Real Vacation-Day 2-From Air Shows to Wildflowers

After we went to the camp, we went to an arts & crafts/ 4th of July (on the 2nd of July) show. We just all browsed, Sarah got Heidi Anne this little doll for her birthday that has a “bed” that turns into a little purse carrier for the doll. It’s super cute.

Our next destination was to get Huckleberry shakes at the Victor Emporium. They were soo good! Totally worth the 10 year wait. Heidi Anne cheated-she only had to wait nearly 3 years. We were trying to meet up with the rest of his family, but the timing didn’t quite work out. I felt like air traffic controller-trying to call and find out ETAs or locations of others. I can see why they take naps-it's hard work!

Our final destination for the day was the Celebrate America Event, which was packed. Somehow Char found a parking spot at a gas station. So he just parked there-and we crossed our fingers that no one would notice that the car was parked there for so long. (No one did). We got there around 1:00 pm-just in time to see the planes take off to start the Air Show.

After we watched the Air Show we claimed our spot on the hill in the shade. Sometimes we would take Heidi Anne to play in the bouncy houses, look at the Classic Cars, (we normally do the Cruse In-so this made up for it). However, for the most part-she just played contently, danced, or I made her little crowns from flowers and grass after a Wildflower Adventure. (We would go look for wildflowers).

Real Vacation-Day 2-Memory Lane-(Past, Present, and Future)

Char spent many summers at a camp in the Teton Valley, so it holds an extra special place for him. On Saturday we decided to go back to the camp to see what’s changed, stayed the same, and share it with Heidi Anne. His sister Sarah came with us, (I think we were asked “Is Sarah Coming?” when we would head outside.) Char showed us different buildings he helped to build, the fences, his old bunkhouse, where things used to be. A lot has changed in nearly 15 years. It's no longer called Bennion, it's now under different management, it's now a family retreat / summer camp for families, some places have been abounded or replaced with new buildings and additions. Nonetheless, there are still traces of old Bennion there-and he found them.

I have discovered something-Heidi Anne wants to be just like whoever she’s around. Example, so many people were taking pictures-thus, she wanted to as well. We eventually found a toy camera-nonetheless; I think she’ll catch on soon that it’s a toy. When that day comes-I have an old film camera ready for her…now.

Momma, Dadda, Heidi Anne at "Bennion" 2011

Aunt Sarah with Heidi Anna Banana

The View of the Tentons From Bennion

Going Down Memory Lane With Dadda

Heidi Anne Taking Pictures-Of Us Taking Pictures

Char Helped Build This Barn

Inside the Barn

This Barn is built with Wood Pegs-No Iron Nails

This Little Pond is "New" within the last 15 years...

Real Vacation-Day 1-The Cabin

After these little trips, we were pretty drained. So off to the Cabin we went. We took the scenic route, which was just gorgeous; a side effect was we drove trough 4 states in as many hours. The Tetons were so beautiful.


Heidi Anne had the time of her life exploring the Cabin, the little meadow behind it, just roaming around while we waited for the rest of the family trickle in. The rest of the evening was spent getting ready for the rest of the weekend. You will notice Heidi Anne has a few band aids in all these pictures. As soon as we got to the Cabin she somehow fell off the potty-and bonked her ahead on the wall. The very next morning, while playing outside, she got a few more bumps as well.

Real Vacation-Day 1-Yellowstone-Now ADA Approved!!

Yellowstone-ADA Okay Since Aug 2010

 

 OldFaithful Visitor Center

We got to Yellowstone just in time! We went to the Visitors Center to be told that Old Faithful would be going off at 12:16 (give or take 10 mins) It was 11:30 am. Perfect!! I asked the ranger if he could tell me exactly where some trails were that my friend Val had suggested for me were located at-he then gave me a nice guide of trails for as the park ranger said “People like you.” It was a wonderful guide of “Handicapped approved trails. --Apparently, last summer the Government decided Yellowstone wasn’t ADA compliant-and decided to correct this error with some Fed Stimulus money. A side benefit could be since all these trails are very kid friendly / say you’re not in peak physical condition-you can now see the wonders of Yellowstone.--As I was saying-We had about 45 minutes before Old Faithful went off-so we explored the Museum / Visitor Center-which had a Kid Zone, Oh, Heidi Anne just loved the Old Faithful Museum Adventure. 

