This year we decided to take a summer vacation as a family, and it was so much fun! Not sure if vacation is the right thing to call it, as with two little babies there wasn’t much rest or vacationing going on! We sure had a great time though and look forward to more family vacations in the future!
We started out on our adventure on Sunday afternoon. We drove to Afton, Wyoming, where we’d be staying for a few days before heading to Island Park. The kids did great on the drive because we aligned it with their nap! It was a beautiful drive and such a gorgeous day.
We arrived to where we were planning to camp in the early evening, but when we got there, we were told that the campsites are still under construction and we shouldn’t have been able to book them through the website! Whoops! They said we could camp at one of the RV spots, or they would give us a discount on a cabin. We went with the cabin, and boy was that a treat! The cabins were absolutely beautiful and it was so much fun!
We dropped off our bags and then went to dinner at a little Mexican restaurant on Main Street. We were the only ones there for a while, and the food was pretty good. It had been a long day, so we then went back to the cabin, put the kiddos to bed, and then watched a couple episodes of The Office (since the room was set up with a smart TV!). It was a really nice and relaxing evening…after the kids went to bed! 🙂
The next morning, each of us went on a run — running in such a beautiful area definitely made it easier! It was wonderful to be outside. After the kiddos’ morning naps, we went and had a picnic lunch at Canyon View Park. It was beautiful and very peaceful because we were pretty much the only ones there.
Definitely one of the highlights of the day was hiking up to Intermittent Springs! It was so incredibly beautiful. Tom hikes it every time he comes here, so it was special for our little family to experience it with him. It was so beautiful that on our way back, we stopped briefly and prayed to thank Heavenly Father for the wonderful blessings of nature’s beauty. It was just wonderful! There was a ton of water in the falls because it’s been such a wet year, so it wasn’t intermittent, but it was still gorgeous. Isaac loved playing in the water a bit, even though it was super cold. It was a very fun afternoon!
After the hike, we drove over up the Afton cemetery and found Tom’s grandparents’ graves. We walked all over the cemetery and couldn’t find them, and it was especially tricky because there were sprinklers going! It actually made it fun, kind of like a game. 🙂 Finally we called Vee and between her and us, we found the graves! It was neat to be there and learn about Tom’s grandparents, and their graves overlook the Star Valley temple. It was a beautiful view! We then went to Afton City Hall and saw Grandma Alda’s picture on the Hall of Fame wall — it was pretty cool!
At City Hall, there was this little old volunteer tour guide there and he talked Tom’s ear off! He insisted on showing us the CallAir plane museum thing. There was even a little model plane that went around a track — Isaac was a little scared at first but then was fascinated with it. The little volunteer guy even walked us out to our car and kept talking… It was funny but he was so sweet!
We stopped for dinner at an old time drive in called Red Barons. It was so cute! We got the food to go and came back to the cabin to eat it. Then we put the kiddos to bed because they were so tired after our long and busy day. We were too!
On Tuesday, we took turns going to the Star Valley temple this morning to do initiatories. It was really special to be inside. The temple is SUPER small but very pretty. It was fun to add another to our list!
While Tom was gone, I took the pictures below of the kiddos on the big cabin bed. (There are a few others as well that we’d taken throughout the day.) We may be biased, but these kiddos are so stinking cute!
Before we left Kodiak, we played at the resort playground for a bit. Isaac loved it!
Next we took some cute picture of the kiddos in front of the resort sign. Hopefully this will be the first of many — we loved Kodiak and hope to be back soon!
We then drove to Jackson Hole and walked around the city and had lunch. We ate at a place called the Wiggly Piggly and it was pretty yummy!
Next we drove up to Teton Village and it was really beautiful! We played in a park with a splash pad that Isaac loved. He was so cute!
We headed up to Island Park for the evening. It was about three hours from where we were, so the kiddos got a little restless. Overall they did pretty good with all the driving, but they did have some moments. 😉 The drive between Jackson and Idaho was GORGEOUS! There were all these rolling green hills that looked perfect! It was beautiful and definitely a great alternative to the typical drive to the cabin!
On Wednesday morning, we had pancakes and eggs for breakfast… Very yummy! We then went on a “family run” for my training and then Tom went on an extended run. We went to pick him up at Big Springs and then we all walked down this nature trail that runs right along the lake. It was gorgeous!
In the later afternoon, we drove up to Sawtelle. It takes about 45 minutes but the drive is super pretty. It was starting to get a little stormy when we were going up, and then when we got to the top, it started hailing and raining! We started heading back down but then it was clearing up so we were able to get some cool pictures. Tom had Isaac touch some snow — he didn’t like it!
As we drove down the mountain, we passed the spot where we got our “engagement” pictures done, so we decided to stop and get a few pics of Isaac in the same spot. They turned out so cute! (Sweet Zoey was sleeping, but we came back later to get some of her, too.)
On Thursday, we went to Yellowstone. We were initially thinking to do Old Faithful, but then decided to totally mix it up and go to Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon instead. It was incredible!
We saw Gibbon Falls (which Isaac was mesmerized by)…
Norris (which has Steamboat Geyser and hot pots)…
A stop for lunch near a cool teepee that Isaac loved…
The “Grand Canyon”…
And finally, the lower falls. It was all breathtaking, to say the least. So incredibly gorgeous!
Toward the end, the kiddos were being pretty awful so Tom and I were switching off going and looking at the views. We got a funny picture of Isaac just screaming while we were trying to get a family picture. People were laughing because it’s just such a classic scene! Overall, it was an awesome experience though being in the park. We look forward to visiting again, hopefully very soon!
We walked through West Yellowstone after we left the park and ended up stopping for dinner at a place called Outpost Cafe. It looked promising, but it turned out to be a bust. It was disappointing because the place had so much potential! Oh well — good to know never to go back there!
Friday morning started with another family run through Island Park. Though the elevation made it a little challenging, the scenery more than made up for it! It was a beautiful morning and so nice to be outdoors in such a picturesque setting! We then showered, packed up, and cleaned the cabin. It was so nice of the Campbells to let us use their cabin. It worked out wonderfully!
The first leg of our drive home was from Island Park to Rexburg. We figured we’d stop for lunch and Tom showed us his old Ricks stomping grounds! 😉 We went to BYU Idaho’s campus and got lunch in the food court, and then continued on the drive home.
The last leg of our drive was the trip home from Rexburg and it took us about 4 hours. We hit traffic a couple times due to some accidents. The kiddos overall did pretty good on the drives, all things considered! Toward the end, Isaac was getting very restless and Zoey was getting fussy. We were trying everything we could with Isaac to keep him from screaming and crying — food, music, toys. He made a HUGE mess in the backseat, but we didn’t care. Most of the time it worked, but we could tell he was miserable sitting for so long. Poor nugget. He made it though! We all did!
We got home around 7:45 and then sat outside for a bit. We’d forgotten to reset our thermostat, so it was 94 degrees in our house when we got home — ugh! Thank heavens for a good AC though. Plus, it was nice to be outside after being in the car for so long.
It was a wonderful week that exhausted all of us in all the best ways. We love our time together as a family and are looking forward to next summer’s vacation already!
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