Yellowstone-Day 2

Our first stop on our second day was Uncle Tom's Trail.  We had to hike down 328 steps to see the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.  It was absolutely amazing, and the kids did really well on the way down and even on the way back up.  We didn't carry the older boys at all, and Halley and Dallin did most of it on their own.  I was very impressed.

Smile!  Here we go!

 This is the start of the trail.

Dallin was really excited to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

 And this is where it started getting a little more difficult.  You can see on the sign all the warnings about how steep and difficult it is.  It basically says, "If you can't make it.  Don't go!"  Luckily we all made it down AND back up!










 On the way down . . .

 This is when we first saw the river and heard the waterfall.

And here is the gigantic and beautiful waterfall!

 Halley hiked, well, ran most of the way down with Grandpa.  He told her that they wanted to be the first ones to see it!

 Grandpa and Grandma with the kiddos!















Our most recent family pic!

 This is Dallin running away from Halley!

"What Mom, I am ready to go back up!  Let's get out of here!"

 Bradley took some nice self portraits! Most of these pictures were actually taken by the kids.  I gave them our old camera too, but I haven't uploaded those pictures yet.

"Can we go yet?"  We spent a lot of time looking at the waterfall and taking pictures, and yes, getting our courage up to hike back UP all those stairs!

Halley's silly face.

Me.  I hardly ever have pictures of me so I guess I should put one on here. :)

 My sister, her sweet little baby Andrew, and her husband, Russell.  We had so much fun spending time with them.

 Grandpa!!

It's nap time again!!

 This is what it looked like as we were driving past all the beautiful forests.  It was really neat to see all the new growth since the fire. They had signs up in a lot of areas that said when the new trees had been planted.

 My dad loves to drive the motor home, and this little sweetie LOVES to take pictures!

More hot pots!

 Halley was disgusted by the smell, in fact, she still talks about how much it stunk!

 I love my honey!!!

 This pictures is dedicated to my sweet Connor.  He wanted to do the Junior Ranger program, and he worked SO hard the whole trip to accomplish his goal.  He had to read a lot of things and actually pay attention to all the places we visited.  His packet helped all of us learn a lot about Yellowstone, and it was so fun to see him so dedicated.  I forgot to take pictures of him receiving his patch, but he was so proud, and he is now very excited to go to other parks and get  more patches!  Go Connor!

Here is sweet little Andrew!

 

And fun Uncle Russell. The kids adore him!

 And of course, a vacation is not complete without food!  This just happened to be some very yummy spaghetti.  Unfortunately, on the way home, everyone in our family ended up throwing it up. :(

No, Melissa isn't throwing up.  She just didn't want Halley to take a picture of her chewing her food.  Luckily only our family and my mom got the bug.
So, I just have to tell the story so it will be remembered.  We finished eating, drove to the ranger station in the pouring rain so Connor could get his patch, and then we headed back to our trailer site and started on the road home.  Halley and Connor were in the motor home with my parents and Melissa and Russell.  We beat the storm out of there and I started feeling really sick after about 25 minutes so we pulled over, and Wes got me some Ziploc bags.
About an hour and half into the drive, I puked.  Then I puked again and again.  We stopped for gas, and I decided to get in the motor home with Dallin thinking I could lay down and be more comfortable and my mom could watch Dallin.  Well, it didn't work.  This was not one of those stomach bugs where if you throw up and then lay down you'll feel better.  I threw up about five more times.  Dallin was worried and tried to join me on the bed.  After about a half hour, he started puking.  He got it all over.
So, Dallin and I spent the rest of the drive - about 5 hours, in the shower in the motor home with a blanket under us and a few bowls and Ziploc bags for puking in.  It was absolutely the most miserable drive I have ever had.  Luckily by the end of the drive, Dallin had pretty much figured out to puke in the bowl instead of all over.
Meanwhile, Bradley and Wes started feeling sick.  Wes got a bowl for Bradley to puke in and drove as fast as he could so he would make it home before he started puking.  Unfortunately he ran out of gas a couple miles from home. Luckily, we had a few gas cans in the back of the truck.  He BARELY made it home, and then he and Bradley ran to the bathrooms.  We got home a few minutes later.
Connor was fine so he climbed in bed, but then Halley started puking.  So, Halley, Dallin and Bradley spent the night on the floor in our room.  Between puke and the other end of things, most of us were up the whole night!!  It was not a pleasant experience.
The saddest part of the whole story is that we wanted to get home Saturday night so we could go to church on Sunday.  Ha ha ha . . . that obviously didn't happen.  All of us except Connor were so sick all day Sunday we could barely move!

Anyway, just wanted to document our LOVELY trip to Yellowstone, and our MISERABLE drive home!!  We are looking forward to going back again, but this time, hopefully that stomach bug won't find us!