Yellowstone 2011!!!

My Grandma and Grandpa Baum have spent time every summer in Yellowstone National Park for as long as I can remember.  Most of the family goes up during that time and spends time up there.  This year we were able to make a REALLY quick trip up for the weekend with Chris and Annie and Tara, Eric and their family.  We left Thursday night (July 15) and met up with the Wardell's in Rexburg, ID.  After some detours and a lot of hours in the truck, we pulled into our campsite at 2:07 am. (I remember because we made a bet as to what time we would get there and I guessed it exactly right!)  After setting up what had to be done that night we all crashed with the hope that the kids would sleep really good.  Derrick was great to get up with Madi when she was done sleeping way before the rest of us were.  We ate breakfast and were ready to go explore by 11:00. 

Here is Easton all dressed and ready for his first vacay!

There was elk EVERYWHERE this year.  In the past, it has been bison that ruled the park but this year they were off far from the road and the elk were the ones blocking the roadways and stopping traffic.

We didn't get to stop at very many waterfalls but we did stop at this one that I don't remember seeing in the past.  This is Chris and Annie.  I am SOOO glad that we were able to go with them.  We had so much fun and made some great memories that we will laugh about years from know!

Tara, Eric and their kids had never been to Yellowstone so Old Faithful was a must!  We toured the new visitors center and watched a short movie before going out to see the geyser spew it's hot self everywhere.  Madi saw several of her favorite animal... mans best friend.

I think this guy was probably the highlight of her trip.  She LOVED this dog and he was so friendly.  He couldn't stop kissing her and she kissed and loved on him right back.  (I am not a dog person and find it gross but the joy it brings to Madi is one of the sweetest things.  I love to see how happy dogs make her and have even thought about getting one in the distant future.)

And for me, camping isn't camping without some yummy smores.  I showed Madi how to roast the gooey marshmallows and put it all together.

On Saturday we were determined to find us a bear.  We planned to drive the upper loop.  Across from the mud pots were the closest buffalo we had seen, so we hiked down a little to see them across the river.

Madi was excited to see the buffalo and kept yelling and pointing at them.

We stopped at Mt. Washburn for lunch and then kept going.  Just past Towers by a little pond we saw our first bear.  It was fun for the kids to see even though we had to stay in our cars.  We just got a quick picture as we drove by.

Since we hadn't seen a bear or wolf in Hayden Valley we decided to check out Lamar.  We didn't see our bear or wolf but we did see some pronghorn and bison close to the road.  We only went a few miles in since there is construction on the NE side of the valley.

As we continued we on to Mammoth we saw three more black bears, a sow and her two cubs.  (I am not sure where that picture is.  I will add it later.)

As usual, there was elk all over Mammoth.  We toured the museum, got some ice cream and relaxed in the shade before heading back to camp.

This is some of the elk in the median in Mammoth.

I REALLY wanted to see a grizzly and a wolf but all we saw on our way home was more elk, a few far off bison and a few coyotes.

We got back to the camp after dark and and had our yummy taco salad before turning in.  Madi didn't sleep as well as she had the night before which means neither did we.  As soon as we got up we had to pack up camp and shower so we could stand to be in a car together for the ride home.  (OK, I don't think we really stunk THAT bad, but the showers were definitely nice.)

As we left the park we stopped at the Yellowstone sign to capture a picture of our first family vacation.

Chris and Annie...

Tara, Eric, Braden, Alex and Brynlee...

(It was so fun to spend time with them.  It has been a really long time since we have seen them!)

Another of Chris and Annie...

(there was an elk that walked across the river right at the bend.  It was cool to watch it go in.  In the center you just saw her little head bobbing across.)

I love this picture of Madi.  We almost didn't stop for pictures because Madi was asleep.  I am so glad that we did.

Madi and Brynlee... the two of them are only six months apart.  It was fun to see them with each other.  Madi enjoyed having some new friends around.  She is a social butterfly when it comes to kids and warms right up to them.

Tara and Eric had to park their van over by the laundry/showers due to the camp vehicle limit.  When they went to get it on Sunday morning they noticed that a couple of visitors had tried to get in during the night.  They had bear paw prints all over it.  There was at least two, a cub and an older bear. This is about the best picture I could get since there was a glare and a little someone put his hand print over the top of it.

Madi slept a lot of the way home but enjoyed playing games on the phone too.

Easton did great!  He was a trooper and hardly fussed the whole time. We had a fabulous trip and can't wait for the next one!

This one is a little out of order but sometimes that's how it goes. :D

out of order...

She's an All Star!!!

Derrick got tickets to the All Star game at Bee's Stadium last week.  We were on third base.  The game wasn't super great, in fact it was pretty boring, but Madi had a great time and it was nice to enjoy some family time and they had an amazing firework show at the end.  It was Madi's first game and she didn't pay attention to any of it.  (I didn't think she would :D)  She loved going up and down the stairs, climbing in and out of chairs and over the backs of them. 

