Yellowstone! A Wish Come True

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We did a lot of prep work before leaving on our Make-A-Wish trip to Yellowstone.  I already was dealing with a lot of feelings about the whole thing, but our first family vacation did not disappoint!  Here are the seven key components of our Make-A-Wish trip this summer.

 

(We debated about wearing our Make-A-Wish shirts while traveling.  Ultimately we decided we needed all the grace we could get, and the shirts might get some slack cut for us in the event of a tantrum/meltdown/bodily fluid incident.  That potential grace outweighed my dislike of drawing attention to ourselves and the reason we were vacationing.)

1.  First Stop:  Pizza at Dornan’s

At Dornan’s we were able to eat al dente al fresco on their patio.  It seems obvious to say the view was spectacular, but the view was spectacular.  We don’t ever eat at restaurants, so I was curious to see how the kids would handle the wait time.  (You mean, the food doesn’t appear instantly after you order?!?!)

I didn’t need to worry, because while we were waiting for this:

The kids were doing this:

Elle wished she’d “brought a flag to claim this mountain!”

Rolling in the dirt and hiking  up the “mountain” was a perfect way to start our time in Wyoming.

Boy, were they dusty when we moved on.

Bea enjoyed her sweet potatoes as much as the kids enjoyed their pizza.

 

Dornan’s offered several touristy photo ops, which it turns out the kids love.

With a garbage can nearby and all the open air, the teepee was a great place to change The 2nd Worst Diaper of the trip.  No surprise, both #1 and #2 on the list belonged to the then-not-potty-trained Moe.

“Come on, Mom!  Here’s another thing to take a picture with!”

2.  The Signal Mountain Lodge

The first and last nights of our journey were spent at The Signal Mountain Lodge in the Grand Tetons.  We stayed in a cabin (!!!) with quilts and log furniture.  “Just like Laura and Mary!” the girls kept saying.  (I didn’t spoil it by bringing up the electricity and indoor plumbing.) 

 

Convincing the kids to say out of the icy lake just down the path from our cabin wasn’t easy.

My parents decided to drive out and stay with us for the trip.  They met us at the lodge and shared our adventure from that point on.  We were grateful to have the extra eyes and hands.

3.  The Old Faithful Inn

Yes, we were able to stay at THE Old Faithful Inn.  We even watched the geyser erupt from our window!

During our stay, we were invited to visit The Inn’s Crow’s Nest.  Four brave souls– David, my dad, Cee, and Elle climbed many, many stairs and were rewarded with views of Old Faithful that few see.  “It was high.  It was hot,” was the overall reaction of the brave souls.

The view from The Crow’s Nest of The Old Faithful Inn

We spent a fair amount of time at The Old Faithful Visitor Center watching the movie on how Yellowstone was formed, checking out the educational exhibits, and listening to the ranger talks.  The kids liked being able to run around and touch everything.

This is the best picture we got at the actual geyser.

After one of our days toodling around Old Faithful, the kids decided to take a bath.  The one feature the trip was missing was a swimming pool, so we filled up the tub and let them play. They may have done a *little* splashing, because when we opened the bathroom door to wash them up, the (thankfully tile) floor was covered with water.  Like waves.  “Taking a bath” was listed as a top ten favorite Yellowstone moment by every kid on our trip.

We didn’t fully realize the size of Yellowstone until seeing how long it took to get from one place to another.  We spent a lot of time in the (poor, poor) rental car.

Seeing bison right on the road was so common it became passe.  If I had a dollar for every time one of the kids corrected me for saying “buffalo,” I could probably buy a buffalo.  I mean bison.  Doh.  At any rate, the wildlife, the vistas, the dirt– my little conservationists couldn’t get enough.

4.  Tower Roosevelt Stagecoach Ride

Cee got sick in the car (sorry Avis!) on the way to our only actual scheduled event– a stagecoach ride in the Tower Roosevelt area of Yellowstone.  She and my parents returned to The Inn to rest and fix a puzzle, and the rest of us continued on.  Elle looooooooves horses, so we thought it best to keep the appointment.

Some may have described the views from the Old Faithful area to the Tower Roosevelt area as “grand.”  Others in our group might have chosen “harrowing.”  Either way, we spent a lot of time looking and/or not looking out over the guardrail-free edge.  (Eek. Can you guess which one of us was clutching the arm rests and Lamaze breathing the whole drive?  Hint: it was me.)

