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Our Trip to Yellowstone - Day 3

Day 3 was pretty much getting up, packing up, driving to West Yellowstone, unpacking, eating, swimming in the pool, then sleeping. That's all.

We did see this though...
A lake created after an earthquake did some stuff. I guess it covered up the highway so they obviously had to build another one to go around the new lake.

We saw these guys on our way into town. An enticing glimpse into the next few days!

Again, pictures of our timeshare... just in case you're curious.

Sorry everything is crooked. I must've had an awful crick in my neck!

The view from our deck:

Hudson Tidbits

Yesterday I discovered that Hudson learned how to throw a ball. I always see him chasing after balls because they always get away from him. I thought it was because he wasn't coordinated enough to grab hold of them, so they roll away and he keeps crawling after it. But yesterday I noticed he was actually getting hold of them, rolling them backward off his palm and then crawling after them. I was so surprised and proud of him. He just sems to do stuff without us trying to teach him. I suppose he learns a lot just watching Kaylee play.

Today he blew me away when I came around a corner and saw him walking behind one of those walker toys! "WHAT?!! NO WAY!!", I think I said. Jeff said he got him to stand up behind it. At first he would look over the front and try to play with the gadgets on there. But soon he figured out he could use it to walk with and he was so excited. He squeals and laughs with utter delight as he walks back and forth. He can even stand up and sit down without it rolling away from him.

Hudson is all about food. He knows we're eating different foods than he is and he wants everything we're having. Cheerios can only keep him distracted for so long. So now I chop up most anything we eat and let him have some. He'll eat anything! Today he had turkey and cranberries all mashed up and he loved it. Last night I had to take away a pizza crust I had given him to chew on because he got a bit off and I didn't want him to choke. He got so mad - SO MAD - his face was red as can be and oh, he was MAD!!

Hudson is just a delight. I'm sure Kaylee was too at this age, but now I can appreciate and enjoy it as one of my favorite "baby stages". I don't know what it is, there's something different I think between a mom and her boy. I am just so smitten with him! He's got a lot of charm and charisma. He also has a very strong presence. I will look into his room as he's napping, and even in his sleep... I don't know how to explain it... he just owns his space... he occupies that crib... he just seems to have a strong presence wherever he is and whatever he's doing. That with the fact that he's so easy going and happy, makes him very charismatic and charming. I just love that little guy!

Both these kids are such a blessing from God.

Kaylee Tidbits

Yesterday we found a frog on our deck. I was listening to Kaylee talk to this frog: "Hi, how are you? What's your name?" (I've never heard her ask anyone their name before so that got my attention) I said "So, what's the frog's name?" "Two", she says. I wondered if she was thinking about how old she is. But then later that day we were on a walk and found an ant nest. She picks out one out of the hundreds and starts talking to it much the same way. I asked her what the ant's name was. "Three", she says. So we got a frog named Two and an ant named Three.

Kaylee is turning out to be quite the singer. I'm not saying she has a prodigal voice or anything - quite the contrary - but she just loves to sing. It's so fun now that she's learned some songs. I just LOVE listening to her sing. All those mispronounciations and off-key notes...it's so adorable. I'm not sure there's anything cuter than a little girl singing! Today at naptime she was singing "Jesus Loves Me" and making her monkey do the signs! Surprisingly enough, she always sings the second verse of Jesus Loves Me. That's the one that seems to stick with her.

Our Trip to Yellowstone - Day 2

Sorry it's taken so long to upload more pictures from our trip. I seem to have taken a LOT of crooked pictures. I not only needed to learn how to fix them, but I also needed the TIME to fix them.

On day 2 we hung around Coeur d'Alene. We got up and did some swimming in the pool (as soon as it was open!) The pool was nice - clean and warm. Afterwards we ate lunch and let the kids nap. This was the ONLY day we actually got our kids to nap in their beds at our condo. All other days they ended up sleeping in the car on the way from place to place. So it was nice for Jeff and I to have some quiet time together. Oh - did I mention it was Mother's Day? I got a nice card from my kids and also a gift certificate for a massage at a local spa!! I'm so excited. I've never had a massage before!

After the kids were up we decided to head into town. My dad told us about a big resort downtown that has a boardwalk all the way around it. It's also nearby a city park with a million smiles playground. He also pointed us to a fantastic restaurant that has really, really, really good pizza! ALMOST as good as Tommy J's...but not quite :)

Here's the boardwalk around the resort:

and here's the resort (this isn't where we stayed - just thought I'd take a picture of it for anyone who wants to retrace our steps next time they're in Coeur d'Alene. It was a great day for the little ones!) The resort has public parking behind it which was very cheap. I think we only paid $2 for the 3-4 hours we were there.