While she was getting some ice cream with Derrick she saw this monkey that she went crazy over.  (She has a bit of an obsession with ANY animal).  During the last inning she was asking to go for a walk and she wrapped it around her neck and walked all through Fanz loving on this monkey.  Lucky for her, grandpa had given Derrick a little bit of money to get her some peanuts and other snacks.  After her $6 scoop of ice cream, $4 bag of 30 peanuts and my $4.50 bottle of water she had just enough left for the monkey.  What a lucky little girl!

Merry Christmas...

I never got any pictures of Madi in her Christmas dress and I LOVE it so I had to take some when she wore a couple weeks ago (minus the deep red velvet coat).  Derrick is a guy that does not love lace and frill and fluff on dresses, so we compromise.  I get to get a "fancy" dress for Madi for Easter and Christmas as long as it isn't TOO extreme and it is one he can tolerate.  The funny thing is though, Madi gets more compliments when she wears this dress than any other dress.  We have at least three or four people tell us how adorable she looks and how much they love the dress every time she wears it. 

mommy's little guy...

Easton is 11 1/2 weeks.  I can't believe that he is almost three months old.  He is getting stronger everyday and loves to be held in the sitting position so he can see everything going on around him.  He has the biggest smiles and loves to talk to his mommy which I LOVE!  He is starting to really chunk up and is too long for anything newborn.  (He still fits best in newborn shorts though.)  He LOVES to be outside which is good since we are out there a lot.  He adores Madi!  She always gets a little grin when she talks to him.  Here are some ten week pics of our Easton.

Fun on the 4th!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had an awesome day filled with lots of fun, family and pictures.  We started our day at the parade.  It was Madi and Easton's first parade.  They brought around Krispy Kreme donuts while we waited for the parade to start.  Madi wasn't sure about the whole thing until they started throwing candy at her and then she couldn't get enough!

 I tried to get one with both kiddos lookin' but no such luck.

After some much needed naps we went to the park to enjoy some dinner and fireworks. 

 Madi was in heaven!  What's better than a cookie and a big slice of watermelon? :D

 She played with daddy on the playground and played with the container her glow bracelets came in.

 Mama snuggled with Easton for minute.

 Got a picture with both of my kids.

 And even one of the family!

 Madi was funny about the glow bracelets.  She insisted that they scare her.

 She did eventually warm up to them and thought they were ok by the end of the night.

 Again, I tried to get a good picture of the little ones together.  These are the best I got.

 I love this one of Easton!

 Madi had her first experience with a bounce house and LOVED it!

 She didn't even mind the big kids knocking her down with their bounces.

 We were so glad that Chris and Annie

 and Tiffany and Rick were able to come and share in the celebration.

 We love hanging out with our family and creating new memories.

It was a great day and we are already looking forward to next year!

Sparklers...

We bought some sparklers, snaps and flowers for Madi to do this weekend and it didn't go as well as we had hoped.  Madi was TERRIFIED of them and kept saying "scare ya" and "I scared" while clinging to Derrick or I.  She did like the aeriel fireworks as long as they were at a distance.  The noise of them scared her if they were close. 

All smiles...

Our little boy is really starting to show his personality.  He seems to be a bit of a mama's boy and I LOVE that!  Last night after playing with his auntie all day Derrick fed him and put him to bed.  He was wide awake and we were pretty sure he was not going to go to sleep.  I picked him up and cuddled him for ten minutes or so and he drifted off to sleep.  He just needed a few minutes with his mommy.  He is so smiley and starting to become very vocal.  I love when babies start to interact more.  Of course I love the newborn stage but I think that as they reach a new stage it just makes being their mom more and more fun.

Let's go swimming...

[Since I was trying to manipulate picture order on a post I am WAY behind.]

Two Saturday's ago we decided to take the kids to the Roy Aquatic Center.  Madi LOVES to swim and play in the water but another thing she loves is to accessorize.  This is what she wanted to wear to the pool.  I didn't take the picture with her feet but I should have since she was sportin' her hot pink furry snow boots.  This kid cracks me up!  I love ya Mads!

It's true what they say...

I always thought that I would make sure that I took just as many pictures of my second as I did of my first but alas, I am wrong again.  It just doesn't seem to work that way.  The luxury of time to do a photo shoot no longer exists with Madi begging for attention.  Besides the fact that I am still trying to capture all that Madi is doing and she seems to be "doing" a lot more than our little Easton.  I will try to be better though since my sister recently pointed out that Easton does not have enough pictures. :D

Wahoo... you're two!!!

[I have been working on this post for days but Blogger is being lame and I can't get my pictures in the order I want, so just pretend they are. :D]

Madi's friend, Guire, turned two a couple weeks ago and got some fun water toys for his birthday.  He invited Madi to come play.  The last two times she had been, I had left her to take Easton to the audiologists so when we pulled in the driveway she started crying saying "no, mama" thinking I was going to leave her again.  (As much as she loves Chani, Guire, Nash and Fenway, she likes when I'm there)

Here is Guire in his new pool.  He was having a blast but Madi refused to go more than five feet away from me for the first hour.  Silly girl!

Madi LOVES their dog, Fenway.  She talks about him all the time and gets so excited to see him.

Her other love, Nashy!

One of the highlights for the kids was peek-a-boo with the pool.  They thought it was the funnest and kept asking for more.