bozeman & yellowstone

We drove down to Bozeman over Labor Day weekend and went to the Museum of the Rockies which was pretty cool. Lots of dinosaur fossils, a frog exhibit, and the girls' favorite part was the upstairs children's discovery center which is all about exploring Yellowstone.



On Sunday we drove down a little further and spent the day in Yellowstone park. We saw an elk with her 2 calves, a couple wolves, buffalo, eagles, and lots of geysers, bubbly mud, and the likes. Zoe kept saying, "P-U! It stinks like boiling hot eggs! Are they cookin' eggs in there?" (for anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone, it smells pretty sulfur-y)

They're looking at the bacterial mat around the grand prismatic spring trying to find thermophiles (micro-organisms that thrive in heat)

back to school!

Ava started 1st grade on August 31st and she loves it. She still complains that I come pick her up too early...which is usually close to 5pm with all the beginning of the year stuff I have to do. I think she'd sleep at school if I'd let her.

camping by monarch, mt

One last camping trip in August before heading back to school...

We set up camp right on this little stream. The water was so clear in the deep parts that it looked like a it had been professionally landscaped! Mother nature did a pretty good job with the rock layout :) The water was freezing, but the girls didn't mind one bit. They moved rock after rock, waded, and even swam. It was nice to listen to the sound of the water. So many cool spots to camp!

happy birthday Ava!

Ava celebrated her 6th birthday when we were back in Minnesota...

{Barbie took a spill in the cupcakes}

{candy!!!!}

gates of the mountains

We went to Gates of the Mountains back in July...