Island Park/Yellowstone weekend...

We spent Memorial weekend again this year at Kent and Debby's cabin up in Island Park. We love it there! And are always so grateful that they let us use it. The boys think it's the greatest place ever and really wish we could buy it if they ever sell it :)
 Of course we stopped to take pics by the Ashton sign...

We left Friday right after the boys got out of school and got there that night about 6:30 or so. It was a terrible drive up! The boys fought like crazy and drove us crazy. We all couldn't wait to get out of the truck when we got there. We were going to go find somewhere to eat, but decided to just stay at the cabin and have cereal and not deal with waiting at a restaurant.

Luckily after we got there they quit fighting and we stayed up and watched Home Alone 2. Then Saturday since it gets light so early, they got up way too early. I wasn't feeling very well that morning, so Lars got up with them and took them for a walk down to the river, then made crepes for us.

Then we all got ready for the day and went and bought a few lottery tickets, then drove over to Harriman State Park and went on a fun hike...

We didn't see much wildlife since it was getting towards the middle of the day, but it was the perfect temperature and just so nice to get out. We stayed there for a couple hours, then went back to the cabin to have lunch and relax for a bit before we headed back out to go see Upper Mesa Falls...Ashton really wanted to go see it again.

 We wandered around there again for awhile then went back to the cabin again. I made myself go for a run and it was hard! I hadn't felt good all morning and I just think that combined with the heat and the higher elevation did not help. But I got it done. Then we had our dinner that we'd put in the crockpot that morning...pulled chicken sandwiches, and headed back over to Harriman that night to do another little hike.

 We ended up getting rained on and then just went back to the cabin and got ready for bed. It rained so hard that night...fun to go to sleep in a cabin away from home and listen to the pounding rain :)
And I love these pictures...Handsome boys.

 Sunday we planned to get up early and get ready and drive into West Yellowstone for breakfast at a place Lars had looked up online, then go into Yellowstone for the day.
When we got to the restaurant, they told us the power was out but they were still serving, just couldn't accept a credit card. Anyway it took forever and was just okay...but oh well. We finally got back on the road and luckily made it into Yellowstone faster than we ever have. I think every single other time we've been there we've been held up by buffalo for hours! So it was nice to not get stopped for once. (oh and I sat between these two the whole way, so it really was a peaceful trip!)

We did stop to snap a couple pictures on the way :)

Oh and since the power was still out in that whole area...had we not had cash, we could have gotten in for free! But we paid :)

Once we got in of course Ashton and Gunnar wanted to head straight to Old Faithful, so we did that and got there just about 20 minutes before it was set to go off again...

Gunnar was loving taking pictures with my big camera :)

 

 Then made our trip to the gift shop...

They love their Davey Crockett hats :)

Then actually drove around for a long time the rest of the day stopping at places we'd never stopped at and hiking around.

 Fun to see a coyote!

 Another photo by Gunnar...

This hike was really cool...up at the top there
were these bubbling mud pits. The boys loved them!
If you look closely you can see the mud splashing up...

And my favorite part of the hike...he will still hold my hand :)

And one of my new favorite pictures...

Best memories...Gunnar and his crazy mismatched clothes, raccoon hat and holding my hand chatting away :) 
It was such a fun day...
Then we went to a Mexican place for dinner in West Yellowstone before we headed back for one more night at the cabin. We had ice cream and watched the SandLot then went to bed. Monday we slept in a little then got up and had breakfast and cleaned the cabin and were out of it by about 11:00 or so...

 The ride home was much more peaceful because I once again sat between the boys in the back. Whatever it takes...