Romantic Adventures

When I imagine Dan and I having a date night, I imagine us getting dressed up and walking down to the beach to something like this....

But the truth and reality is the only time we dress up is for church, and we don't consider a date successful unless there is some sort of adventure or risk involved. Consider the time we biked Cade's Cove in Tennessee. We biked thirteen miles and saw about a dozen black bears. The incident that stands out most is when a momma and her three cubs crossed the road in front of us. The momma thought we were a little too close to her babies and started walking towards us encouraging us in bear language to "back off." We obliged. I was trying to video the whole thing while backing away on my bike rather quickly. She kept coming towards us and we, of course, kept backing away. Later when we viewed my proudly taken video, it looked like one of those Big Foot sighting videos where you are not sure if the person holding the video camera is videoing the sky, the ground, or the trees. There's usually not even a Big Foot in sight, or at least not an identifiable one. I guess I lose my cool (and my video skills) when a momma bear is chasing me. 

The next year we biked Dogwood Canyon in Missouri. This is a fabulous place with creeks, waterfalls and beautiful vegetation. But, when we left we felt indifferent about the whole event. Something was missing. I looked at Dan and asked, "What was missing, why didn't it feel like a great date?." "Bears," he said, "Bears chasing us." That was it. There was no adventure. 

So.....this spring when we were in Florida, instead of having a romantic meal on the beach like the beautiful picture above ☝ we opted for kayaking in the ocean. 

Our adventure started when I bought a voucher online from Bob, the kayak guy. He was a little hard to get ahold of, but he assured us our adventure was all set. We were supposed to be at the kayak shop at 9:00 on a Friday morning. Forgetting about Florida traffic, we were running a little late and arrived about 9:15. No one was there. We knocked. Nothing. We rang the bell. Nothing. "You better call," Dan said to me. I dialed up Bob, who surprisingly answered his phone. "Um, we had an appointment for 9:00 to take a kayak out on the bay," I said. "Oh, I had to run some errands so I stuck your kayak out on the beach," Bob replied. "Ok.... " I stammered. "We're just supposed to go for it?" "Yes, it's all sitting on the beach," Bob said with a lot more confidence than I was feeling. We hung up, and I turned to Dan, "Our kayak is on the beach, and we're just supposed to go for it." 

We found said kayak down by an area of oyster beds. I have never seen oyster beds before, so I didn't realize what we were looking at. "Look at all these cool shells!" I squealed. I'm pretty easily entertained. So while Dan was trying to get the kayak in the water  I was walking all over the poor oyster bed looking for shells.

Dan complains often when we kayak together that he does all the work. I don't think that this is a fair assessment though, because I do pack the cooler. I also occasionally yell, "PADDLE FASTER" when there is something I really want to see. 

I climbed in the kayak and we began our adventure. I had read reviews online that people had seen dolphins, manatee, and sting rays in this particular bay - on top of the birds in the mangroves, and we were hoping to see all of it. 

We started our journey off in the mangroves, which are small trees that grow in the water and along the shore. (I've included this short description because I had no idea before we went.) The branches are very unique, and the water where they grow is extremely shallow. It was so  beautiful kayaking along this area. The water was crystal clear, and the shells were abundant. I wanted to bring back some of the bigger shells we were seeing, but we wanted to be careful not to collect ones with living creatures still in them. 

As we, um I mean Dan, was paddling along I saw the most perfectly white spiral shell about two feet down in the water. "Stop!" I yelled. It's actually hard to stop a moving kayak in the water, but Dan's pretty amazing so he started paddling backwards. "What is it?" he said. "That shell. I want to take it home to the kids," I said as I pointed in the water behind us. Dan dutifully paddled back and reached into the water with his long arms and pulled up the most perfect shell. It was beautiful. He handed it up to me in the front of the boat. I started to turn it over as I was admiring how perfectly shaped it was. As I turned it, all of the sudden a "creature" jumped out of the opening in the shell and landed on my leg. I did what any self respecting woman would do and screamed while hurling the shell without it's "creature" back into the water. "What are you doing?" Dan asked me incredulously. "I just got that for you!" "It...it...it jumped out on me!!" I said. "What did?" he asked. "The creature!!!" I exclaimed. "Well, why did you throw the shell back in the water?" He asked. I thought that was a dumb question at the moment, because who knows how many other "creatures" might be living in that shell! I carefully looked down at my leg where the "creature" had landed. "I didn't know those things could fall out of their shells so easily," I commented as Dan leaned up in the boat to have a look. "It's mud, Babe," he retorted. "Mud." "Mud?" I said sheepishly. "I knew that." 

