Mt. Rushmore: July 6, 2013

On our drive home from Yellowstone we took a nice long stop at Mt. Rushmore to eat lunch and check out the museum.

A nice guy saw me taking pics of Taber and the kids and offered to take one of the whole family. I love nice people like that. 

It was cool seeing such a famous landmark in person and learning about the history of how it was made.

Another nice person took a pic of the whole fam. There's a lot of nice people at Mt. Rushmore.

Taber bought the girls these adorable Rushmore ranger hats, which at the time felt like a bit of a splurge, but since then they've worn them on every camping trip and outdoor adventure we've had so I'm super glad he got them.

It was a great little pit stop. We had buffalo burgers at the Rushmore cafe and let the kids run around and burn off some energy. And now I can cross off Mt. Rushmore from my bucket list of famous sites I need to see :)

Yellowstone Part 4: The Grand Canyon, Fire River Swimming hole, and a birthday cake

Our final day at Yellowstone was the 4th of July, so we put on our red white and blue and headed into the park.

We saw lots of buffalo again just chillin' by the road. Always amazed me to see them out there.

Our destination for this day was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This was probably one of my favorite things we saw there. We got to hike all the way down to one of the big waterfalls and the views were just amazing.

Grandma snapped this pic of all of us hiking down in our red white and blue and it's one of my favorites pictures of our family from the trip :)

The crew with Grandma Karen down by the falls.

 Me, Taber and the backpack boy

 And here's the view from where we were standing. Absolutely breathtaking! We stayed down there for awhile and just soaked it all in.

 The hike back up was very steep and challenging for a pregnant mama and a Grandma. Brinley and Teya pretty much had to drag us up the mountain. Meanwhile Taber, who was carrying Cam the tank on his back, bounded ahead like it was nothing. He's kinda buff like that.

 After the hike down to the falls we stopped at another spot that gave you gorgeous views from above the falls. So so pretty!

Once our Grand Canyon excursion was over, Cam and I were pooped, but Taber and the girls still had energy to burn so we drove for about 45 minutes to the Fire River swimming hole. Cam and I stayed in the car to take a nap while everyone else went swimming. Taber said the girls were like little fishes, swimming all around completely fearless. At one point Taber even swam across the current with Teya on his back to explore a little cave. They had a blast and the girls really wore their Daddy out. 

That night Grandma made a cake for Brinley's birthday which was 5 days later and we had a little mini-party to celebrate our birthday girl. It was an awesome ending to an awesome trip. It feels like we did a lot but at the same time barely scratched the surface, which just means we will definitely have to go back again!

Until next time...Adios Yellowstone!!

Flying high! Helicopter Tour of Chicago: 9-21-2013

For Taber's birthday back in April I bought him a Groupon to do a helicopter tour of Chicago. Somehow the date to do the tour kept getting push back due to weather, helicopter maintenance, travel conflicts, etc…Finally 5 months later, we got to do the tour. It was definitely worth the wait and the awesomest way to see the city I could imagine!

We met up with the pilot and took one last pic on the tarmac before taking to the skies.

I was nervous at first but it was an incredibly smooth ride, much easier than a small airplane. Taber was fascinated by every aspect of flying and had lots of questions for our pilot. He was amazed by how different it was from the small planes he flew when he was getting his private pilot's license. He really liked being up there in the cockpit and was all smiles the whole time. 

It was fun to see big landmarks like the stadium from the sky

 Also so cool that we could weave through the skyscrapers and could actually see the people out on the sky decks at the Willis tower.

 While we were in the air we saw tons of people gathered at the beach for some event, so we decided to go check it out when we were done. 

 When we got down there we found out that it was the Red Bull flugtag, which is basically an event where people attempt to fly their homemade human powered flying machines off a pier about 30 feet high into the lake.  Sounded like fun so we decided to stay for a bit. 

 There were TONS of people there which made me very glad that we didn't have our kids with us. 

 The flying contraptions were all super creative, the teams flying them were usually dressed in costumes and did a 60 dance/performance before launching into the lake. Most of them just lawn darted into the water but a few of them got some nice air which earned quite the cheers from the crowd. It was a fun way to end Taber's super belated birthday date, and totally fit with our theme of flying that day :)

Yellowstone part 3: Old Faithful and Excelsior Geyser Crater

On day 1 we tried to visit Old Faithful but there was still awhile before it was scheduled to erupt and mama was nauseous and Cam was cranky so Taber and the girls snapped a quick pic by the sign and we decided to come back with Grandma the next day.

