This Adventure is Cold!! Day 4

The temperature was so cold today. I don't think it got warmer than the 50's all day long. It rained off and on throughout the day, and some of the rain had ice in it. We're trying to enjoy this weather while we can. It feels like winter in Florida.

Al and the girls were playing Pooh sticks today. That's where you drop a stick in on one side of the bridge, then run to the other side to watch it come through.








These pictures were taken at some of the hot springs. The steam was very heavy since the weather was so cold.

It seemed that the animals were pretty frisky since the weather was cooler as well. Up to this point we had only seen one to five buffalo at a time, but today they were out and putting on a show for us. The males seemed to be very protective of their "girls".

There were buffalo in this valley as far as you can see. We talked to a lady when we saw a grizzly bear (it was so far off that you had to have a spotting scope or binoculars) and she told us there are over 3000 buffalo in the park.

We rode around the opposite side of the park today near Yellowstone Lake. There were a lot of ducks and geese on the lake. The lake is the largest lake in the US at this elevation.

Sisters

Thankful for another beautiful day

This is no exaggeration. They really walked around like this.

We started out this day on a stinky note. Every where we went there were more hot springs with a strong sulphur odor. Some areas had a stronger smell than others, but it was distinct everywhere. Then, the girls and I learned all about the bathrooms at the park, and knowing whether you really have to go or not. I know this is a little TMI, but speaking of bad smells... just imagine and small building that looks nice on the outside, but is really just a port-a-potty on the inside. Really, it's just a toilet over a hole in the ground with a sign inside encouraging you to shut the lid to "help contain the odor"!

Quite the oxymoron, huh?!?

I hopped out of the van to take a picture of this buffalo that almost hit our van as we drove by. Really, if I would have reached my hand out the window I could have smacked it on the backside like Al tried to talk me into doing right after I took the picture of him by the lady at the sign.

A black bear in Hayden Valley

An elk we saw on the way out of the park today.

I don't think these pictures can do justice to the real thing. We have been awed and amazed by the beauty we are experiencing. It's overwhelming to think how God made all of these majestic things we've been able to see. Looking forward to tomorrow...

Adventure, Day 2

This is part of the Oregon Trail going through Wyoming. You can see the wagon wheel trail going along the fence line.




No gunfights on Sunday in Jackson, Wyoming!

This park has four corners of elk horn arches that were found by boyscouts in the elk preserve in Jackson, WY.

This is a lake in the Grand Teton National Park.

The Teton range

We finally made it!!!

Kepler Cascades in Yellowstone

Lewis Falls in Yellowstone

Old Faithful

We got to Old Faithful tonight about 45 minutes before it errupted. It was worth the wait. We can'twait to get back to the park tomorrow so we can look around some more. It was really amazing looking at all the steam coming up from different places around the park.

Adventure Day 1

We decided to give the girls a pretty big hint the night before the big day, and let them in on the fact that we are flying to reach our destination. We gave them a copy of their boarding passes, but that only told them the airline and that we were flying into Atlanta. We woke up around 3A.M. today to get to the airport and get checked in. Daddy and Mama were nice enough to chauffeur us into Jacksonville.

Leah needed a nap after waking up at 3am :)

When we arrived in Atlanta, we got some breakfast and broke the news with a National Geographic that Mimi got for us with the picture of Yellowstone on the front of it. (It doesn’t matter that the article basically says the National Park is a ticking time bomb and will one day erupt and kill us all since it is located on top of a volcano.) We’re excited to get on the ground and on the road for some new adventures. The only mishap so far involved Ashlyn getting on the train to take us to our connecting flight in Atlanta without the rest of the family. I wish I were fast enough to catch the look on her face as the train doors shut and it immediately pulled off. The rest of us had quite the laugh at her expense.

The girls looking for the flight number we were getting on next.

We traveled from Atlanta to Milwaukee (which was a surprise) landed to let some off and accrue more passengers, and then took off again for Denver. I personally am over flying. I felt carsick (jetsick?) and was ready to be behind the wheel. We hit quite a bit of turbulence on the flight from Atlanta, but the last flight was much smoother. After we landed in Denver, we got the rental and took off. We decided to take a detour through the Rocky Mountain National Park, and what a detour that was.

So cold!!

Elk right by the road

This was scary! Too close!

A lake in Colorado

Colorado sunset


It took hours to get through the park, which put us much later getting into Wyoming (around midnight, which was like 2A.M. to us). Thankfully we managed to make it to Rock Springs without running out of gas, and were able to find a non-smoking room in enough time to fall into the bed and ready to meet the next days adventures.

Surprise!!

The big trip is almost here! I've been planning and scheming for about a month (I know it's really last minute) to get a "surprise family vacation" in order, so tomorrow we leave on our big adventure. We've managed to keep the destination a surprise for the girls, and now I'm nervous about how receptive they are going to be to the idea when they discover where we are headed. This is the first time I've attempted to keep a secret like this. I'm praying for safe travels first, but second is just a good time making wonderful memories as a family. Stay tuned for more details of The Kerce Family Adventure...

Summer Fun

I am so thankful for our family and the fun times we get to share with each other. Growing up we would always spend a week at the lake and those are some of some of the best memories I have. We spent the days in the water swimming, skiing, knee boarding and tubing, and the evenings or early mornings were spent fishing. Now that we are grown it is nice to take the time to slow down and catch up by spending time together when we can. This past Monday we were able to spend the day with cousins having fun at the lake.



Dalton's catch

Hayden's catch

Kiley, Lexi and Ashley playing in the water

Leah having fun flipping off the dock. Last year the water wasn't deep enough for jumping off the dock. Thank you God for the rain!!

It took a bit for Leah to warm up to the daring flip off the dock, but once she started she didn't stop. We saw this particular trick over and over. "Mama, watch this!" :)

Hayden and Leah relaxing

Molly (I mean Leah) :) and Lexi (Lexi calls Molly and Leah "Molly")

Kiley early in the day with her bathing suit on and her "pee pee baby" as she called it. Sonya was taking advantage of the time off this week to start potty training Kiley. We all saw her use the bathroom all day long. She ended up without a bathing suit or any clothes on at all. This baby doll would pee pee after being put in the water. I guess it was her inspiration.

Leah, Lexi, Molly and Hayden on the paddle boat.

Dalton, Leah, and Molly getting ready to ride the tube (Dalton didn't think it was fun!)

The fastest turtle ever seen!! We were in the water and Kiley spotted the turtle coming across the yard. When we caught up to it I guess it had the water in sight and also a downhill slope to help.

The gang with the turtle

Jonathan throwing Dalton across the lake

Hayden and Dalton in the boat

Lexi eating Doritos

Jonathan and Leah on the hydroslides


The coppertone tan :)

Everyone was worn out after a day at the lake.

Leah was wiped out too, so she spent the ride home getting a nap.

Hayden was out quickly after a day of fun in the sun and water. I think we made it about 5 minutes down the road before I turned around and saw this.

Thanks so much Chad and Sonya for having us!