Yellowstone 2018

For our first summer vacation, we headed to Montanna to explore Big Sky and Yellowstone (which is mostly in Wyoming, who knew).  We flew into Bozeman and spent the night in a hotel where mom and dad attended a wedding 10years prior.  We went in search of moose, we even checked the place we saw a moose the LAST time we were in Big Sky, but sadly, no luck!  The next morning we drove to Yellowstone.  Almost as soon as we got into the park we were rewarded with a Mama and Baby bison crossing the road right in front of us.  After that, we drove from sight to sight and managed to see some more bion and elk along the way.

The next morning we got up and tried to go looking for moose but there are not a ton of moose in Yellowstone.  We thought we would try our luck and go where the rangers said we may be able to find them.  Alas, no moose were seen.  BUT we did see a baby black bear, brown-black bears, grizzly bear, pronghorn, elk, and bison!  We also saw Old Faithful and tons of other great sights like the grand prismatic springs and bubbling mud pots.  Basically, it looks as if the earth is smoking or farting the whole time we were sightseeing.   We stayed one more night and spent half the next day in Yellowstone.  Then we drove back to Bozeman and left on an airplane to Michigan! In 3 days we hit all the roads in Yellowstone and saw tons of sights.  I really feel like we did about as much as a family can in such a short period of time.

You boys earned your junrior ranger badges by answering questions in a bookelt provded by the National Park.  You even attended a talk by a ranger where you answered her questions in front of a large crowd.  Even better, during her talk, an Elk came walking right through our meeting.  It was so typical of what we had been seeing in Yellowstone.  I absolutely loved Yellowstone and I hope we have a chance to spend another 3 or 4 days there in the future!  If we go back I would aim for the spring again because the weather was perfect and wildlife was so much fun to see!

Skiing in Tahoe

Dear Boys,

You learned to ski this year and in the course of 6 or 7 lessons, you almost out skied your mom and dad!  Well done!  We had two amazing ski trips to Tahoe and a third to Michigan.  You guys had great lessons and by the last day of our last ski trip, you skied to 2.5-mile trail down the mountain. I cannot wait to see how you progress next year.  

Skiing in Michigan

For Ski week, or February break if you are outside of California, we traveled to Michigan to see family and ski with Uncle Steve.  Our trip included the mandatory stop in Ann Arbor for Zingermans, a great couple of days skiing in Harbor Springs, and some fun playing with Granny, Papa, Aunt Brenda, and Issac.

Brady and Brody, your skiing got better on this trip!  This was the first time Dad and I were able to ski WITH you.  We all took the magic carpet up the bunny hill and skied down over and over again.  You guys looked so effortless as you were gaining speed and passing by Dad! ;)  Brady, you even got brave enough to try some of Uncle Steve's skills and you skied backward (on purpose, Grandpa) for a bit.  It was amazing! Brody you got to wear a balaclava because it was so cold.  Of course, since you are you, you wore it for two days straight inside and out!

The cherry on top of this already great trip was that Nana and Tickle Grandpa came up and stayed overnight in Ann Arbor with us.  We got to see them for two days before flying home to Califonia.  All in all, it was a pretty epic ski week!