Yellowstone

We made our annual trek to Yellowstone with Grandma, Patch and the uncles. Even though the weather didn't cooperate, we still had loads of fun. The animal tally this year: 6 black bears, including a sow with her cubs, 4 grizzlies, 8 sandhill crane, a great blue heron rookery, 2 bald eagles and an eaglet, a beaver, 500+ bison, a handful of elk, a pine marten, a couple of coyotes and a red fox. Not too bad! The boys both became Jr. Rangers. Elliot took it very seriously. We stopped at many a location for him to read the information he needed. Charlie pretty much got forced into the whole process, but was excited with the end result...a sweet badge. Lucy was a pro at spotting bison. Due to the fact they are huge and don't move.

Perhaps my proudest moment on the trip was seeing Elliot's backpack. His "Yellowstone" books were sorted and placed in Ziploc bags. The wolf maps were in their own Ziploc in chronological order. And every Yellowstone Schleich animal we own was bagged up as well. It brings a tear to a mother's eye. My unproudest moment, carrying Lucy on a flat, dirt path hike because she was scared of the, wait for it, BIRDS. What?! Girl needs to toughen up.