Would you go find my shell again?" I asked as I picked up a paddle and pretended to help. 

After collecting a fair amount of shells, we paddled out into the open waters of the bay. We hadn't seen any creatures besides crabs, conchs, and oysters up this point, and we were ready to see some larger things. As we rounded the corner a dolphin jumped off to the right of our boat. We both grabbed our paddles (I did actually help this time) and began paddling in the direction of the dolphin. Soon we saw another one! The were jumping and playing in the water as we got closer and closer. All of the sudden they turned towards us, and I began to wonder if dolphins would try to sink kayaks! Probably not, but I have some crazy thoughts at times. The dolphins began to swim around us and under our kayak. It was amazing! They are some of the most beautiful, graceful creatures of the ocean.

After following the dolphins for a fair bit, we decided we should probably turn back before getting too far from the beach. As we (Dan) were paddling back, we came across a tour boat. Now, we know when we are out of our element in knowing, or not knowing, the territory, so we pulled up by the boat to see how much of the tour we could catch. Before you judge, we didn't exactly attach ourselves to the side of the boat or anything, but just got close enough that we could hear the guide point out things to the tourists. Sure enough, this plan paid off! We heard one of the guides yell, "There's a momma manatee with a baby!" No one looked, but us. Everyone on the boat had gotten off onto a sandbar to look for sand dollars. We headed in the direction the lady had been pointing, and shortly saw two large creatures shooting through the water. We were able to keep up with them (no thanks to me) and paddled alongside of them for quite awhile. When they would surface for air, you could see how large these sea cows really are! I began to get a little nervous as to how they felt about us kayaking alongside them. I've never heard of anyone being flipped by a manatee, but I certainly didn't want to make the news by being the first.

We paddled back over to the sandbar to see what we could find there. We didn't see any sand dollars, mainly because we didn't know what we were looking for. But, we did find the largest conch shell I had ever seen! This one definitely had a "creature" in it! This creature stayed put though, as Dan picked up the shell for a picture. 

The day pretty much had been perfect., and our time was running short before we needed to get the kayak back to Bob. We stopped at one more oyster bed to look for shells with no creatures in them. We didn't realize how sharp oyster shells are until we looked down and noticed Dan's foot was bleeding. He hadn't even realized he had cut it. The blood was flowing pretty well. "You know," I said sympathetically, "We've seen almost everything we wanted to see today.....except sharks." 

"Maybe I could actually paddle this time," I continued, "and you could hang your bleeding foot in the water." Dan looked at me like I was crazy. "Well, wouldn't it be exciting to see sharks?" I asked rather defensively 

We paddled back to the shore with Dan's bleeding foot safely in the kayak. I'm sure he'll regret that decision someday when he thinks back on the sharks we could have seen. 

We ended our kayaking adventure by purchasing a 6 foot kayak from Bob, (who did finally come home from his errands) and somehow managing to fit it inside our mini van.

 What good is an adventure anyway, if you can't bring home a souvenir! 

A Privilege to Serve

So, I'm sick today. On Easter. I love Easter - celebrating the resurrection of my Savior, Jesus Christ is something I look forward to for months. I love being at church with everyone, worshiping God, and remembering the greatest miracle of all time.

For the first time in my life, I'm missing Easter Sunday. We got a nasty stomach bug this week, and it decided to linger with me. This is a huge disappointment for me.

I play the piano for our church. It's a wonderful way for me to be able to express worship. I've been doing it for years, and I love it. I especially enjoy playing on holidays when we get to sing songs that you don't sing any other time of year.

