Yellowstone: Boiling Mud Pots

Riley particularly enjoyed a stop at some boiling mud pots. We walked along the boardwalk and saw a lot of steaming and bubbling pits of sulfur mud. She was fascinated by the "blub, blub", noises from some of them and the almost rushing, wave-like noises of others. Like all stops, she had to stay right next to us so she didn't wander into boiling mud!

Yellowstone: Lower Falls

We also stopped at Artist Point to get a good view of the canyon and of Lower Falls.

Riley got to hike around and look into the canyon, with her ever-present hand holding. She enjoyed posing for photos, seeing the river below and hiking around in the searing sun.

Yellowstone: Old Faithful Geyser

This was my first time seeing Old Faithful. (Riley's too!), and I had actually only ever been to Yellowstone at night, so I really hadn't seen any of it before.

We got sandwiches and perched on the boardwalk to wait for the show. Riley, was getting tired of waiting for the geyser and didn't want to be stuck with one of us holding onto our hands. She was especially antsy once she spotted a "dahg" that was scurrying around on the side of the boardwalk. She wanted, so badly, to crawl off and play with the chipmunk!

I don't think she was that impressed by the geyser when it started....she was still fixated on finding the chipmunk. and getting free of our grasp.

Yellowstone: Old Faithful Lodge

One of the first major breaks we took in Yellowstone was at Old Faithful. I almost decided to skip seeing the inside of the Old Faithful Lodge. I'm glad I didn't.

It was unbelievably steep inside and had an astounding amount of lodge-pole pine logs. We climbed up the three flights of stairs that were open to the public. I felt a little trepidatious about going up the stairs. They appeared to be all logs, that were held by ropes and they creaked under my weight and even Riley's.

The theme of the day was holding hands! Riley wasn't allowed anywhere without holding my hands or grandma's hands. You can see that in every space of the railings that hold in the 3rd floor, there is space for a tiny person to slip through.

Teton National Park - On the Way to Yellowstone

On Thursday morning, we headed out to Yellowstone. We were lucky enough to be chauffeured by Michele's dad - who has driven buses for years through Yellowstone.

We enjoyed a beautiful view of the Tetons and Mt. Moran, without too many clouds obstructing the view, like I've seen in the winter and spring.

Bar T-5

Our first evening in Wyoming, we went with the rest of the wedding party to Bar T-5, for a covered wagon cookout.

Despite my premonition that it would be really corny, we actually really liked it, loved the food and had a great time!

Riley posed behind a cowboy cutout, depicting Nick Wilson - who lived at Bar T-5 long ago.

Riley enjoyed the wagon ride up the road along Cache Creek. She liked to point to the "Dahgs!" that were pulling the wagon (they were really Clydesdale horses, much larger than dogs).

Once there, we enjoyed a ton of food and what was really good music. Riley was so exhausted after this outing!

Say Yes to the Dress

During our final dress fitting, Riley seemed to actually get that the point of the dress wasn't to slow down her very important play, but to make her look completely adorable and dressed up for being a flower girl.

She actually enjoyed preening a bit in her pretty dress and then accessorized with her new bracelets (thank you Aimee!) and her newly found-old doll (thank you Grandma!).

Toothbrush Bathtime Story

Riley tells me a story while bathing and brushing her teeth. Unfortunately the chatter became less frequent once I got out the video camera.