From marmots to bison, we saw nature up close as we bumped slowly along.  The stillness and quiet were only broken by frequent requests for snacks and keeping Bea from jumping out of the coach.

5.  The Hibernation Station

We trekked up to West Yellowstone, Montana for the next leg of our trip.  We stayed at The Hibernation Station.  Another log cabin, but  this time with a mini-kitchen and TVs.  My little almost-Amish kids enjoyed the chance to watch TV and play at the onsite playground.

Check out the sweet rental wheels in the picture!  Oh the things that car saw…

There were also more statues for All The Posing.  FYI:  This is not how the rangers suggest you react to being near fighting elk.

 

6.  The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

The absolute coolest place we visited was The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.  Admission is good for two days, and we definitely were there for two days.   From the indoor educational exhibits, to the actual bears and wolves we were able to observe up close, to the playground– there was so much to see and do.

Unlike zoos, which can be a little sad, the Discovery Center is home to animals that would have otherwise been euthanized.  After coming in contact with humans and their garbage, bears are discontent with life in the wild and can’t stay away from humans.  You can imagine how dangerous this can be.  Nuisance bears can be re-homed to the Discovery Center instead of being put down.

We were able to watch the staff hide food (while the bears were removed from the area) and set out special popsicles.  When the bears returned, we got to see them beeline right for the food and go to town on the ice with food frozen inside.

The wolf observatory building had a statue.  So guess what the kids did?!?!

 The Discovery Center had an informational movie playing, and eek!  Wolves are calculating, aggressive, predators!  There’s a reason the staff mentioned that they never enter the wolf enclosure.  How neat to see them up close.

 

The kids would have just played for hours on the mini cave/den feature if we hadn’t been concerned about hogging it and preventing other kids from getting a chance.  (Anyone know how I can make one of these in my backyard?)

 

7.  Jackson Hole Town Center

The last place we stopped before heading to the airport was the Jackson Hole Town Center.  We ate a picnic lunch, and the kids burned off some energy before our plane ride home.

 

 

 

Yes.  These are my actual children in the actual cockpit of our actual plane.

The kids hadn’t ever flown before, so we were really, really, really nervous about how it was going to go down (no pun intended).  Fortunately all the traveling went smoothly.  The only interesting incident happened at the Denver airport on the way home.

We were running late because of some storms over Denver and were in danger of missing our connecting flight.  While David waited for our gate-checked stroller, I started rushing the four kids across the airport to our next flight.  I was wearing Bea, and my three other ducklings were following close.

I stepped on the escalator first, then Cee, then Elle.  (I don’t know why…at the time it made sense to lead them up.)  Moe couldn’t figure it out.  He had done escalators just fine before, and I was horrified to look down the escalator to see him– scrambling?  upside-down?  like an overturned turtle?  It defies all description.  It was just bad.  And at that point I wasn’t able to push past Cee and Elle to fetch him.

The nicest man in the world saw my little duckling-turned-turtle, set down his own carry-on, and leaped to the rescue.  All disaster was avoided, and I thanked the nicest man in the world before continuing the rush.  We made it, David caught up with the stroller, and all was fine.

 

We are so grateful to Make-A-Wish for making Cee’s dreams come true.  Every piece of our adventure was carefully planned and thought out, and our whole experience was magical.

I resisted applying because I didn’t want to accept the reality of how serious Cee’s illness is.  Although that thought crept into our minds throughout the trip, it was far outweighed by the appreciation for the memories and experience that SOJIA can’t take away.  Thank you Make-A-Wish!

 

(While there are seven takes about our vacation, they weren’t particularly quick.  Thanks for sticking with it to the end, and you can visit Kelly for more quicker takes about hosting international orphans for Christmas.)

4 Comments


  1. // Reply

    I love the cabin where you stayed. I wish mine was as enthusiastic about photos. She makes me beg.


  2. // Reply

    I can’t even how happy it makes my heart to see those little smiles! So glad y’all had this opportunity!
    We’re hoping to get over to Yellowstone this summer, and I’m noting all these places.

    Old Faithful Inn is such a dream place! I love those old lodges. I know it probably won’t happen but a girl can dream.


    1. // Reply

      Definitely check out The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center! The cave is not-to-be-missed. 🙂


  3. // Reply

    This looks like it was an amazing trip! Beautiful pictures of smiling children everywhere! LOVE IT! I hope you are able to do more fun vacations like this and make more memories with your family soon 🙂

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