Last night when I was realizing that it was pretty unlikely for me to make it to church this morning, I began to argue with God. "Lord," I said, "I need to be there to play the piano in the morning. It's a big day for church with lots of visitors, and I need to help make the service run smoothly. I need to be there to do my job...for You!"

God gently reminded me that He doesn't NEED me at all. God has a purpose, and He will accomplish it. It is a privilege that He lets me be a part of His work, but Easter Sunday going well has nothing to do with me and everything to do with God.

God took me in my pride thinking that I am a vital part of what He's doing to humbly on my knees thanking Him that He allows me to be a small part of what He's doing at all.

Serving God is a privilege. A sacred privilege. 

God owns everything and He knows the most talented people in the world. He doesn't need us to get His work done. In fact, He doesn't need us at all - remember that if we don't praise Him, the rocks will. (Luke 19:40) God will accomplish what He has set out to do. But, oh how blessed and privileged we are that He chooses to use us, and allows us to be a part in so many ways to help spread the message of Jesus Christ!

Are you helping widows and orphans? Are you caring for the poor? Are you helping the helpless? Are you serving in your church? (even in a small ways?) Are you sharing the Gospel? Are you feeding the hungry? Do you remember the forgotten? Are you sponsoring missionaries? Are you caring for your family? Are you showing kindness to your neighbors?

If you say, "Yes" to any of these, (and so many more) you are a vital part of God's work. He doesn't need your help, but He wants it!

We are privileged every day to have the opportunity to show our gratefulness to God for the saving grace of Jesus Christ by being a part of the what He is doing here on earth. I am in awe of a God who is willing to use me!

*Turns out we have several talented piano players at our church, and one was more than willing to step in and fill in beautifully for me this Easter Sunday. I even got a text from my sister saying my son leaned over and whispered, "Ms. Carolyn doesn't pound like mom does." 😊😊😊

To the Moms Who are Weary

Lately Ive been a little overwhelmed with my mom job.  I find myself not having time to do the things I really enjoy doing (like writing). In fact, life as a mom is the real deal! You pour so much of yourself into your children that you are not sure there's any of you left at the end of the day.

I remember the days when my kids were babies, and I thought the lack of sleep, the never ending diapers, and the constant care was hard. "When they get a little older, it will be easier" I told myself as I struggled through another sleepless night...

Well, now they're older. And it is still hard. Not only that, it's a different hard. I know I'm in the throws, but I'm pretty sure it is harder. Heavy on the -er.

Yes, I get more sleep and I only change diapers when I'm watching my niece or nephew, but I have kids looking life in the face and I'm feeling the pressure to make sure they're ready. 

I'm realizing they're not mine forever.

And before they leave this house I want them to...

be kind
and wise
and respectful
and thinkers
and loving
and giving
to notice the unnoticed
and know who they are in Jesus.

I want them to be ready to...

lead a family
and hold a job
and manage money
and keep a house 
and serve in a church
and help their neighbors
and be a spreader of the gospel

Folks, it's a tall order. And I don't have that many actual years left with some of my kids.

So, I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Daily I'm trying to help them build good habits, instill a good  work ethic, talking them through crisis, praying for their concerns, teaching them life skills, (on top of school!) and watching as they sometimes fail and sometimes conquer.

And being a mom on top of all of it!

I was almost feeling like I needed a break from mommying. I'm just going to go ahead and admit it out loud. Some days I want to throw in the towel and just turn on the tv.

But the other day the gentle voice of the Lord reminded me, "And let us not grow weary in doing good. And let us not grow weary in doing good." I knew it had to be from the Lord because it is straight out of His Book. 

For several days this played over and over in my head, "Don't grow weary in doing good, don't grow weary in doing good."

As I thought on this Scripture I realized that this is exactly what we as moms are doing. We are doing good. Every day that you are investing time, energy, money, and everything you are into those little (and big) ones that live in your house, you, my friend, are doing good.  And even though it is, oh so wearying we're not to grow weary! 

