Thor's

After a long day at Bear World, we decided a little ice cream break was in store! We took Sarah and Alvin to our favorite little local ice cream shop, Thor's.

Enjoying their choices

Molly has a love-hate relationship with ice cream -- she loves the sweetness of it but hates the cold. So she usually ends up eating a plain cone with bites of ours in between.

Ryan was busy while Chelsey smiled.

Cute Emily enjoying her waffle cone

Yellowstone Bear World

We also had a great time taking Alvin and Sarah to Bear World.  I am the only who had ever been before, years before, so it was new to almost everyone.  We enjoyed the wildlife drive-through, the petting zoo, the cute baby cubs, and the little carnival rides.  And of course we sampled fudge in the gift shop and took some home for later.  It was a great day!

Sarah, Alvin, Grizzly, Jason, Emily, Chelsey, Molly, and Ryan

Spotting a grizzly bear

A friendly black bear

I loved this bear, just sitting down, hanging out.

Seeing the baby bear cub up close

Our four crazy cubs

Feeding a goat at the petting zoo

Ever wanted to pet a pig?

Ryan feeding a deer

Riding the cars

 I braved this scary little roller coaster - seriously, I thought we were going to die as we flew around the steep corner, and the ride operator actually had to push us around the first loop each time we came around!

Jason kindly went on the spinny ride with the kids.

Molly and me on the train

Happy Birthday, Jason!

Jason is, of course, my favorite person in the whole world.  He's such a great husband and father, and he works so hard to provide for us.  I'm grateful to have a such a great life with him!  He truly is my very best friend and someone I can always rely on.  Happy Birthday, honey!

Reading all of the many love notes from his kids

What could be in this box?!?

A fun new quilt!

Yellowstone National Park

While Alvin and Sarah were visiting we decided to take them to Yellowstone, which we think is one of the most beautiful places ever.  Neither Jason nor I had been for many years and our kids had never been.  We had such a great time! We picked a really great day to visit - the weather was beautiful and the animals were really active.  We saw many buffalo, including the babies (which are bright orange in color!), trumpeter swans, cranes, and several other birds.  It was a great day and we really enjoyed ourselves!

Our family

The very first buffalo we saw, driving around the corner into West Yellowstone, not even in the park yet - both of our cars had to slam on our brakes to avoid hitting it as it meandered across the highway!

The girls at Fountain Paint Pots

More buffalo, right along the road

Eating lunch while we wait for Old Faithful to erupt - it was freezing right there!

There she goes!

Outside the Visitors Center

 Thank you, PSA

Jason, Molly, and Chelsey at Mammoth Falls

Enjoying Her SAM's Club Hotdog