Yellowstone

HOT SPRINGS

Dragon's Mouth


Audrey wanted her picture in front of this one "because it is pretty."



Maddy did too.



Fire lake

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS

MUDPOTS

GEYSERS

BISON

The bison were amazing to see up close (from our van as we drove by).  We actually saw a bison start charging a guy who got too close for a picture.  Luckily he got away.  

The baby bison were darling.


BIG HORN SHEEP

Their horns aren't very big since it is spring, but they were still cool to look at.

MOOSE


It is actually more rare to see a moose than bear because of how reclusive they are.  We lucked out by seeing this one.  We also saw young one by my parent's cabin before heading up to Yellowstone.


BEAR



We saw a mommy bear with 2 baby cubs feeding on a baby elk carcass halfway down the mountain, while the mommy elk on the top of the ridge looked for her baby.  We then saw the mom and one of the bear cubs come down the mountain, swim in the lake, and cross to the other side of the road. We later saw a Grizzly bear on top of the ridge standing on his hind legs.  We later found out that he had killed one of the bear cubs and taken the elk carcass from the black bears.


On our last day as we left the park we lucked out by having a black bear cross the road right in front of our van.


ELK

WATERFALLS

OTHER

Hiking in the woods

Eagles nest

The views were spectacular

End of May, but we still had beautiful snowfields.

Snow covered lake

Brooklyn looking out our cabin window at her Daddy.

Continental divide

Picnic by the river

Grandpa knows that ice cream is the way to his granddaughter's heart

Audrey worked really hard and earned her Jr Ranger Badge

OLD FAITHFUL INN

The historic inn was amazing to walk through.  It felt as if we had stepped into a scene from The Lord of the Rings.  We followed Grandpa Donaldson's tradition of buying the kids old fashioned ice cream.

We forgot to take pictures with them, but my parents, Andrew's family, my Uncle Steve's family, and my cousin Jared's family all joined us on this trip.  It reminded me of my many family reunion trips to Yellowstone as a child.  It was very nostalgic for me.  Jared also has good memories of visiting Yellowstone as a child. We enjoyed passing on this family tradition and memories to our kids.