This was a little bit of fresh air for me, but the sweet winds of relief came several days later when I remembered the last part of the verse -

".....for in due season we will reap if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9b)

Some days I want to give up. Some days it feels like everything I am doing is in vain. Some days when I look at my kids I think, "Do they hear anything I'm saying? Have they learned anything from me??"

BUT, the truth is -  due season is coming. And it's coming faster than we want, or expect.

The principle of sowing and reaping is as true today as it was from the beginning of time. We reap what we sow.

BUT, only if we DO NOT GIVE UP! 

In the middle of this post I had to stop writing to play a game with two kids, instruct a kid in writing a paper on the importance of kindness (and listen to and correct said paper), talk to another kid about the importance of more than once daily brushing your teeth, (He says there's really no need), calm the child who lost the said game, snuggle with the kid who feels like he might puke, kiss everyone good night, and put kids to bed. All this took place in the space of about an hour. Now I'm back here sitting and writing, and thinking it's really nice to sit!

One day, sweet momma, one day we will reap all these countless hours of poured out energy and self  that we are sowing now. One day these kids are going to grow up -  they're going to start adult life, and we're going to see the things that we put into them blossoming into beautiful.

But only if we don't give up. Only if we don't grow weary in doing good.



And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

The Miracle of a Gift

I saw their little faces on a table for an organization that encourages people to do monthly child sponsorships. So many of them! So young and innocent and beautiful - all without enough food to sustain them. A lot of them from countries where starvation is a very real threat.

And my heart was overwhelmed.

I began researching the subject of orphans and found that there are roughly 153,000,000 orphans in the world. That's more than the population of a lot of countries. In the USA alone there are over 400,000 children in foster care, with over 100,000 of those waiting to be adopted.

And my heart was overwhelmed.

I read about the refugees in Africa and the Middle East and their terrible living conditions. They have seen unspeakable evils and suffered incredible losses. These people often have no home to return to and no country that wants them. They don't have a lot of hope. And there are not just a few of them - over 65,000,000 across the globe!

And my heart is overwhelmed.

I know there are millions of people dying every day without hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people groups don't even have a Bible in their own language. People who have never heard that there is hope and there is a Savior.

And I am overwhelmed.

The task seems so overwhelming that I began to think there is no hope. I look at the picture of the child that we sponsor through Compassion International, and know that there are millions more needing sponsors. I wonder how sponsoring one child is even a drop in the bucket of need! Is it really doing any good?

Then one night, I read a story. An old story. It was the story of a large hungry crowd that needed supper after a long day. Apparently, no one intended to be out that long because only one person in the group had any food. It was a boy. A boy with ONE lunch. Not thousands of lunches to feed thousands of people, but one lunch. The boy took his one lunch and gave it to Jesus. I'm sure he was hungry too, and maybe thought he would go home hungry, but he gave it anyway. Jesus took the gift, blessed the food, and fed over five thousand people with it!

I felt like I was reading this story for the first time, as I realized this boy gave what he had.....to Jesus. He didn't worry about the fact that he didn't have enough food for everyone, he gave the food he did have. Jesus did the rest. And, boy did he! One meal became thousands because of One. Small. Gift.

The next thought I had was, "Is this Jesus here in the book of John - this miracle working Jesus - the same Jesus that I claim to serve today? Is He really the same? And if so, can He work the same kind of miracles with the gifts that I give Him that He did with a little boy's lunch?"

Friends, my Jesus - this God I serve - claims to be the same yesterday, today and forever. If He is what He claims to be, then He will most assuredly take the gifts we give Him, and multiply them into something phenomenal! Just like He did over two thousand years ago.

We're coming into the Christmas season, which is the season for giving. In fact, sometimes the needs and opportunities that arise can be overwhelming to us at this time of year because there are so many! To name a few -  Operation Christmas Child, The Salvation Army, local food pantries that are feeding hungry families for the holidays, Angel Trees that provide Christmas gifts for needy children, and oh, so many more! All providing us the opportunity to be Jesus on earth and share what God has blessed us with. So many needs!

