Yellowstone Trip!

Well... it's been about a week since we left for our trip to Yellowstone/Island Park Montana. It will be a week tomorrow afternoon around 2:00 pm. My parents decided they wanted to be there Wednesday evening in time for dinner and I let them know that with Sami and her non trip background I didn't know how it would go for her. The last time she drove in the car for 9 plus hours she was 2 weeks old. So she is out of practice to say the least.

Day 1

So we left and drove up towards Spokane and went into Montana after Courd D Lane or how ever that is spelt. We stayed somewhere in between there... hmm... Wallace, or St. Regis I forget. It was late and we had tried 2 different places. Sami is not used to being out of her crib and so she didn't fall asleep until about 12 after I sang her to sleep. So needless to say she was a crank the next day.

On the way up we did make several stops and stopped at Cabella's near Spokane (my dad's favorite store). Here she is in the snack spot getting mad because she wants her own pop... she had her own bag of Dorrito's... silly girl... it's a way cool store and I want to go back someday, when i have something to buy!

Day 2

So on Wednesday we drove the rest of the way and it took us some time since Sami was done around 10 am driving in the car and we didn't get there until around 1. We checked into the motel (Mack's Inn I would not recommend staying there ever!) and my parents let us rest and went and got lunch. When they got back we headed to the camp site where some of our family would be camping. With my big belly and Sami we opted out of camping. This is part of the camp site just a big open field of grass... it of course made for some fun adventures among all the cousins. Day 3

We got our act together and headed right into the Park to visit the sights. It has been awhile since I have been there and so it was fun again! Here we are at our first stop... the geyser's. We have Elizabeth, Olivia and Vincent (Andy and NaDell's kids) and Sami. This was really cool. My brother said it was basically just sand/ash bubbling because there wasn't enough water... so cool! Call me crazy but I did love the sulfur smell but did not try and take to many big whiffs. Me and Sami in front of the biggest geyser. She just kept saying Whoa, Whoa, Whoa over and over again, it was way cute! Here we are at the Old Faithful Lodge. It was a pretty cool, old building that some day we want to stay in. I love this picture with my mom and the kids with the guy smiling so happily on the side... didn't know him. Here's Sami, me and Daphne awaiting Old Faithful. And waiting ... the girls with there wolves grandpa bought them... even though they were all identical there was still some fighting... of course! And waiting.. I love this picture but I didn't take it my sis-n-law did... so cute! Olivia and Sami hugging... it was about this time Sami lost her patience. Old Faithful teasing us... And than after we decided we had, had enough teasing we walked back to the lodge to go potty and than it blew. It is all that white stuff (water).. you can see where it ends in the grey clouds.. so impressive! Afterwards we went to Fishing Bridge for lunch and to of course go fishing. I took Sami in the visitor's center and they had all these cases of stuffed birds.. she thought they were cool! Than of course we met them down on the beach and Sami just had to take her shoes off and get in... she loves the sand... Day 4

While my brother and his wife decided to drive up a bumpy road to see a view we opted out because of my state and went shopping in West Yellowstone instead on Friday. Sami kept her self happy as you can see... this was so cute... she loves Pooh and sadly enough we did not take her big pooh on the trip even though she would have been thrilled... so she found one of her own...

When we got back to the campsite NaDell had gotten creative and brought stuff to make snack bracelets for the kids. Here we are making our own. We are amongst the other cousins. My mom got ambitious and initiated family pictures... I was not wanting ours done but i am sporting the entire family here... Sami, Daphne, me and my ring on my hand representing David... so that in the future when people look at this picture they don't think i was the poor single girl at the reunion but just that my husband had to work and couldn't get the time off. This is my dad (in the red shirt) and his brothers and one sister. Starting on the left with Uncle Gene the oldest, than Claire, LeeAnn, (my dad), Gordon, and ending with Gary the baby in the stripes. This is all the kids of Lorin and Flora Ransom... they should be proud... i don't know when the last time it was they were all together... and who knows when the next will be. My cousin and his wife brought there too betsy wetsy cocker-spaniel dogs with them. And even though the dogs aren't used to a ton of little kids they handled it pretty well. Vincent here and Sami couldn't get enough. Here is Sami doing her favorite thing... playing in the gravel and the campsite had it all over. It had this wooden planters big enough to put your tent in... filled with gravel. Sami had many a rock in her hair... night after night. Here my mom and Sami are during the family program. Sami was fussing and so my mom took her to the car to get her blankie, and sippie and apparently they found her glasses... she just had to wear them... so cute! Day 5

There was supposed to be a Day 6 but interestingly enough when we headed out of town we didn't plan on making it all the way home. We stopped in Ennis Montana for lunch and to walk around. It was mainly a casino/bar, flyfishing and cowboy town... it was crazy and not to mention all the huckleberry flavored things. It you wanted just plain chocolate it was impossible it was all flavored huckleberry. So funny. (that was all Montana... everything huckleberry).

We were waiting for my parents in a store and Sami was being Sami and so I gave her my chapstick and she rubbed it all over her cheeks... in the background is the top of a store that has all these fake horses on it.. it was cool. Her cheeks were nice and rosy. We ate lunch in the back of a bar where the booths were made out of old car parts it was interesting... but I opted out of taking a picture afraid some would get the wrong idea... it was all part of the experience of being on vacation.

Around 9 David called us when we were about and hour away from home and I was just going to surprise him but I had to tell him. he was happy to have us home for sure. I don't think I have ever slept so good!

Well hope you enjoy!