Zoo Day

I have been really wanting to take Nathan to the zoo all summer, but there just wasn't ever a good time to go. So I finally decided I would just take him in the middle of the week instead of waiting for the perfect weekend to go, because that just wasn't ever going to happen. Today was the day and we were so happy that some friends could join us. Nathan just loves following his friends around and pretty much ended up running the whole way through the zoo following them. It really is the perfect size zoo for young kids, just big enough that we could explore the whole place in a couple hrs and then take the tired kiddos home. Of course I can never decide what pictures to post so you get a lot of them.

 Cute Penguins.

 Nathan so excited to be out with friends.

 So happy to be getting a drink from the Lions head.

 Sleepy Lion.

 Baby zebra!

 If you look closely there are a couple babies with these black swans.

 Checking out the otters.

 The monkeys are still his favorite

Fun in the sun

Grandma Griffith and Aunt Krista came to visit this week and we had a blast. Nathan had so much fun playing with the both of them. Saturday we decided to try out the new water park that just opened earlier this summer and we had a great time. At first Nathan was very cautious about playing in the water, but Dave finally took him down one of the slides and he was hooked.

                              All ready for some fun in the water.

  Trying out the lazy river, he was a little nervous at first.

                             Lounging near the kid section of the park.

                         Waiting for the water bucket to crash down.

               Nathan kept asking over and over to go down these slides.

By the end of our time there Nathan was shivering  but still wanting to stay in the water.

                         Nathan Just loved hanging with Grandma!

                              And with his Aunt Krista!

 Here he is after he asked me to get my camera out, posing on the couch and saying cheese.

Union Falls

 A couple months ago We attended a girls camp fundraiser dinner and auction. We ended up bidding on an all day horse ride including lunch and a babysitter for any young children, and we won it along with one other couple. I have really been looking forward to this trip all summer.
Saturday was finally the day. We got up early so we could head to the start of the hike just outside of Yellowstone.The total ride was about 14 miles long. 7 miles into the falls and 7 miles back to the truck and trailer. I was a little worried that the ride would be too long and I would be really sore, especially since I haven't really ridden a horse for the past two years. It was so much fun! We had to cross the river 4 times to reach the Falls  and even though I had crossed water on a horse before I had never crossed a river that was big enough to come to the horses belly's. Once we reached the falls we tied the horse up and ate some lunch then continued the short distance to the falls on foot. It was such a beautiful sight. Union Falls is strong this year due to the abundance of rain and snow we got this winter and spring. We then hiked back down to the horses and found some where to change into our bathing suits so that we could swim in a warm spring. It wasn't actually that warm but at least it was snow run off freezing. Unfortunately the mosquitoes are really bad this year and in the amount of time it took me to walk from the river back to our horse to change I was cover in bites, ugh I hate mosquitoes. Finally we headed back and I felt I was doing really good on the ride until about the last mile and then my knees and back started to really hurt. By the time we got the horse loaded into the trailer and headed home we were completely exhausted. Luckily Nathan was tired from playing and was in bed before 9 so that we could crash into bed early. Surprisingly the next morning I was that sore mostly I was just suffering from the huge red swollen areas were my mosquito bites. Over all we had a fantastic time I am so glad we were able to go and experience the beauty of some of the back country of Yellowstone.
                                      
                             Horses tied up at our destination.

                                                  Union Falls

                                The whole group that went on the ride.

 The area we rode into has been known for having bears even grizzlies, so Dave brought  a gun just in case so he could try and scare any off. We didn't end up seeing any wildlife. As neat as it would have been to see a bear in the wild I really didn't want to come face to face with a grizzly.

  

part of the river we swam in.

 

                                               The swimming hole

                            Dave jumping off the rocks into the swimming hole.

                                        

                                                  Some of the beautiful scenery.

                                                              On our way back.

                                                 Crossing the Rivers.