So, what if you can only afford to make one shoebox for Operation Christmas Child this year? Is it worth it? Can one box really make a difference? If it's a gift given to Jesus, I believe it not only can, but will.

Maybe times are tough and you can only buy food for one meal for a family this year. Will it just be a drop in the ocean?  Is it worth the effort? I don't know, but I remember a true story about one meal becoming over five thousand...

Maybe this is a great year for you and you can fill ten shoeboxes, or twenty, or one hundred. Maybe you can make a large donation to a great need in Jesus' name.

But, maybe you can't. Does the size of our gift matter? Or is what matters the fact that we are so grateful for what Christ has done for us that we can't help but give of what we can to Him?

This is the miracle of a gift - We give to Jesus because He has given so much to us, and Jesus takes our gifts, no matter how big or small, and makes them into something GREATER than we could ever imagine!

Don't believe me?

Just ask a little boy who gave his lunch to Jesus.

This year, give generously to Christ, and together we truly can make a difference in our world.

The Six Travelers Go West - Day 9

We're getting tired. We didn't wake up until after 7:30 this morning, and really had no plans. After fixing a nice breakfast and relaxing, we decided that we would go to Teton Village and ride the tram to the top of Rendevous Mountain. Teton Village is right at the base fo the Tetons and it is beautiful! It is a skiing community where you can ski right into the town. During the summer they have activities such as hiking, mtn. biking, horseback riding, etc.

The tram to the top of the mountain is a two and a half mile, twelve minute ride. The views as you go up are breathtaking! You are hanging so high above the Ponderosa pine trees that it's almost scary. The base of the tram is about 6,000 feet above sea level, and the peak of the mountain is at 10,500 feet. As you ride the operator also serves as a tour guide pointing out the various points of interest and encouraging everyone to look for moose and black bears.

The ride up is so smooth and fun. Elijah was scared every time we went by a tower because the whole tram would swing. It did feel a little weird and unsafe, but apparrantly that's how the tram works. He was so scared by the time we got to the top that he begged us to let him hike back down. Even as much as we like hiking, that was a little much for us.

The terrain changes as you ride up until you are looking at the face of a cliff thinking that you are going to smack right into it! But, no, the tram goes up and over the top of that cliff to almost summit the mountain. To actually get to the real summit, you have to walk up about 200 yards, which we did. The weather up there was, of course, much cooler than 4,000 feet lower! We all had brought jackets and were glad that we did. It actually wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. There are quite a few trails at the top of this mountain. We took the one that was about a half a mile, not wanting to push our luck with the high altitude. It was a great little hike with some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. We could see snow on several of the mountains and the kids wanted to hike to it. We told them it looked a lot closer than it actually was!

There is also a snack shop at the top, and we sat there for awhile with the grandparents just enjoying the views. By the time we went down we could all feel the effects of the altitude. Elijah decided that he actually enjoyed the ride on the way down and would like to go again. Your tram ticket is good for all day, so we told him we would walk around a bit and take another ride.

Teton Village is a great place to walk around, see the sights, and do a little shopping. After we were finished I took Kade and Elijah for another tram ride while Dan stayed with Zack and Rylie as they still weren't feeling too great from the altitude. The boys enjoyed their second ride so much. We didn't even get out at the top this time, but just came straight back down. The boys giggled and had fun the whole way. We didn't spot any wildlife, but we did see the most extreme ski run in the U. S. At first I didn't believe it was actually a ski run because of how high up it starts and how steep it is. Turns out it is a double black diamond and only for very advanced skiiers. I guess I won't be skiing there any time soon.

We headed back to the cabin for a relaxing evening. There is a creek behind the house, and we took a little walk down there and did some exploring. When it was almost dark we lit a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows. After that, we sat in the hot tub and looked at the stars. The milky way is so visible out here and the night sky is so bright.