The park next to the resort has a lovely fountain:

a nice water front walkway:and a super huge playground!

Here's the spot we hit for dinner. Tito's Macaronis. Great pizza! They let Kaylee build her own pizza and we got to see them put it into the fire kiln. This place is only a couple blocks from the resort.

Whenever I look at this picture, I think of Hudson saying "Eh..Momma!"

The hat that wouldn't fit:

On anybody!

mmmmm.... look at that pizza!

At the end of the day we drove back to our condo and got some more good pool time in before bed. We REALLY enjoyed our stay in Coeur d'Alene. In the future, we'll probrably make this our final destination and spend a little more time there.

Our Trip to Yellowstone - Day 1

From home to Coeur d'Alene:

The drive to our timeshare in Coeur d'Alene took about 6 hours. We stopped at the Columbia river gorge overlook area for lunch. Above is the wild mustang monument.

Kaylee looking good in her new sunglasses!

It was a good place to stretch our legs and get all that pent up energy out.

We ate our lunch overlooking the river. Pictures just don't capture how pretty the area is.

We arrived in Coeur d'Alene around 4:30 and stopped by to visit some of Jeff's friends. Together we had a bbq dinner (which was so nice especially after a long day on the road!). Kaylee got to play with a bunch of kids her age on their swings and slides. Our hostess, Christy, learned that Kaylee was really into Curious George. She said she'd been looking for someone to give a large plush Curious George doll to. They received a duplicate one for Christmas. So she gave Kaylee a Christmas present to open! It was so nice of her. George was rarely out of Kaylee's sight the entire trip!

After a wonderful dinner with our friends, we headed over to our condo. We found it to be very nice and spacious with lots and lots of storage space for all our stuff.

The living room and fireplace...

The wonderfully large and spacious kitchen:

Dining and patio:

There were two bedrooms as well as two bathrooms. Our bathroom was ENORMOUS - I just had to take a picture of it.

So we settled in and got the kids to bed at last! The next day we got to hang around Coeur d'Alene all day, but more about that later...

Yellowstone Teaser

We got back home today safe and sound. We had a wonderful time. I couldn't believe that within a half hour of being home, Kaylee wanted BACK in mommy's car to play! You'd think 6 days of at least 6 hours of being strapped into a car seat would make her want to shun my car.

I've got a lot to do now: laundry, groceries, and trying to settle back into a normal routine. I can't wait to share about our trip and will do so in the coming days as time allows.

For now, here are a few pictures:

Canyon with fresh snow...

Coyote, right? Not a wolf... I spotted them on the way home one day. Kinda proud that I spotted them and nobody else did :)

"Tatunka" - guess how many times I said that over the last few days! This picture is not cropped. I was within feet of this guy with nothin between us but a mutual understanding. That's right buddy - don't mess with me!

The Madison River as seen in the early hours near the west entrance.

Hi from Yellowstone!

Can't wait to upload pictures. We're having such a great time here in Yellowstone! The kids are doing great on this long road trip.

So far we've seen tons of buffalo and elk. Today we saw a wolf and a few coyotes. Old Faithful is still faithful.

I got Hudson on my lap here, so I have to be short. (one handed typing!)

More to come!

A Gift for Grandma

Happy Birthday Grandma L. Here's a little present for you!

Bed Head

...or an homage to 80's punk rock? (actually it's a Nick Nolte mug shot impersonation)

Claps and Curls

Hudson is starting to get a little curl to his hair in the back. YES, he has hair. It's just so light, it's hard to see. I love baby curls - can't wait to see his!

He also started clapping the other day. I took some video of it and will try to post it, but it might take a long time to load. We'll see

The Many Looks of Hudson

Hudson recently posed for his first photo shoot. I think it turned out pretty well...

The "Momma's Boy" look:
The "Hey, you got a problem?" look:

The mischevious "I got a surprise for you in my diaper" look"

The "Hannibal from The A-Team" look:

The "I'm too cool to look at the camera" look:

The "Heartbreaker" look:

The "You talkin' to me?!" look:

The "I said, YOU TALKIN TO ME?!" look:

The "Flared nostrils" look:

The "Precious, cute, innocent little sweetie pie" look: