Trip West: Idaho, Part 2

My parents and sister Marissa drove up to Idaho on Sunday night with Isabelle (my sister Sara's daughter and Peter's partner in crime).  On Monday we all went up to my Grandparent's cabin in Island Park, Idaho near West Yellowstone.

MESA FALLS

On the way up to the cabin we stopped by Mesa Falls.

All of the ledges made me a little nervous, so there was some mandatory hand holding for some parts of our Mesa Falls visit.  Despite the fact that I dislike my legs in shorts, I do love this picture of Peter and I walking and talking:).
(Peter, Rachel)

Family picture at Mesa Falls: 

Rigby-Do you really expect me to cooperate for a picture? 

Scott and Rachel-Smile and hope the kids actually look at the camera. 

Adeline-Yum! This backpack tastes great! 

Peter-Hurry, I need to go run a-muck.  

This is pretty much the story for family pictures anymore-HA!
(Ribgy, Scott, Rachel, Adeline, Peter)

THE CABIN

Here is my grandparent's cozy little cabin in Island Park.
I love all of the fun memories this place holds.

 

There is no internet/television/radio at the cabin and limited cell phone service, but we still were able to use a little bit of technology to keep these hoodlums happy.  Here they are with Grandma Stewart playing on the iPad.

(Peter, Rigby, Lora, Isabelle)

At some point the exhausted adults had to rest without worrying about the kids running away and getting lost or having world war three over the limited number of toys; so, popcorn and a movie came to the rescue.
(Audrey, Isabelle, Rigby, Peter, Marissa)

Here are Peter, Scott, and Adeline waiting around the fire for . . .

 

. . . their clever little set-up to roast dinner.

 

YELLOWSTONE

We had a few picnics in Yellowstone.
(Grandma, Isabelle, Lora, Peter, Adeline, Rachel, Rigby)

Here are Rigby, Isabelle, and Peter plotting.  Rigby was all about collecting sticks and Peter was all about collecting rocks.

A must see-Old Faithful.

Scott, the kids, and I stayed a little later in the park and swung by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We were hoping for "better pictures" with our "better camera," but it was so hazy from all of the wild fires that our pictures were not too great.  It was still beautiful though!

When I go places with all three kids, people always say, "Wow, you have your hands full!"  I think this picture epitomizes that comment.  I love these kid-o's so much no matter how "full" my hands get.
(Peter, Adeline, Rachel, Rigby)

On the way back to the cabin, we got stuck behind an accident.  A motorcyclist crashed into a SUV; it looked pretty bad.  We plugged the kids into the DVD player (worth it's weighted in gold by the way) and Adeline rode in the front with me while we drove about 3 miles in 2.5 hours.  I hate to seem casual about such a sad event, but despite circumstances it was really a pleasant evening to just sit and look at the scenery while the kids were happy.  We were able to get a beautiful picture of the sunset.

THE TETONS

We took a day to visit Jenny's Lake and the Tetons.  We thought we would just get our feet wet, but the kids took that idea to a whole new level.  They all had a blast-especially Rigby.
(Rigby, Rachel, Adeline, Isabelle)

Peter always tries so hard to skip rocks like Scott.

I love this picture of my two boys.  Rigby is such a daddy's boy.
(Rigby, Scott)

Another picture of Rigby just to solidify the fact that this kid LOVES the outdoors-water, sticks, dirt, rocks, anything outdoors.  He was appropriately named after two towns in Idaho.  Love ya Rig!

 WEST YELLOWSTONE

My grandparents generously paid for us all to visit a reserve for injured wildlife that is in West Yellowstone.  We got see a lot of birds, some wolves, and some bears.  The boys loved hanging out in the bear traps on display.

The chill "Riglebee Bear."

The ferocious "Peter Bear."

Sweet baby Addy just hung out with me in her backpack carrier.  This is Scott's new favorite picture of her.

BIG SPRINGS

Big Springs is just a natural spring where you often see wildlife and there is also a little cabin with some historical items on display related to the area and former inhabitants.

We saw a HUGE bull moose just across the water.

Other than that, the kids just fed the ducks, Rigby collected his stick, and we dangled our feet in the freezing cold water.  If I had not been holding his hand, I am sure the kid would have jumped right in. 

Here is my sister Marissa just chilling on the boardwalk.  During the trip, I told her I was going to take her senior pictures back to Texas with me and find a Texas boy for her, so she can come live near me.  In fact, I am more encouraged by the idea now because this last Sunday a guy in our ward talked about how he met his wife while she was living with her sister for the summer.  Watch out Maris!

Isabelle chilling at Big Springs.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her now.

We loved it there in Idaho so much that we were a little sad that we had to go back to Houston (no offense Texans).  We like Houston, but we just miss the mountains so much!  Maybe in a few million years Houston will have mountains and not just high overpasses:(.