Family Vacation Part II

On Thursday we headed into Yellowstone National Park. Matt took me there for my first time on our Honeymoon, it was fun to go back and take the kiddos. Matt's parents, Steph and Jack met us at the cabin on Tuesday night so they could come with us. We decided to do the lower loop for the first day.
On our way into the park we got the wonderful opportunity to see a nested Bald Eagle. The nest was fairly close to the road, we saw two or three others, but they were not nearly as close. This was the first time I knew that I need a lens for my camera with a better zoom (hopefully for our next trip).

Our first stop was at Firehole waterfall. I love waterfalls, they are so beautiful.

Steph and Jack

Our next stop was to see a herd of Bison, Bailee wasn't too sure about them, but it was amazing to be surrounded by them. It is hard to imagine that this is a small herd compared to what used to live in our country.

The wildflowers were beautiful and were everywhere. All the rain we had in June made for a lovely scene in the mountains.

Our next several stops were at some of the many beautiful and strange looking thermal features throughout the park.

Bacteria Mat

Boiling mud

Owen made us laugh several times on the trip because he would often point out the window and say "Oh Wow!"

Papa, Owen, Bailee, Jack and Maama

Our sweetie, Bailee has some sensitive senses. She does not like loud, bright and especially doesn't like stinky. The thermal features commonly smell of sulfur...she didn't like that.

The colors in some of the springs are so vibrant. You see things in nature of Yellowstone that you don't see anywhere else.

The Grand Prismatic Spring

Emerald Pool

Sunset Pool

All of our many stops led us to our main attraction for the day. Old Faithful. Unfortunately because of where we were siting we mainly saw steam.

Owen and Matt

Matt, Terry, Owen and I went for a walk on a 3 mile trail to see some other geysers while Debbie, Bailee, Steph and Jack rested. We were lucky to be on the other side of Old Faithful when it went off again. We had a better view on this side.

I had so much fun taking pictures with my new camera. I took about 600 over the four days, but this is one of my favorites.

Three Generations of Hansen Explorers

One of our favorite attractions in Yellowstone is this Sapphire Pool. I love the blue color, the water is so clear that you can see how deep the spring is.

My silly husband.

Old Faithful is as far as we got on the lower loop, the kids and adults were all getting tired so we headed back to the cabin where we had dinner then smores while we waited for Kelly to join us.