Benjamin at 10 months

Montana Vacation continued

After our girls and guys mini vacation we all met back in Missoula for even more fun including a big birthday party, carousels,  Big Dipper ice cream, shopping sprees, good food, great friends, lots and lots of driving, and so much more. We took lots of pictures & made even more memories.

Thank you to Holly's friend who made this amazing cake for our combined birthday celebration.

Charlie surprised me with a date one night while in Missoula.  We had the chance to have a quiet dinner and then attempt to walk up to the "M" located on the hillside behind the University of Montana.  We made it up to the first switchback for some pictures, but did not make it all the way to the "M" - maybe on our next trip.

Vacation to Montana Aug. 18-25, 2010

We had the opportunity to go back to the state where we honeymooned a couple of weeks ago, but this time with more family members.  We had a short flight from Ohio to Chicago, IL, and then came the 3 hr. flight from Chicago, IL to Spokane, WA.  We had a short visit with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins in Spokane and then off on our 3 hr. drive to Missoula.  Here's Emily enjoying a nice whale ride at my Aunt and Uncle's house before we got in the 2011 Toyota Sienna which was our rental van for the trip. 

We arrived in Missoula on Wednesday night and got settled into our hotel (Wingate by Wyndham) which was the highlight of Emily's trip because it had a very nice water park along with a regular size swimming pool. Thursday morning Charlie and his Dad took off for a fishing trip while my Sister-In-Law, Mother-In-Law and kiddos went to Jackson Hole, WY and Yellowstone National Park for a girls only trip (minus Ben, but since he's not even one year old, he doesn't count). Since traveling with two little ones our trip took a little time, but we finally made it to Jackson later that evening & checked into our motel.

After a good night sleep, it was time to get out on the town as we only had 1 full day to spend in Jackson. After breakfast we toured the town for a little shopping and siteseeing.

There are a few intersections in Jackson Hole that still utilize a flag system to stop traffic instead of street lights.  You just pick up a flag on one side, proceed across the street and place it in the holder on the other side.  Emily of course wanted to hold the flag.

Next we took Emily to the Elk Conservatory Visitor Center to earn her Junior Blue Goose Ranger Badge where her Aunt earned her badge back in November.   She passed with flying colors and we were down the trail to play around in the Grand Teton National Park.

I had never been there so we spent the better part of our day walking and driving around to see the sights. For those of you that have never been there, you should definitely add Jackson & the Tetons to your to do list.

Emily was more than excited to see our first animal, a barely visible moose playing in the brush of the river. She exclaimed, "I saw it's belly Aunt Holly!" She then proceeded to say we needed to find at least 10 animals before we left the park to go back to our motel for the night.

After driving around for half the day we had only seen what counted up to be about 8 animals, elk, deer, birds, horses, cows, moose, squirrels, and even some barely visible bison. Our stomachs were grumbling so we decided to call it a day and head back towards town (and food!). In a distant field Holly could see what looked like a herd of something so she decided it was only a short trip down a road to see what they were. We were all glad she did.

The herd of Bison completely surrounded our car.  Holly & I were snapping pictures as the bison stared us down & tried to figure out what we were doing there. Emily was most concerned for their safety, as they didn't look both ways before crossing the road (cars were starting to pile up all around us at this point).  We stayed as long as we had to since they had our car surrounded and then took off for dinner.

We wrapped up the night after a good meal.  Holly & I did a little touring around town while Ginny gave the kiddos a bath & then everyone was off to bed.

When morning came we packed up the car & said our goodbyes to Jackson & the Tetons. It was time to tour Yellowstone. Having two tiny travelers we had only time to stop at Old Faithful, the Middle Geysers, & the Painted Pots. If you have time to go to Yellowstone, these places are worth the stop.

 

Finally we headed back to Missoula for the rest of our vacation.

Here are some shots of the boys during their fishing/hiking trip.

Emily - 4 years - Aug. 16

We love you Emily!

One Month Old at her first church picnic

  One year old - showing us how she can wink

Two years old - being a diva at the zoo

Three years old - first driving lesson at Idlewild

Birthday Party 2 of 3

We had the opportunity to spend Emily's birthday with friends at Recreation Outlet.

"Please no pictures."

This place wanted $150 just for a room to eat so we chose to eat outside.

Birthday Party 1 of 3