The Six Travelers Go West - Day 8

Today was the day I had planned to stay at the cabin for the morning. I was hoping everyone would sleep in, but we are sleeping in the loft and the kids were awakened early by the activity downstairs. Since we were up so early, we had time for a good breakfast and a walk to the creek in the backyard. Pacific Creek is beautiful! You have an amazing view of the Tetons in the distance as you walk up the creek. It twists and turns and has the most amazing mountain rocks! The rock are all different colors and are smooth and round. They look like the rocks you buy in Arkansas! We know there are a lot of wildlife in the area because there are animal prints everywhere! We saw moose, elk, and various other prints today. We have yet to see animals down there though. Kade wanted to build a dam, and Dan helped him build one with driftwood, rocks, bark and dirt. They made quite a little pool! Dan, Kate, and I decided that we would kayak down the creek while the kids stayed iwth the grandparents.

We made our way back to the house and got everything ready for kayaking. We told dad we would call him to come pick us up when we were finished, or just to come in about an hour if we didn't have service. We hauled the boats down to the creek and launched them. These aren't the type of kayaks that we are used to, and they were a bit tippy! It took a little while to get used to them. I fell out once, and Dan tipped in the rapids. I didn't laugh when he flipped in the rapids, but when he flipped trying to get back in the water, I couldn't help it.  The float was beautiful! There were so many twists and turns and changes in the water levels. Sometimes we were floating fine and sometimes we were walking our kayaks, then the next minute we were shooting the rapids. I was hoping we would see some wildlife, since we were floating a couple miles of river, but we only saw ducks. Katie was sure we were going to come around a bend and have a grizzly bear in the river, but that didn't happen either. Dad ended up beating us to the take out point which was good becuase we were a little nervous about missing it because we had never floated the creek before. We learned later from a neighbor that we were floating in the Grand Teton National Park and it is actually illegal. Good to know.

We had a nice lunch at the cabin we are staying at, and then headed down to Jenny Lake for a boat ride and a hike. The road down to Teton National Park was so pretty. The mountains just got bigger and bigger the closer you got. When you finally get there, you are right at the base of the mountains. There is a shuttle boat that you can take across Jenny Lake to save four miles off of a beautiful hike. We decided after our hike yesterday, to go that route. The boat ride was really nice with the mountains in view the whole time, and the weather was perfect. My one regret was that we weren't there earlier in the day. The last shuttle is at 4:00 and if you don't want to hike two miles around the lake, you have to be back in time for that. I had wanted to hike up to Inspiration Point, but we opted for the shorter hike to Hidden Falls because of time. It really worked out great because it was a fantastic hike up into the Tetons. The Pine forests are beautiful and the mountain creek we followed was breathtaking. Not only that, but the snowy, rugged mountains are in sight the whole time. The kids wanted to hike up to the snow, but we told them that they really had no idea how high up that was! The snow was above treeline in the rocky part of the mountains. The hike is only about a half mile, and totally worth every uphill step! Hidden Falls are AMAZING! They're over 100 feet tall and just cascade down the side of the mountain. The kids had fun jumping from boulder to boulder while we hiked. Dan says he thinks Kade and Elijah are part mountain goat! So many people were sitting up there just watching the falls, and I can see why. It was hard to pull yourself away, but the idea of missing the last boat across the lake made us hike down back down quicker than we would have liked. The trip back across the lake was pleasant.

We spent the evening down in Jackson going to the visitor's center, having dinner at a nice little place called, "Bubba's" and then picked up groceries for the rest of the week.

The Six Travelers Go West - Day 7

Today we got up early and headed up the east side of Yellowstone for another great day! Our goal was to reach Grand Canyon Village. We were passing through Hayden Valley on the way, so I had wanted to leave early to better our chances of seeing wildlife. Right after we turned out of the road where we are staying there were a bunch of cars parked alongside the highway. A black bear walking up on the mountain was the cause for the commotion. It was pretty high up, so we didn't get any pictures. Our first stop after getting into Yellowstone was at Lewis Falls. They are a very wide falls by Lewis Lake. The kids had fun climbing on the fallen trees in the water at the bottom of the falls. By that time they were glad for a break from sitting in the car.

