Yellowstone: Day Eight

Saturday, June 25

We drove into the actual town of Jackson Hole this morning to walk around a bit since we had a mid-afternoon flight.

Not how we traveled into town!

Hunter was fascinated by one of the shops we walked into that had a variety of animals hanging on the walls.

We were able to keep Hunter up for the entire morning but right before we boarded he had decided he had had enough and fell asleep on my shoulder. If you know Hunter, you know that this an absolute rare occurrence so it was certainly cherished.

Hunter did great on this leg of the trip as well even though he only ended up sleeping about an hour of the flight. He watched his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Agent Oso shows for what was probably the 100th time and was perfectly happy. We are very lucky to have such a happy, go with the flow baby!

Mama Nelle picked us up at the airport and even let Mommy and Daddy get out for the evening for some much needed adult time. It was the perfect ending to our first family vacation.

Dear Hunter,

What a trip! You are such a wonderful baby and every day on this vacation I was reminded about how lucky we are to have you in our lives. You can count on many more vacations in your lifetime because we love to travel and experience new things. I hope I captured enough of the trip through these posts so that when you are older you can read this and almost feel like you actually remember the trip for yourself.

We love you sweet, little man!

Yellowstone: Day Seven

Friday, June 24

This was our last day in Big Sky, Montana before we headed back to Jackson for one night. We woke up early and started packing because we had a zip line tour from 10-12 that we were doing with my sister's kids. I can honestly say that I am deathly afraid of heights but I have always heard people say amazing things about zip lining so I figured there was no better time to get over my fear. It was amazing!

Tristan trying to flip over in mid-air!

We returned to the house around 12:30 and were on the road to Jackson by 1:30. We made it a quick trip because we were all just tired of being in the car by that point.

We stayed at Snake River Resort and Spa in Teton Village which was a breathtaking place. We can definitely see going back to this location when Hunter is older. We were all so tired that Hunter went down early and Joe and I just ordered in room service and fell asleep early as well.

Dear Hunter,
The night in Teton Village was such a relaxing end to the trip. You explored the main square and loved the fact that our hotel was right across from a dude ranch. I can definitely tell that you are ready to get home and back to our little routine. Hang in there, we head home tomorrow!
Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy and Daddy

Yellowstone: Day Six

Thursday, June 23

2:30 AM: Hunter decided that it he no longer wanted to sleep in his own bed. I would have normally made him cry it out to see if he would fall back to sleep but since we were at a hotel I didn't feel like that was an option. So, he joined Joe and I in bed for a couple of sleepless hours before he was completely awake at 4:45.

8:30 AM: We met up with the family and ventured over to take some pictures at the falls which was a nice start to what was already turning out to be a VERY long day.

9:00 AM: We arrived at Bear World! I really didn't know what Hunter was going to think about driving through a wildlife park but turns out he thought it was a pretty cool adventure. Just like at the Bear and Wolf Discovery center, he called all the bears, kitties and squealed with delight when they got close. Our first drive through the park was in our own cars but then we learned that we could go on a guided tour and throw food out to the animals with a park employee so we did that for our second run through. Hunter was amazed! His eyes would light up, he jabbered the whole time and as we said good-bye to the final set of bears he waved to one named "Piglet." Bear World also had a small petting zoo that we took Hunter into for a short time. There was one little goat that thought Hunter was tasty and followed Joe around the entire time. My sister's kids were able to feed the bear cubs which is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Riding with Nana in Bear World

The goat that followed Daddy and Hunter through the petting zoo!

12:00 PM: We got in the car and headed back to Montana. Hunter was definitely exhausted by this point so he slept for the entire car ride into West were we had planned to stop for lunch and a little light shopping.

2:00 PM: Final stretch in the car for the day and the decision that Joe and I would stay back at the house for the night instead of going horse back riding with Kara and the kids like originally planned.

5:00 PM: Dad, Kara and the kids left for their horseback riding adventure.

7:00 PM: Mom and Craig left to join the rest of the family for the cookout portion of the trail ride while Joe and I made our own cookout style meal at the house. It was definitely a nice, relaxing evening and Hunter went down on schedule again so we were hopeful that he was going to have a good nights sleep.

10:00 PM: The family returned from their trail ride and had some great stories to share! It definitely sounded like they made memories that will last all of them a lifetime.

Dear Hunter,

What a LONG day you had today! I really didn't think that the drive during your sleep time was going to cause such a disruption to your day but now I know that it does and promise not to do that to you again. You are such a curious little man. All the animals you saw today (buffalo, elk, turkey, goats, deer, a moose and 45 bears) truly amazed you. I wonder if you will be as much of an animal lover as your mom and dad?
Only two more days and we will have successfully completed our first of many family vacations!

Love you more each day,
Mommy and Daddy

Yellowstone: Day Five

Wednesday, June 22

A relaxing day at the house was just what we all needed after so many hours of traveling and being in the car over the past four days.  Joe, Craig, Papa, Tristan and Megan got out in the morning for some fly fishing lessons while Nana, Kara, Hunter and I just lounged around the house.

Relaxing at the house in Big Sky

After lunch, Nana and Papa proposed that we head over into Idaho later that evening and go to Bear World Thursday morning.  Bear World is a bear sanctuary that houses 45 bears, several Elk, buffalo, turkey, deer, and gives kids the opportunity to feed beer cubs.  We decided that this would work as long as we left after dinner, which is Hunter's bedtime, so that way he could sleep the entire way there.  I would like to say that this plan worked perfectly but unfortunately Hunter didn't really want to sleep on the ride and once we made it to the hotel he only slept for about four more hours and was up for the day at about 2:30 AM.

Yellowstone: Day Four

Tuesday, June 21

Eight and a half hours.......much better than Monday.  We headed out early again, about 8:30, to go see the upper and lower falls.  Nana and Papa decided the night before that they would take the morning to rest and meet us and my sister's family back in West for lunch.  We enjoyed the drive with only a couple buffalo traffic jams holding us up and made it to the Falls at about 10:30.

Hiking with Dad

Boys being silly!

We made the steep climb down to the lower falls which were absolutely breathtaking!  Once we made it back up to the car, we took a little break and Hunter had lunch in his go pod.

From the lower falls we headed up to the upper falls just ten minutes down the road and again enjoyed breathtaking views.

We were back on the road at about 12:30 to get back to West to meet Nana and Papa for lunch around 1:30.  We ate at a barbecue place in town that had an old fashioned (beginning to see a trend here) high chair for Hunter.

I think Mommy has had her fill!

After lunch, we headed back to the house to spend the afternoon while the rest of the family went back to the park to see Old Faithful.  This was definitely one of our best decisions because it gave Hunter the time to exercise and relax so he was back on schedule with going to bed at a good time.

Dear Hunter,

You really seemed to enjoying hiking with Daddy today in the backpack.  So many people stopped and mentioned just how cute you were and that they wished they had a ride like yours.  It was fun to watch you eat your lunch in your go pod beyond the rental car.  You were so happy to have a moment to stretch your legs, not be held, and enjoy the fresh air.  You are without a doubt an outdoor baby which is perfect considering your Daddy and I love to be outdoors as well.

Stealing sugars,
Mommy and Daddy