Yellowstone- Day 4

This was our last day at Yellowstone before we drove home the next day. July 30. So we decided to hit as much as possible. We slept pretty well the night before; it was still cold but maybe we just got use to it? Ha. And this day was gorgeous. Warm and sunny, and just perfect for a day out exploring.

I found these funny pictures on the camera, and I had to share them too. One of the kids took a picture of Grandpa on his bike.

A great picture of the dumpster.

A coyote! We thought it was a wolf, and then eh, just a coyote. :)

This morning, we decided to go see Old Faithful (along with a thousand other people). I think the best part was the stuff the guide told us before hand. He told us a lot of history about Old Faithful and Yellowstone, and how geysers work. It was a lot of fun to listen to. 

The girls were enthralled!

Then Old Faithful blew! And it was actually less than spectacular. I mean, it was cool, but it was only cool for about the first 5 seconds when this happened:

Then it stopped and just a lot of steam and a little bit of water. I think we had such high expectations, it was kind of a let down. I'm still glad we went and saw and it was a still fun.

Reagan took this picture of us after OF was done.

But, while we were hanging around moping about how disappointed we were by Old Faithful, this geyser right next to it started going off. And it was SO COOL! It's called Beehive Geyser, and it's one of the biggest geysers in the world. Sometimes it shoots up to 200 feet high. The guide said that it's really unpredictable and usually only goes off sometime about once a week. So we totally lucked out that we happened to be there when it went off. And it made up for the lackluster Old Faithful. ;)

It went off for quite a while too. Loved it.

Just Jensen chilling out.

After this we drove to Biscuit Basin, which is a boardwalk area that has a big river, and lots of geysers and basin areas. It also has a cool hike up to a waterfall.

This is the river, it's so warm!

The geyser runoff going to the river. 

Grandpa in the water. Looks official. 

The first spring we saw. 

Black Opal Springs. I'm glad I remembered to take pictures of some of the signs so that now I remember what they are! 

The crew on the boardwalk.

The detail of the sediment was incredible to look at. It was so cool.

Sapphire Pool. This one was amazing because it was so clear. You could see so far down into it. So amazing.

We caught this little geyser going off, right after we walked away from it. That happened to us all the time on this trip. As soon as we left the campground, a moose would come! A bear walked by right before we got somewhere else. Every time we walked away from a little geyser it would erupt. Maybe next time everything will cooperate with us better! :)

The colors are just amazing. Pictures don't do it justice!

Sapphire Pool

Kid picture

As a last minute decision, some of us decided to hike up to the waterfall that was attached to the boardwalk. It was a little over a mile each way, but we were told it wasn't too bad of a hike. 

Which was mostly true. It was long, and there were some steeper parts that made it harder for the kids. But the end result was amazing. It was worth it and I'm glad we did it.

This is the river that we hiked by the last half of the trail

And the waterfall. 

The view from the waterfall looking back where we walked from. Incredible. 

My dad took the 3 older kids down to the base of the falls. Right on the rocks next to them was a hot spring coming out of the mountain. If you touched the water right when it came out it was burning hot. Then it mixed with the river and they all said it felt perfect. 

This was right before Jacob crashed. He was sooo tired. Then he slept for the next 3 hours.

More pictures. It was one of my favorite places to photograph. Just gorgeous. And it was nice and secluded. But then we had to hike all the way back. ;)

Our last stop for the day was Midway Geyser Basin. This place is home to the Grand Prismatic Spring, one of the most amazing things we've ever seen. 

Some Jordyn zen by the Turquoise Pool, on our way to GPS. 

And here it is, the Grand Prismatic Spring. 

A water stream coming from the geyser on one of the sides. The yellows and 

Oops, mixed up pictures again...

Excelsior Geyser Crater. This thing was huge. 

Tyler observing nature...

The cool layers from sediment build up.

OK! Back to the Grand Prismatic Spring. This thing was just amazing. You can't get enough of it, and it's so big it's hard to photograph from this angle. But this is the best I could do. 

Here's a panoramic view. 

And just for reference, (I got this off the internet) this is what it looks like from above. A.MAZE.ING. This was just the most incredible thing. Isn't our world the coolest? In love.

Then we hung around camp for a while. Tyler on the hammock

After dinner, we wandered down to the river by our campsite. We took our swimsuits and went and played. 

I'll have to get this picture from my mom...

I loved that the water is so warm! I guess I wasn't expecting that. It made it so much fun!

Someone built this little rock cove thing, and it was perfect for the kids to play in. 

Swimming was a perfect way to end our trip! My kids just loved it and it was so much fun. We are dying to go back and plan a reunion with some cousins. Hopefully they'll all agree to it in a few years.....! :) We came home so happy and refreshed. We just cannot wait to go back.