Island Park Day 3

Day 3 was the day we headed down to float the river.

I'll be honest I wasn't all looking forward to this day too much.

My sister had her little two month old along on the trip and he would most certainly not be going.

And since I have had a pretty rocky pregnancy up until that point it made the most sense that I stay behind with the little guy.

Meanwhile she and my mom managed the five other kids on the ride down the river.

I love my little Boston baby but I was feeling a little down that I would be missing out on all the fun, stuck in a hot cabin all by my lonesome with just a little two month old for company.

But the day could not have been better.

My sweet baby fell asleep just minutes after the last person walked out the cabin.

I put him in his swing and he was out for the next two hours.

Meanwhile I loaded myself up with a few treats, a cold drink, a comfy chair and a good book and yeah I was in heaven.

Really when was the last time I got two undisturbed hours to do one of my most favorite hobbies....read a good book.

Right as the little guy started waking a bit my grandparents arrived back at the cabin, they had gone to see everybody off, stopped for a drink and then came back to wait for everybody to return.

I grabbed the baby, made him a bottle and settled down to have some good conversation with two of my favorite people.

I wish I had a picture because it was a most perfect afternoon, Boston fell back asleep with me cuddling him and I sat and chatted for another two hours to my grandparents.

I can't tell you how much that time with them meant to me.

Eventually the four of us made our way back down to the river to watch for the return of the boats.

The first one to pull in was the one carrying the majority of the little kids on it.

Apparently the other two boats were duking it out in a major water fight with each other down the river.

They didn't arrive for another 30 minutes or so.

Gave me just enough time to snap a few shots of Lance and K who were on the first boat.

So pretty, I did miss the relaxing float down the river but I wouldn't have traded it for my perfect afternoon.

The troublemakers eventually arrived soaking wet but happy.

See that big blue tarp?

You wouldn't know it but the remainder of the kids were piled underneath it taking cover any time the two boats got close enough to start the water fight back up again.

My little Loubird was one of them under the tarp, good thing I took those hearing aids off!

Good day at the river for my kids I would say.

And then the ranger ride back home is always a favorite.

The rest of the day we just kind of lounged around playing games, eating food, doing puzzles and lots of chatting.

These two had their own little game going for a very very long time.

For some odd reason they found it thrilling to line up all the water bottles along the tops of the coolers and hold a water selling stand.

With only each other as customers...

If nothing else they found it entertaining!

A nice easy relaxing day.....right smack in the middle of a family trip I needed that!

Island Park Day 2

One of my favorite days today....spent the day shopping in Jackson Hole!

It's a slow start for these babies....

Traditional elk horn pictures......

Stop at the kids favorite toy story.....prizes were bought.

Pizza for lunch....

Lego mania....

A couple of cute dorks....

A trip to the candy store....you know toys and candy the necessities of life.

Rounding it off with more Lego mania in boy world back at the cabin.

Good day.

Island Park Day 1

Day 1 of our Island Park Trip I actually don't have pictures of.  We started things a little different this year, usually we leave first thing in the morning stop for breakfast along the way and maybe into Bear World for an hour or two before we hit our destination Island Park.  However this year we left on a Sunday which happened to be the same Sunday as our Williams family reunion in Idaho.  So we left a little later than usual, stopped by the reunion, had some lunch, visited for a bit and then packed up our caravan of ten cars or so and headed on into Wyoming.  We arrived a little later than usual, had some dinner and got settled in but that was basically it for the day....day 2 my picture taking began!

We headed into West Yellowstone this day and somewhere along the way decided to stop somewhere (can't remember the name) and let the kids explore a bit.  The three little girls were adorable this year and played so cute together.  It's funny that Elle Bell is the oldest with Robbi a good six or so months behind her and K a year after Robbi, yet all three of them are basically the same in height and really in maturity levels too.  They made the cutest of little friends and for some reason I got such a big kick our of their differences in looks.  We have Elle with her long black hair, Robbi with her medium length bobbed brown hair and little K our blond pixie.  Oh those girls are cuties.

I love kids at this age they just make everything fun for themselves.  Throwing rocks down ravines, taking little hikes, watching the clouds for fun shapes.  Whatever..... there was just never a dull moment, so glad they all played so cute together.

He went down to the bottom and hiked his way back up again.

Pretty proud of himself.

Headed on up to the overlook.  My hot chubby self was obviously lagging way behind but I at least managed a picture or two!

At this point I gave up on my hike, took a picture of those at the top and made my way back down again.

My feet took a serious hit this trip.

It was so hot this year, a major heat wave going on, the cabin had no air, we did a lot of walking and my poor ankles swelled right up.  You would have thought I was 35 weeks pregnant the way my feet were looking.

You will be pleased to know upon returning home they are back to their old selves.

I am fine with puffy ankles in my last month NOT okay with puffy ankles in my sixth month!

Do you see all those cute girls!

Oh how I love my cousins!

Oh and I guess Theo is in that huddle too.

Eventually we made it into West Yellowstone.

See my cute Grandpa there in the background every year at the IMAX he gets a bucket of popcorn for whoever wants any.

The kids usually swarm around him until that bucket is gone.

In fact I think it is gone in this picture but I took one with my phone that shows all the kids plastered around him....I will have to post it soon.

It warms my heart.

I'm a sucker for traditions and my sweet Grandpa.

Picking out their stupid rock souvenirs.

This is one tradition I could do without.

Those dumb bag of rocks cost like $10.00 a piece for something that will get tossed aside the second they get home.

Oh well.....tradition.

Made a trip to the candy store.

Two little cousins with blue candy faces.

Theo he was a gem this trip.

With Eric in Korea.

Ash's husband couldn't get work off.

So you put me and my sisters with our 9 kids amongst us.

And Theo acting dad to all of them.

He's a gem I tell you, love this brother in law of mine.

Thanks for all your help Theo...I don't think we would have survived without you!

And he gives the best loves to those little ones.

They were so happy to all be together for so many days in a row.

While it was super hard without Eric and really quite exhausting for me I was so glad I went, to see the smiles on my kids faces.

They loved every second of it.

And did I mention my mom was able to come along this year.

My dad was unable to get off work this year and couldn't make it at all.

My Williams family still adores my mom and welcomed her with open arms to come and spend the week with us all.

I was so so so glad to have her along, moms make everything funner.

Later on that night we went on the first of many Ranger rides.

My uncle recently purchased one and it went over really well up there with all of us.

First day was a keeper.

And we definitely all wore ourselves out just in time to get ready for Day 2!