family reunion part 1

Our family reunion was in Victor, Idaho this year.  Never heard of it? That wouldn't be too shocking, it's not a huge place.  But it is pretty close to Jackson Hole, Wyoming if that helps.  I haven't been to many parts of Idaho or Wyoming and I must admit that I don't really think of them as a beautiful part of this country.  But I think this reunion changed my way of thinking.  There really are beautiful parts of Idaho and Wyoming! :)

We started the reunion by rafting down a portion of the Snake River.  Rich's brother, Darrell, was nice enough to take us down on his rafts.  It was a lot of fun! It was really more of a float down the river so we were able to take Tatum with us.  She ended up being really tired and didn't appreciate the splashes from the other raft so I probably ruined the fun for everyone by choosing to bring her, but there's no changing that decision now. It was a beautiful day and beautiful scenery.  There was a waterfall we were hoping to stop at and explore a little but our raft wasn't able to make the turn to get there.  Darrell was in our boat and tried really hard to get us there.  He even jumped in the river and tried to pull us while we were basically smacking him in the head with our oars, but to no avail.  Most of the kids were on the other raft and they made it so they were able to see and play in the waterfall.

That night we just hung around the nice house we were staying in and we did the cousin gift exchange.  Every year at the reunion each cousin gets a gift for one of the other cousins.  I believe it is supposed to be in place of getting birthday gifts for all of the cousins throughout the year.  It cuts back on the number of gifts you need to buy and it allows the kids to be around each other when they are giving and receiving.

 Tatum got a sweet Little People truck.  It's even the girl version! Thanks Gavin! (or Henry or Wyatt, it was unclear :))

On Friday we woke up bright and early and got back in the cars to head to Yellowstone which is a few hours from Victor.  It was a long day with lots of time in the car but it was neat to see some of the things at Yellowstone since I have never been before.

I think this was Jackson Lake and I think this is when we were in the Grand Teton National Park but not in Yellowstone yet.

Our first stop inside Yellowstone was Old Faithful.  We got there with around 45 minutes to kill until the next eruption.  So we took the opportunity to walk around all of the other hot spots nearby.  They sure were stinky but pretty neat looking.

I think Tatum was more of an attraction than Old Faithful for some of the tourists there from Asia.  Lots of them stopped to take her picture and take video of her.  Kind of weird. And awkward.

 Macy and Mia found this all quite fascinating.  They basically pretended they were on a field trip and walked around with Papa asking him all sorts of questions.

 Look how clear that is.  So neat.

 Claire's even cute when she squints. :)

Finally it was time to wait for Old Faithful.  It sort of started a couple of times but it never really progressed to anything and we started to worry that was all it was going to do for us. But it finally gave us the show.  Luckily Claire was by me while we waited because she was Tatum's entertainment.  She would just look up at her, jump a little, and say "boo" and Tatum would just laugh and laugh. It was pretty cute.

Trying to pull Claire's hair.                                                                  Laughing at Claire's antics.

The progression of Old Faithful's eruption.

                                             

 We stopped a few more places, had a yummy lunch, saw lots of bison, and one bear from a distance. We ended the day with pizza at a park.  It was long and we were all exhausted but it was a great opportunity to see Yellowstone.

This was the Midway Basin or something like that. I had to feed Tatum so I didn't walk up to see it, and boy am I disappointed now.  The pictures look awesome and I'm sure it is even cooler in person.

See that picture of me? I told you it was a long day. ;) Thanks for taking us to Yellowstone mom and dad!