Our next stop was one of my favorites - it was a piece of land by a river that had a geyser area with steam just coming out of the ground. The ground where the geyser is is a stark white against the lush green grass by the river. The part that made it over the top was the buffalo that were just hanging around down there by the geyser. They were snorting and growling at each other and a couple of the males were fighting. It was such an amazing sight! The sounds the buffalo were making was so neat to hear that I videoed it.

We went to the boiling mud pots after the buffalo. This was just such a strange sight! It is literally huge mud puddles ground boiling becuase they are so hot! It's not odd to see hot springs with water boiling in Yellowstone, but to see the mud bubble like that making all kinds of gurgling noises is really something! My favorite part at this stop was the dragon cave. There is steam blowing out of a cave like a dragon is breathing fire back in there. Then there is hot boiling water shooting out of the cave towards you. Whne you add in the noises the cave is making, it is quite an experience!
We passed through another field of buffalo on our way to our next stop. There were hundreds of them hanging around down in that lush green field!

We stopped at Artists Point and did the short hike out to the point. Yellowstone has been far less busy than I anticipated it would be, but this place was crowded! The parking lot is not very large and there were cars and people everywhere. When we hiked out ot the point I knew why. Here is where you get a phenomenal view of the Lower Falls. This is the waterfall that is on all the pictures of Yellowstone. It is so much better than the pictures! The canyon in which this waterfall runs into is a true wonder! If I hadn't already seen the Grand Canyon, this definitely would have been the largest canyon I have ever seen. The waterfall itself is over 300 feet tall! We wanted to walk the steps down to the base of the falls, but that trail was closed for repairs. I might have regretted that hike halfway back up anyway! We spent a bit of time at Artist's Point admiring the canyon and the falls before we headed on up to Grand Canyon Village.

We ate a nice picnic lunch at Grand Canyon Village (There are picnic tables everywhere in Yellowstone!) and then did some souvenir shopping. I expected the prices of souvenirs to be really high in the park, but they are not. The kids had saved their own souvenir money, and they have had a blast shopping. I think it's almost their favorite time of every day.

Our last acitvity of the day was to hike part of the Wapiti Trail. The part I had wanted to hike was about five miles long. I wasn't sure how the kids would hold up, but it was supposed to be a fairly moderate trail and Dan thought they would be fine. The hike goes right through Hayden Valley which is bear country, so we had to take bear spray with us. The valley was beautiful to hike in and nothing like I have ever hiked in before. We went up and down rolling hills with beautiful views of Yellowstone. The hike also went through sections of pine forests with mountain streams running through them. We were very cautious every time we went into a section of forests because we didn't want to be surprised by any animals. We always sent the men with the bear spray first in those sections. We had to do two creek crossings during the hike. The water was cold, but refreshing. Dan and Rylie discovered a little waterfall along one of the creeks when they backtracked to pick up a pair of binoculars that Rylie had left. After we had been hiking about three miles the air began to smell like sulphur and we realized we must be close to a geyser basin. The only one we ever saw wasn't active, just white ground with old geysers, so I'm not sure where the smell was coming from. It was pretty neat to see the old one though. After we had hiked about four and a half miles the kids started to get really tired. We weren't exactly sure how much longer we had to go or where the car was and I was hoping we didn't have melt downs before we made it back. Thankfully, it wasn't much farther and we hiked the rest of the way down to the parking lot. Everyone was happy to take their hiking boots off and sit for awhile. My walking app on my phone chimed in about that time to let me know that we had walked over 19,000 steps.

Everyone was ready to make the two hour drive back to the house by that time. We stopped and got the kids some ice cream as a reward for hiking so far. We had a buffalo come down the road towards us as we drove home. It was so close I could have touched it out my window, but I was a bit frightened so I just took blurry pictures. Dan laughed at me, but he wasn't the one on the side of the buffalo!

We passed Yellowstone Lake on our way out. I had no idea there was a natural lake that large in the Park. In some places along the shore there are steam pots coming up out of the ground right by the water. It's a pretty amazing view along that drive!

We were all pretty worn out when we got home. We relaxed in the hot tub and looked at the stars before bed. The milky way is truly an amazing sight out here in the wilderness.