Old Faithful at 12:18

Dadda and Heidi at Old Faithful's Sign

Around Noon we headed over to see the Geyser (we also discovered a great way to pull Heidi Anne from one activity to another “Heidi Anne-Want to go on another Adventure.” She will drop what she’s doing and follow you—most of the time….)

We get to the Geyser, as you might expect, seating was limited-but there was still some available. We walked over to a few people and asked “Are these seats saved?” Without even looking up the people replied (we directed the question to a few groups of people) they all replied “Yeah, these are saved.” As we left to continue the hunt for a place to sit (those benches are as elusive as a wolf)-the crowd heard CLANK … CLANK …and a few people turned around. When they saw me, out of the blue some seats became available. Within minutes of being seated-Old Faithful went off. It was awesome! I’m not sure who was fascinated more-Heidi Anne or me. 

Momma and Heidi Anne



Can You See The Hoof Prints?

 

We strolled the Upper Geyser trail that loops around Old Faithful (there is another trail as well-but it was a bit out of my league). We grabbed some lunch, the original plan was to have sandwiches and do a picnic, however, 1 very hungry toddler vetoed that option.We went to the grill; Heidi Anne called this a Food Adventure, since she got a hamburger AND Cheese Fries all at the same time. 

Biscuit Basin




Once we were fed we went Biscuit Basin where we basically wondered around. It was great, no rush, Heidi Anne would walk whenever she felt like it, when she got tired she would climb into the stroller. We would all be pointing out different things to the others; the geysers’, the views, the wildflowers, the hot springs, and Heidi Anne’s personal favorite thing to point out—the animal poo, “Momma!! Look!! An animal went poopy!! Bad animal, if you go off the trail, you get hurt!”

HotSpring Waterfall



Real Vacation-Day 1-Road Trip!!

Our vacation stared at 4 AM on Friday morning. We had already loaded the car the night before (we even put Heidi Anne to bed in the clothing she’d be wearing the next day). We did this in hopes that we would be able to get her out of bed and into her car seat without waking her up to much, thus going back to sleep. Well, she proved us wrong-She stayed up the WHOLE time. She didn’t want to miss a moment of the BIG BIG Adventure.

It was such a fun drive; we went up through Logan Canyon, to Bear Lake, to Star Valley. For nearly 2 ½ hours it was pretty much just us on the roads- we had the canyons and valleys to ourselves as the stars faded, the sun rose. It was so beautiful. I have decided that deer really play “Chicken” or its some sort of initiation processes that involves automobiles. Honestly, there was very little traffic, however, when there was a car or truck coming-Out of nowhere here Gangster Bambi and his crew would dart into the road like they have the right of way. (Why don’t they just cross at the Deer crossing signs??)

**Side Note every small town we drove though had a Subway-some of them didn’t even have a post office-yet there was a Subway. That Jared is a very sneaky man. Starbucks better be careful, just know this, I’m on to you Subway**


After we had driven for a few hours we got to the Teton National Forest. We needed to stretch our legs and get our bearings, so we went to the Main visitors’ center. Heidi Anne had a lot of fun there- so we knew this was going to be a great trip! We drove up through the Tetons just stopping here and there to look at the scenery or to get a pretty flower Heidi Anne saw. Towards the end of the ride Heidi Anne started to get restless. This was the time the DVD player choose to die on us. Nothing was working. Heidi Anne kept begging us to fix it-we told her we can’t. Finally out of desperation-I told her “How about you pray for it to be fixed.” Being the obedient child she is- she started to. Suddenly, the DVD began playing again. From the backseat we heard “Amen-Thank-You”. Oddly enough she didn’t even want to watch a movie anymore. Toddlers. So we made up a little game of “What color will the next car be?” It kept her entertained for the rest of the trip to Yellowstone.