Yellowstone!! What a beautiful place!

On Saturday, September 3, 2011, we took a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park.

Kevin and the girls had never been there, and I haven't been there since I was a little girl.

I loved the drive in.... surrounded by trees.... They went as far as you could see.

Entering the park..

They gave these cute look and finds for the kids. Kaitlyn just loved looking for the animals.

She really wanted to see Buffalo, Elk, Deer and an Eagle.

I loved the pictures on the map.

They even give you a little newspaper.

I loved this view :)

See the eagles nest?

A beaver Dam. 

The first animals we saw.... only about 10 minutes inside the park.... 2 elk.

The girls were thrilled to get over there to see them!

This was their view.

Beauty all around!!!

Our next animals... a Mommy and Baby mule deer.

2 more Elk..... Mommy and Baby. Kait just loves seeing mom and baby animals together!

This is the island the Elk were on... 

A coyote..... 

Not sure if you can see it, but there is an eagle perched on that tree right there.... He was flying around when we got there, but no way to get his pic...

We decided to stop and have lunch at this beautiful picnic area.

Poppy and 2 of his grand sons (Alex and Joshua)

My little family. I am so lucky.

Another Coyote..... He was waiting patiently for something to come out of this hole.... a while later Kevin watched him snag a low flying bird from the sky. He said it was awesome!

One of the other park visitors told us that we had to walk back to see the buffalo.

It was definitely worth the walk.

No... my zoom feature is not that great on my camera..... my insane husband walked within about 5-10 feet of this big old buffalo.... yes he is crazy. He was kind enough to wait until I had my back turned so I wouldn't worry. He is thoughtful that way. (he got closer than he was during this pic)

It is crazy to see all of these boiling pots of water....

My handsome husband.

Dad.... the drama queen  King.

2 of my girls taking a break :)

It is hard to tell from this pic, but this sand was actually boiling... It looked like boiling paint.

My family with my niece Kathryn.

Poppy, Kevin and the girls.

My hubby and me.

We are rule breakers... We needed to know just how hot the water really was.... I know we are insane.

You could not even tell how deep this one was... It was almost purple. 

Mom and Dad.

Eww gross... (just teasing) Happily married for over 33 years :)

We never get pictures of just us, but dad our photographer just kept snapping pictures (thanks dad).

Kevin thought this was super cool.

We finally made it to Old Faithful, and the kids were trying to wait patiently for it to go off.

Thought I had better take a picture of the other photographer.... It was nice to have help :)

I had to take this picture.... of course Alyssa started to wiggle away right as I snapped it.... Britt put her arms around both of her sisters.... She is such a lover.

It kept teasing us.....

Until it finally went off.

Alyssa really couldn't care less about Old Faithful....

My sister best friend, Peggy.

Peggy with her 3 kids... 

Kaitlyn really wanted me to take this picture :)

Leaving Yellowstone :(

We made it to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming on this Family Vacation... We plan to visit every state by the time our youngest turns 18 :)

All the kids just had to sit on the huge stuffed bear and buffalo.

Even Grandma and Poppy had to pose for a photo op ;)

Peggy too!

Strangely after all the animals they have seen... these dogs still cause a huge commotion. 

Kevin just loved this statue.

Kaitlyn crashed on the way home!

We had an amazing day. The kids were pretty good through the entire thing.

I think Kaitlyn, Kevin and Poppy enjoyed it the most. They are my nature people :)