Hostess Snoball!!!

Give me a Snoball over an Idaho Spud any day! This delicious, fattening cake has a creamy filling center covered with marshmallows and sprinkled with pink coconut. I only eat one every two years because it is way too rich and crazy for me! It is moist which is more than I can say for the Idaho Spud that resembles a potato!

Hostess boasts that 25 million Sno Balls are sold each year. Somehow I believe this could be true...

Idaho Spud Candy - "The candy bar that makes Idaho famous"

As anyone can tell from the looks on my kids faces - they didn't like the candy. I am not sure how it made Idaho famous and I payed $1.00 for it.

Yes, I have regrets.

The candy has made me possessed! I did swallow, but I did not take another bite!

So I had to find out what was in this dried out candy bar

that had stayed on the shelf way too long!

It is a light cocoa flavored marshmallow center drenched with a dark chocolate coating and then sprinkled with coconut.

Marketing says that the "Idaho Spud" is one of the top hundred selling candy bars in the Northwest, and is Idaho Candy Company's best selling bar.

Is this true or just a sales gimmick?

Give me a snowball anyday!

Montana

This town is right outside the entrance to

Yellowstone Park.

I feel like I have entered another place, another era.

I am expecting a rugged cowboy on a horse to come cantering down the road. Maybe even see a horse drawn wagon which will take me back to episodes of 'House on the Prairie.' The sky is beautiful - not a power line in sight.

Mammoth Country - It's not snow - it was 100 degrees!

Bison

I love this picture that Kenny took of the bison. People slowed down traffic and would even get out of their cars to take pictures of these animals. We stayed in the safety of our car. A few days after our vacation a family was standing only a few feet away from the bison when their son was thrown into the air by a very disgruntled bison. The boy survived, but let that be a warning!

Firehole Hot Spring

I must say Yellowstone is an amazing place on earth. It is beautiful and raw and dangerous. Not a place to take unruly children. One wrong move and there could be death. So to say I had a relaxing vacation would not be true. I was constantly watching my children and warning them of the dangers.

Highschool Musical Auditions?

Strike a pose!

Firehole River

Samantha took this picture. I love it! It looks like a picture I would take.

I just love the curve of the river and the contrast of green and brown grass. God's creation is beautiful!

Grand Prismatic Spring

The yellow, orange, and brown colors are caused by heat loving microorganisms. These microbes contain colorful pigments that allow them to make energy from sunlight and thrive in hot springs.

The intense blue color is because sunlight is scattered by

fine particles suspended in the water.

Magma from an active volcano heats water that rises to the surface through fissures in the rocks. The water is constantly 160F causing the spring to steam.

We need some ivory soap!

I left Levi with daddy for 2o minutes and came back to a dirty little boy! So that evening I gave the kids all showers which was a nightmare! First, we had to pay to take showers and then I was holding Levi in one arm while trying to help Elleanna wash her hair. Elleanna won't rinse the soap out of her hair and starts screaming there is soap in her eyes. I put Levi down to help Elleanna only to have Levi almost slip in the shower stall and then touch hair in the drain.

Nasty!

Old Faithful

Old Faithful is just that...faithful.

It goes off every 90 minutes like clockwork.

Campfire hot dogs and Elleanna...

Keep your eye on Elleanna. She is having such a grand time cooking her hot dog.

Elleanna is still cooking her hot dog with just a little attitude.

Wow! Elleanna give a look! The smoke is in her eyes and her hot dog is still not done!

Looking for waterfalls!

At the beginning of our family hike, it was an adventure!


As we walk through a beautiful meadow scattered with purple and yellow wildflowers our mission is to find the Upper and Lower Falls. We do not have a map, but Kenny believes it is this way. Every corner must get us closer to the waterfalls. I wonder where all the people are?

We have yet to find a waterfall, but we have discovered a horrible smell! The earth is amazing! This muddy water is boiling up from the earth. I would burn my finger if I dared put my finger in it!

No waterfall yet!

Samantha is taking a break!

The whining has begun, but can you blame her after 2 miles of walking!

Someone on the trail felt sorry for us and gave us a map. We are so far away from the waterfalls! We have been on a nature walk no where near the waterfalls!!

Another trail, another meadow....

Finally after another 1 1/2 miles we have arrived at the Lower Falls. The kids are too tired to even walk to the Upper Falls. We will have to save that for another day....

Yellowstone Fire

We were going to vacation at Big Sur this year, but canceled when all the California fires were happening. We choose Yellowstone instead. When we got there smoke filled the air. These are not just pictures of pretty clouds. This is smoke from fire! I cannot believe this! We have set up camp 8 miles away from a fire that is 5% controlled and has burned over 4,000 acres. Every morning we woke up to a smoke filled valley.

Day Three of Vacation

As my daughter takes this picture of a sulphur cauldron and bison (upper right corner), I am people watching. In the middle of a narrow dirt path, a little toddler standing next to her mom pulls down her pants and pees on the ground. I guess I wouldn't have thought anything of it if it had happened off the beaten path. Several minutes later a group of tourists walked over the pee soaked ground. As we leave the sight, I notice this same toddler and her parents. Since they were already unconventional in my mind, I decided to watch to see what else they might do. I wasn't disappointed. In California, there are strict laws about everything. I don't know what other states do, but this family was from Utah. So maybe the "buckle up" laws are different. I was shocked when I watched the mom sit in the front passenger seat with her daughter on her lap and no seatbelt. Seatbelts are no promise for tomorrow, but I like to believe they may spare my children if the unavoidable might happen.

Baby Gap model

At the start of the week, Levi appeared as the next Baby Gap model. The next day daddy had spilled him in the stroller causing Levi to have a big, fat, spilt lip the rest of the week. Levi never seemed to be as clean as this picture. He was covered in dirt constantly and had eczema all over his body. He had an allergic reaction to the dirt, meadow, trees, or food. All I know is he cleared up once we got back home!

Day Three of Vacation

Samantha found a teeter - totter. She had fun after she got over falling!

Elleanna is sunning herself in the early morning sun. Every morning her favorite thing was to run across to the bathroom and warm her hands under the air blower that dries hands.

Day Three of Vacation

Every morning I will wake up and look at this dead tree. It is my view in this valley amongst the many campers that have pitched their tents.

In fact, one family came in last night at 1AM. I was in a much needed deep sleep only to be awoken by banging and loud voices. "Shh, be quiet Aaron," loudly whispered the mom. A whiny response and a few moments later the sound of pots dropping resonated thru the campsite. This continued for over an hour with sibling fighting as well. "Hey, that's my sleeping bag." I thought I would love to zip them all up in their sleeping bags and sing them a lullaby. Earlier in the evening, the camp had been serenaded with campers singing lovely ballads with a guitar. Maybe I should just borrow the guitar and knock some sense into this family. Isn't there a law about disturbing the peace at 1AM? Especially while camping?

Day Two of Vacation - We are almost there!

Moose, Elks, too many horns!

We have just drove thru Jackson Hole, Wyoming and preparing to enter the Great Tetons! But first we must make a "potty" stop before driving another 100 miles to our campsite.

So heavy, Mom! I think the horns are as big as Sam!