We have been looking forward to this vacation for almost a year. My parents, Darron and I figured it was time to do a big family vacation together. There were a lot of ideas (some included a lot of driving for everyone) so we narrowed it down to places that were a little closer. We compromised the distance between Darron's family and ours by meeting up in Yellowestone. Mom and Dad would just have to drive a lot farther but they took a few days to get there at their own pace and it worked out fine.
Darron did a lot of research and found a great cabin that would fit all 13 of us and it was less than 10 minutes away from West Yellowstone. Isn't it cool looking?
This place has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, two sitting rooms, a big kitchen and a fantastic view. Thankfully, our kids are used to hotel room sleeping so they all shared the same room. Calista and Piper shared a queen bed while Téa was on a blowup mattress on the floor.
The surrounding homes were pretty spread out so we had some great open spaces to explore. Our families staggered our stay so it wouldn't be complete chaos for an entire week. Also, Darron's kids still have school and they didn't want to miss the entire last week of school. We needed to get back home sooner than the Woolley's anyway so Téa could have at least a day to prepare for Trek. Our families will overlap for three days, though. Should be fun!
We arrived at the cabin late afternoon. Mom and Dad got there in the morning to check things out. We didn't plan any sightseeing since the first half of the day was traveling. The girls wanted to walk along the main street in West Yellowstone to do some souvenir shopping, which is one of my favorite things to do on vacations so I was up for it. We found a cool plastic buffalo with painted wildlife scenes on it.
Mark channeled his inner gunslinger.
Three of us found cool Yellowstone hoodies and Téa bought a Yellowstone shirt. Piper found the cutest winter hat (she won't take it off, even though it's June!). It's a moose hat with long pieces of fabric that cover the ears and have a place for your hands at the end. I think she is in love with it. I have a feeling she will be wearing it all day, every day. She has already nicknamed it "Moosey".
Piper insisted on me taking a picture of her in front of the cabin. If you look closely you can find Papa somewhere in the picture.
Calista found a cool stick in the grass near the cabin. The stick was screaming to be whittled down. It's been years since I've handled a knife (for something other than chopping food) so I passed the time in the evening shaving off a nice handle for a walking stick.
It was a fun afternoon/evening exploring the area around the cabin, souvenir shopping and hanging out with Nonna and Papa. My parents treated us to a nice Chinese dinner in town in the evening. Who knew you could find good Chinese food in the middle of nowhere? Tomorrow we are thinking of going out and finding a place to explore/hike and enjoy the amazing scenery here in Montana!
No comments:
Post a Comment