Our Summer: Rexburg #2

What?! It's almost Halloween and I haven't finished blogging about our summer?! I really should get on top of this blogging thing. Ok, so here's our next little adventure in Rexburg. One Saturday when Phil came up for the weekend we decided to check out Yellowstone. I have never been there but Phil had been as a kid, so we packed up the car and headed up to West Yellowstone, MN, about a 1.5 hour drive north of Rexburg.

This is the entrance into the park. Please excuse the dirty windshield!

Our first stop was the Fountain Paint Pot area. It was pretty neat to see. We also stopped at a few geysers.

Then we headed down to Old Faithful to grab some lunch and watch the show. I think I underestimated a lot about Yellowstone...how large it is, how beautiful it is, and how many people go there in the summer! There were so many people out there to see Old Faithful. You can't see it in the picture below, but there were some bleachers set up with people on them as well. The show didn't last too long, but it was impressive.

On our way to see some waterfalls (upper falls, lower falls I think?) we spotted our first herd of buffalo.

Then we hit some traffic...

And realized this guy was on the side of the road.

Then we reached the falls, which were quite pretty.

Then we drove the the "Grand Canyon". At this point Felix was pretty tired, so I got out by myself and snapped a few pictures. My pictures don't do it justice, it was magnificent. 

Then we saw another one of these guys on our way out of the park. 

We headed back to West Yellowstone to grab some dinner, which was an adventure. I think a day in the car with no proper nap made Felix a little crazy. He had a total meltdown and major tantrum during dinner, so we rushed out of there. He then had a tantrum out on the sidewalk. It was eventful. I don't know if I would ever do Yellowstone again with a 14 month old. I think if Felix was a little older it would have been better, but it was pretty stressful for us trying to keep him entertained, so Phil and I indulged in ice cream twice that day to calm our nerves and cool down! (It was very effective) 

Our summer: Rexburg #1

At the end of June, we headed up to Rexburg to spend the rest of the summer with my parents. Phil stayed down in Ogden and came up on the weekends. Our first week there we had some visitors! Rita and Clem, a.k.a Grandma and Grandpa, drove through on their way to Nauvoo. It was so fun for Felix to see them again!

Clem and Felix played lots of legos!

Another highlight of our Rexburg stay was the splash park at Porter Park. I cannot believe how awesome this splash park was. There's a huge play structure in the middle with mini water slides. I've never seen that before, and I was wishing I had something like that to play on when I was a kid. Sadly, you had to be 12 or under to play on it. (I look 12 right?)

At first Felix was a little confused and hesitant, but he soon warmed up to the idea. And yes he either had to be carrying around his shoes or our shoes. Always needs something to play with!

When we got up to Rexburg, my mom was out of town and shortly thereafter my dad left as well. So needless to say Felix and I were so happy when Nana returned! 

Strawberry and raspberry picking with Nana

First haircut with Nana!

My mom showed Felix the piano. He loved hitting the keys. 

And then Kira came to visit! It was so fun to see Kira (Felix's oldest cousin!). After living with her for three years I really missed her! She did a week of softball camp in Provo and then came and spent a few days in Rexburg. I helped her sew a blanket for her new little sis and I even tried to get her to watch Pride & Prejudice with me (the short version), but I failed, she fell asleep. She also brought me up to speed on her new favorite music group, One Direction. She's smitten. Kira just started 10th grade! I can't believe she's that old. She's awesome.

(Mike, Hannah, and Sammy also came to visit, but I didn't get any pics of them) :(