Island Park Madness

This post is a little late, seeing as how this trip happened the first of June, but it is worth blogging about....even if it is a little late!!

To celebrate the oncoming summer, we decided to make a dash for it!! Us, and a group of friends headed for the trees of Island Park, ID. After a month of email correspondence between the 4 families, the day for us to depart finally arrived. After a quick trip to Little C's kindergarten graduation, and to yank the kids out of their last day of school, we piled in our "vacation vehicle" and began the 6 hr drive - which turned into a 9 hr expedition!

The first stop on our adventure took us to a rest area on the outskirts of Boise as we waited for the rest of the party to make an appearance. After a round of potty trips, and a few pics we were on our way...for reals!!

The next big stop was "Grandma Cella's"!! We made a quick stop at my parents house to say hi, and use the facilities. This stop was a quick 20-30 minutes, and we were back on the road. Of course before we officially got back on the road we had to give everyone a tour of my husband's and my stomping grounds, and fill up the wagons.

We decided to stop at Big Jud's for dinner. Now the other families in our party were smart and shared a Big Jud & fries....but my husband decided to think with his stomach instead of his head!! We ordered..much to my dismay..2 Big Jud meals!!! The kids and I shared one, and my dear sweet husband took one on all by himself!!

Let's just say he was regretting his decision once we got to his parents cabin in Island Park!!

Once our tummies were full, it was time to make the last leg of our journey. It took us another 30 minutes to reach our final destination, and what a sight for tired eyes it was!!

We hauled in all our crap...and staked out our sleeping quarters. My husband and I ended up on a hide-a-bed in the living room. It wasn't so bad....aside from a "is someone watching me" incident on one of the bright beautiful mornings!! I woke up to a little set of eyes staring at me from another couch. BLEE was tired of sleeping and decided to watch others sleep instead. Well, we just happened to be the easiest targets!!

Anyways, Thursday morning was the day set aside to drive to Yellowstone Park. After our 9 hr excursion, we decided to wait until Friday. The thought of spending another day in the car was too much! We slept in, as much as you can with 13 kids under one roof, and then sent the men outside to get started on breakfast.

After breakfast it was time for the 4 wheelers to make an appearance!! If you can't tell by Little C's face, the kids were extremely excited!!

Little C and Miss K are ready to rock!! What's that....Little C is driving??!! I don't think so, but nice try!!

After a relaxing day of 4 wheeling, eating, sleeping, and yes a poker tournament, we went to bed ready to face another day.

We headed out for Yellowstone Park around 10:00 in the morning. We wanted to leave earlier, but it is not easy getting 23 people dressed, fed, and herded out to the waiting vehicles, so 10:00 it was!!

Our first stop was Howard Springs. This water comes right out of the ground, and the best tasting water ever...Seriously!! We waited while each kid took their turn drinking from the spring.

Grandma and Grandpa W gave our kids each a camera they could use to take pics along the way. Here is Little C taking a picture of me, while I am taking a picture of him.

Below are a few pics of the nature we encountered on the drive.

This is a Bald Eagle in his nest.

This is a far off look of the steam coming of the Paint Pots.

There was more than enough Buffalo to be seen!! I have never seen this many before. We came at a really good time.

Buffalo X-ing!!! We even had a buffalo try to climb in our van!! Grandpa W thought it was a good idea to open the door while taking his picture. I guess the buffalo wanted a closer look as well....he headed for the open door!! I "very calmly" told Grandpa W to close the door. The sound made them jump away from the van, at least long enough for us to make our escape!! What an adventure.

What a good little group of patient kids waiting for Old Faithful to sing it's song.

Miss K getting a good look at the scenery!!

The W family, including Grandma & Grandpa, and our dog KoKo.

One last picture of all the little rugrats present on our first ever Island Park vacation!!

This picture also explains the "Island Park Madness"!!