A week of rest and girl time then Island Park

Since my last post was such a downer! I decided it was time for some feel good moments!

Two weeks ago my mom and sister Heather came and picked up Kade and stole him away for an entire week!! Needless to say I was having major anxiety prior to his leaving because who leaves their 7 month old for a week!! BUT, we all survived. I got some wonderful hours of sleep, finished doing all the work on our fix-its and was able to spend some one-on-one time with Reagan. We got pedi's, saw a movie, went to dinner, read lots of books, made cards, and enjoyed the time. I was more than ready to see my little guy. He has slight "mommy leaving his sight" syndrome now but I don't mind. My sister Jessica brought him to meet us on our way to Island Park. THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone that made this possible, and especially my mom and Heather for convincing me that it was totally okay to ask for help and a little mental relief and sleep made a huge difference. Love you guys!

Last week, the kids and I traveled to Island Park (West Yellowstone area) with my little sister Jessica for a week of relaxation. A friend of the family owns a few cabins there and they were gracious enough to let us use it for free. My parents met us there on Monday and stayed for a few days and the most thrilling part of the week was Mike being able to join us for 2 days!!
On our way to Island Park, we stopped in Idaho Falls for a few hours. For days, and the ENTIRE way up there, Reagan would not stop talking about making money working at her dad's store. He had a little shirt made up for her and she immediately put it on and was a pro in no time. She cleaned windows, dusted, and perfected the "money machine". The sad thing is...she totally knew what she was doing. Although we've told her to be careful who she is telling that she works there for money. She did earn her keep, one dollar and a "pay stub" that she held onto the entire way to the cabin.
The weather was absolutely perfect minus one day while at Old Faithful. We saw plenty of wildlife, took many, many walks around the cabin area, ate too much junk food, and even stopped at Bear World (very cool but definately overpriced).
On our way home we stayed in Idaho Falls and got a hotel so Mike could join us. I took the kids swimming and Mike came over that night. We enjoyed another swim Sunday then we haunted the store for a while and headed home. We were all exhausted but it was definately a fun week. Sorry for the many pictures...these aren't even a fourth of them!!
(Oh, and a shout out to some very kind people who are letting Mike stay at their house until we move up there...his mom works with Nicholas's mom and they have 2 little girls that I'm sure will become great friends of Reagan's. He was staying with his Aunt and Uncle in St Anthony, but the drive was a little long each day! So thank you Beth and Nicholas for letting a complete stranger inhabit your basement....and scare your cat to death!)

Scenes from Yellowstone

Mom and Pops (aren't they cute)

This was about all we got out of Ol' Faithful....who was so agressive at this explosion

One of the hot pots on your way up to Faithful. It was so hot and steamy when you walked around. Scary to think if you stumble and fall in there you are toast...literally. But also very cool how they all work.

Elk lounging about...I had no idea they lost their antlers and grew back so fast....can grow like 2 inches a day or something insane. They are the fastest growing cells. Cool beans.



I am not sure why buffalo are so fascinating!! We saw them on both occasions into Yellowstone Park. The one picture of him crossing the road was just that...he took his sweet time sauntering across. We have video driving right by him and my dad's saying "hey" and he lazily looks up (and thank goodness ignored him!...a pamphlet said they could run three times faster than a human...eek!!)



Bear World
This was a fun place...albeit expensive. It took maybe 10 minutes to drive through but you did see lots of elk, buffalo, deer, goats, a moose, and BEARS! Little miss anxiety Reagan wasn't too thrilled with the actual driving. She didn't want us to roll down the window and was more than glad to be done with the bear part of it. They have a fun petting zoo (where you could just kneel right down and pet a deer), and 6 silly bear cubs that were totally entertaining. They also has a few little rides for the kids as well and Of course for mighty more bucks, you could feed the cubs. Ask Reagan what she did that day and she will say "we didn't have enough money to feed the babies but my dad will work harder and give me money to go again" :) Love it.







Mesa Falls was a beautiful area. Apparently the 2nd largest undisturbed falls on the Columbia..if I remember that right?. They had a nice plank area around the falls that you could walk or push a stroller.




John Sack Cabin area and a "nature walk"
This too was a beautiful area with a trail around the river. We actually went there twice this day. The second time around there was a muskrat swimming with the ducks and huge trout getting fed.

My sister Jessica

Posing of course

Kade wants anything and everything in his mouth...even this yellow pepper. He will be hell on crawlers when it's time. Total opposite of Reagan who just never put anything into her mouth

Doesn't she look so grown up here?!





Randoms

Island Park Damn (I was just scared the whole time a bear would come out of any of the woods we were around ;o)

He doesn't care where....he just LOVES taking a bath (and of course the camera...any time he sees that come out he's got a smile on his face)



I just thought this picture was so cute...this little old couple hops off the motorcycle with chaps or whatever they are called on....the lady walked away while I was sneaking a picture

Child Labor...isn't it sweet





Ok, I won't spare you with any more pictures :O)