When we came back it was packed! People lined up all around the walkway waiting for Old Faithful to do her thing. It was hot, and Cam was still cranky, but I just kept stuffing him with Doritos and apple juice to get him through the 40 minute wait.

Finally jets of steam started bubbling up from the geyser and then Cam couldn't take his eyes off it. The steam and spray got bigger and higher until BOOM!! A massive eruption that was truly awesome to behold.

Grandma took a pic of the whole crew in front of the geyser. Despite his face in this picture, I think Cam really did like it. 

After a quick ice cream break followed by a massive melt down by Cam, we got back in the car in hopes that Cam would catch a nap while we drove to our next destination. (Editors note: We found that Yellowstone was a pretty major undertaking for a little guy who still likes to take 3 hour naps every day. There is A LOT of driving involved and a lot of walking and a lot of things that can trigger a little person to melt down. He really did awesome for most of it, but long days in the hot sun without the ability to take a real nap took their toll on our little buddy, hence a few rough patches in there for him)

Luckily Cam got some sleep in the car and was bright eyed and bushy tailed for our next adventure: Excelsior Geyser Crater.

 The whole crew heading up the trail towards the geyser crater

 This place was awesome, and gorgeous! Which is pretty much how all of Yellowstone is. 

 I took a lot of pictures because it was just so pretty!

 Cam did great in the hiking backpack, he really loved that thing.

 World's cutest sight seeing adventurers!

 The water looked so beautiful with all the different shades of blue and green and the hot steam rising off of it. This picture really doesn't do the reality justice.

 After the geyser crater we made one last stop at fire river falls. I think Teya had to go to the bathroom so we didn't stay long... It was another awesome day and extra fun to have Grandma Karen there with us!

Another Little Princess

On September 18th we had an ultrasound and found out we are having another little girl!

Taber, Brinley and Cam all came to the appointment (Teya was at school) My mom was also in town for the occasion so we had a big entourage. It was so fun seeing our little baby on the monitor. Even after 4 pregnancies it still always amazes me to see baby for the first time.

I was so sure it was a boy before the ultrasound that it took a minute for it to really sink it. I kept thinking, "Where's his...missing part?" until it finally hit me that SHE wasn't missing anything! Once I got my mind wrapped around the fact that we were having a girl not a boy, I started getting really excited about another little princess.

 After the ultrasound we went out to eat at Nosh to celebrate with my mom and Cam and Brinley. 

Since Teya missed the excitement we picked up a special pink cupcake for her at a cupcake bakery and let her open it when she got home to reveal the gender.  She had really wanted a boy but was such a good sport when she saw it was pink. "It's okay" she said, "Girls are great too!"

 To share the news we picked up some little pink shoes and a tiny tiara

And told our friends that Cam was going to be a prince amongst princesses! 

We're so excited to meet this little girl and can't wait to have her in our family!

Yellowstone Part 2: Buffalo, Elk and Geysers

So this was my first time ever going to Yellowstone, and I was so so excited! I'd seen pictures of course but it's so much different being there in person. It literally takes your breath away.

On our first day in the park we had hardly been driving 10 minutes when we saw a big old buffalo on the side of the road just chilling all by itself. 

I got out of the car and went right up to it to take a picture. It was kind of scary being that close to a wild buffalo, but there was a small brick barrier between us so I convinced myself I was relatively safe.

Taber and the girls kept a much safer distance, although we didn't hang around long to see if it would charge us. 

 The next animals we saw were some elk. Not nearly as close as Mr. Buffalo but close enough to photobomb our pictures. 

 Then we got super lucky and happened upon this geyser that was in full blown active mode even though it usually only erupts every 6-8 hours. It put on a show for a good 20-30 minutes.

 The geysers smelled like sulfur and the wind would blow the hot steam right in our faces, which did not make Cam very happy.

 The girls thought it was awesome though!

The Girls: "Best day ever!"

 Cam: "Are we done looking at these stink holes?"

Stinky or not those hot pots were beautiful and it was so cool seeing them in person.

After the hot pots and geysers we drove around some more but Cam was getting tired and mama was hungry so we went back home for some food and to gear up for day two, a trip to old faithful!

To be continued...