Yellowstone Snowmobiling Trip

Andy and Joelle came with TB and me clear up through Idaho and a little part of Montana to the Mammoth Hot Springs section of Yellowstone National Park.

We were a little concerned about our snowmobiling plan because we didn't see any snow on the long drive. 

 The Wake Up To Wildlife Tour allowed us a view of a beautiful sunrise and lots of bison and elk, but no wolves and bears, which is what we really wanted to see. 

We got suited up and hooked up with snow machines. It was Joelle's first time on such a thing. 

 We rode for the second half of the day and arrived just in time to see Old Faithful erupt. 

We had a silly time ice skating just outside the Snow Lodge.

The next morning, we headed out for a whole long day of riding in windy, sleety, sunny, slushy conditions around the lake and back up toward Mammoth Hot Springs.

We checked into Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge again, ate a nice dinner at the Dining Room again, and played games in the lounge.

We thought Yellowstone was beautiful, so many things to see and do. We had a great time with our friends. We plan to come back with the kids soon!

Skiing

We're skiing at Canyons and PCMR this year, so come join us!

Dec 2014 - Jan 2015 ski movie: http://youtu.be/U-JHkTdE9kY

Jovie has acquired a new nervousness about the steep slopes, so she's adopted a confidence animal (Leia the monkey), a confidence color (turquoise), and a confidence word (Lightsaber if I remember correctly).

Ikey changes schools...

Our move to our new house is imminent (like in the next two months...) so Ikey switched schools to our new neighborhood school. He goes to full day Kindergarten now and his teacher is Ms. Harms. She is so nice and such a good teacher. They have dress up day almost every week. Here they are as penguins. 

The second week at his new school, we turned in his fantastic Science Fair Project. It was off the chain. It was seriously awesome - the best Kindergarten Science Fair project in the history of Kindergarten Science Fair.

Prairie Vespers

The boy who loves to read and sing has found the perfect thing: Hank the Cowdog. This series of books by John R. Erickson is full of cowboy language and dog exploits and usually includes a poem or song. Ikey will make up a tune and sing the song for me, usually in the car. I always give him the phone so he can record his songs, and I always intend to post them on the blog for your listening pleasure, but I run out of time and concentration. I just had to post this one today because I think it's really enjoyable. The song is pretty and he is so funny to enunciate so well and make funny faces too.

http://youtu.be/5rsyY4rSKNQ

Inventor's Plan: Car

Ikey drew this Inventor's Plan today with zero help from anybody.

"I'm pretending that I made this plan before any cars were invented and I thought all cars would look like this, but now you'd just call this a van." You'll notice how fancy the car plan is "versus a standard old wagon". 

Skiing, just the mom and kids

TB's back is messed up, so he missed the ski day. Keep your fingers crossed that he feels better soon so he doesn't have to skip any more fun. 

Checking in with the elk at Hardware Ranch