Yellowstone Family Trip June 2014

We are back from our road trip to Yellowstone to meet up with family.  We did it.  The fact that the  Dora song pops in my head  now - "We did it.  We did it.  Yeahhh. We did it.  We did it.  Hooray" - is very telling of how much time we spent in the car having to listen to Dora.  Road trips with 2 year old twins is not enjoyable.  Lily at age 5 is fine; she was only difficult when it became a 3 kid dynamic arguing about what CD to listen to, who got the biggest piece of some snack or whatever food related topic - they came up with some argument, or what show to watch.

Of all the places we saw, there were a couple places we were surprised by just how much we would enjoy it there: Jackson Wyoming and Missoula Montana.  I went to Jackson never being a country kinda gal of any kind and only knowing Jackson with the Cheney connection there left a bad taste yet left really digging the country vibe.  Missoula Montana was an ideal stop with kids.  The carousal and park downtown is a must see.  Dayton and Waitsburg Washington look like best kept secrets along the Palouse Scenic route south to Walla Walla from Spokane.  The only place that didn't work out well with kids in tow was the Crater of the Moon National Park on the way to Jackson.  Just wasn't worth the extra time with the behavior and reactions from the kids making it too hard for us to enjoy it.

Yellowstone is definitely eye candy for anyone that has appreciation for nature.  There are awe inspiring moments when you see places like the Mammoth Springs or the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone for the first time.  Had no idea there are hundreds of geysers there and even though it's cool because it's different, wasn't really a highlight for us personally.  Waking up for an early morning walk and being greeted by 20 elk was more of a highlight as was taking in the expansiveness of the Lamar Valley and all the herds of bison roaming around.

Being with family is what really made the trip special and truly memorable.  I can look at pictures of bison and waterfalls but witnessing so many moments of love, especially with the kids, is what I'll look back on and truly smile about.  We sure had some fun.

I did want to jot down some other random misc. things I can think of we learned from this trip.

- Pack a towel and vomit bag.  Lily succumbed to queasiness once and threw up.

- There are no buffalo in North America.  Only bison.

- Luggage carts and hotel telephones were a huge hit.  Probably helpful that we have no land line at home

- Long time in the car with kids is still not fun.

- Kids are starting to hug and put their arms around each other now for photos

- Lily swam without her vest for the first time

- Lollipops in the glove compartment as a reward when bribery is needed for some form of good behavior in the car helps.

- Toy cameras my sister in law gave the kids were a huge hit the whole trip

- Lily entered a new phase on this trip - the sulking phase - not a fan.

Quotes from the trip
-  Lily can still be so lazy with me refusing to walk a few blocks to a store but hiked over 4 miles without a complaint with my family.  When Lily asked how she did it, she said "my hiking boots do the walking for me."

- Paul woke up one morning in our cabin and said out of the blue "my butt has two big nipples."  uhhhhh.

- Elise really came out of her shell on this trip stepping up her talking frequency.  On our wagon cookout, she blurted out so loud to everyone around on the wagon  "I EXCITED"

As for the pictures, I wanted to timeline the trip with only a couple pictures from each day of our trip.  I steered away from pics of nature and animals because this was a family trip and somehow equate this trip even more with the moments we experienced as a family.  Call me a cheese ball.  I dare you.

Yellowstone June 2014

Connected

This past month has felt wonderfully full of life.  Spending time with our Portland friends, hosting out of town friends and family, and taking advantage of the fantastic weather by tackling whatever Portland has to offer us has been a blast even with the meltdowns for pushing it too far.  It's been worth it.  I still have these pangs of missing Munich life and the experiences I hoped to have but didn't get a chance to and then I quickly shift to how blessed and almost magical it feels to live in a town that we feel so connected in through such amazing friends.  I love our Beast of a house and the daydreams it provides of seeing our kids grow here for however long.  With the recent development of my parents moving in to the apartment on the first floor of our home this Fall really brings me back to the summer of 2008 when it became crystal clear that I did want to have children after observing my parents with friends' grandchildren.  Now I get to continue to observe my parents enjoy my kids.  Life is good.  I am still in this phase with 3 young kids that an asterisk is needed whenever I say that.  I really do believe life is good but man it's hard.  

Hanging with our good friends the Glumbiks.  12 year old Ty was a ring bearer in our wedding.  I used to babysit them when they were even younger than the twins are now.  Paul reminds me quite a bit of how Ty looked at his age.

I used to babysit Luke and his older sister too and now he just finished his first babysitting stint of our kids so we could go out with his parents.  Very cool.

 Took the kids to open play time at an indoor soccer facility.  Huge hit. Lily's dream now is to be a goalie.  Just need to gently tell her that setting up all these cones is not actually allowed.

 Pizza makin' night.  Chefs hat, apron, and cook gloves on.

 Lily and Liana.  I hope to have many more of these over the years.

 Lots of family bike rides.  The twins are super comfortable on balance bikes now.

 Friends from Munich visiting.  Have our own little Biker gang going.

Hike with another set of 2.5 year old boy/girl twins.  Old NM friend who now lives in Portland.

 Grand Floral Parade.

 Elise trying out chop sticks while dressed Karate Kid style.

 Elise just walked up to Paul and put her arm around him to pose for this pic.  Choked up just looking at it.