopped for lunch at a little picnic area, where there happened to be a river right by. There was a steep-ish hill that went down from the tables area to the river. The kids had fun sliding down it.

There was a big tree log that went across the river to the other side. My mom offered to pay the kids $2 if they crossed it. Challenge accepted!

I caught this from Tyler mid cross.

He made it! He was pretty excited about getting his money.

Grandpa even got $2!

I found this random picture on my camera from one of the kids, and I thought it was pretty cool! Had to share. They took it while the others were crossing the log.

Matt helped Reagan across. Gotta get that $2!

She made it! And then posed. Priorities, people.

Tyler on his way back to our side of the river.

My cute girl in the water. Again, the water was pretty warm. I had no idea (or just never thought about it) that the geyser run off would make the water warm. Such a pleasant surprise.

Aaaaand, the rest are jumbled again. But you get the picture. ;) Loved this day! We got so much in and saw so much and played hard. It was such a fun day.