Our vacation continued on the 4th of July with a visit to Old Faithful in Yellowstone.  We went early in the day to avoid some crowds.  There were a fair share of people, so we masked up.  Troy had looked up the times and the geyser was pretty faithful!  I was surprised at how high the water shot into the air.

After seeing the geyser, we went for a hike to see the Grand Prismatic.  We were lucky to find a parking spot and we were soon on our way.  It was not too long of a hike and the kids were a little slow moving at first, but the view from the top was very pretty.  

We had planned to hike to Fairy Falls after the overlook.  But when we started the trail, there was a sign saying watch out for bears.  You can imagine what this did to our already unenthusiastic hikers.  Troy and I had a quick parent only meeting.  The decision was to hike a little ways on the trail.  It was quiet, peaceful and lacking people--perfect for me!  We really did not go far, but we wanted to push the kids a little and show them they would be safe hiking.

Sometimes when you are hiking, you just have to have a little fun.  I always try to get the kids talking about something.  On this hike we talked birthday parties.

Timothy wanted to walk along the Grand Prismatic boardwalk, so we waited awhile for a parking spot and enjoyed this beautiful scenery.  We ate lunch in the car, pulled over by the side of the road, right next to Chip the buffalo--the kids named him.  It was kind of fun!  We did a little tourist shopping and one last hike to see Old Faithful from up high.  Then we began our drive to the Grand Tetons and Jackson, Wyoming.  Once you see them, you understand why they are called Grand.  The mountains pop right out of the valley with nothing to obscure the view.

We got to our hotel around dinner time.  Troy picked up our take out.  Right when Timothy was ready to head to the pool, Teresa said she didn't feel well.  I tucked her in bed and she ended up sleeping for two hours.  Troy and Timothy went to the pool.  Teresa woke up just in time for the fireworks. They were set off with the mountains in the background.  A memorable night!

Our next adventure was a fun one with a few different aspects.  We began a hike around Jenny lake--easy hiking with great views.  We had one very reluctant hiker, but eventually everyone was a willing participant.  After hiking about 2 miles we began a hike up to Inspiration Point.  Teresa wondered why everything is named point.  The kids got tired and did not want to press on, but we got them to keep going.

There was a great view of one of the main peaks in the park.  And this is about the only family picture where Troy asked someone else to snap the photo.

The kids are not ones to linger, so soon enough we were hiking down.  They really get going on the return hike!  Instead of hiking back around the lake, Troy treated us to a fun shuttle boat ride.

That was it for hikes that day.  We were happy to find a gas station with air when our tires were low in the park.  With the tires fixed we drove up to a view point of the Jackson valley.

And finally it was back to Jackson for dinner, a little swimming and a quick trip back to the tourist shops.

On our way out of Yellowstone we stopped for one last hike before driving to Cody.  We hiked out to another point on Lake Yellowstone.  We came pretty close to some buffalo on this hike--exciting and a little bit scary.

A non-hiking adventure that we enjoyed in Cody, Wy was white water rafting.  It was just the guide and our family and I was a little unsure when she gave us paddles.  Would any of us actually be of help getting the boat where it needed to go?  The answer was yes, we hit no rocks flowed through the rapids and had a blast getting splashed.

After dinner we had a treat downtown and came across this statue of Buffalo Bill Cody.  I couldn't pass up a picture.  

The next day was more of a driving day as we headed to South Dakota.  We did break up the driving with a stop at Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  We hiked around the tower and the kids had fun climbing on some big rocks.  I love this picture with their arms around each other.

And you gotta finish a hike with some yummy ice cream, right?  For us the answer is yes!

We stayed a night in Spearfish, SD and then enjoyed some touristy things around Rapid City, SD.  Our first stop was Bear Country USA.  Teresa really wanted to see a bear on this trip.  We certainly saw a lot of bears!  We also saw mountain goats, wolves, reindeer and a lots and lots of bears.  It was a drive through wildlife park.  The kids really enjoyed it.  I liked the bear cubs!

We also checked out Mt. Rushmore.  Fun to see, but by this time on the vacation we were getting a little tired as the picture above shows.

We spent a night in Wall, SD, so we of course had to check out Wall Drug.  It was a bit overwhelming and it went on and on.  We did not stay long, but I am glad we got to experience it.

From Wall, we went to the SD badlands.  I through in a picture of our trusty rental car.  It served us well, especially after we got that leaky tire fixed.  Teresa really wanted to see bighorn sheep.  We heard there were reports of them in the area.  We searched but had not luck at the first stop.  Luckily as we drove on we found a bunch of them off the side of the road.

We did two short hikes in the badlands.  One was up to an over look.

The other took us right out into the bad land where we could climb around.  It was neat, but really hot.  I was happy to head out of the beating sun.

The last stop of our trip was in La Mars, Iowa.  The ice cream capital of the world in case you did not know.  And yes we were forced to have ice cream one more time!

The pool was quite and mostly empty.  We even let the kids swim in the morning as we had little to get home for.

This was an awesome trip.  It was not all happiness and bliss, but many memories and fun times together!