Fun with Friends!

Talk about a craaaazy, but really fun past 2 weeks. So almost 2 weeks ago I woke up with a wild desire to go to the zoo. I've been begging Darren to go to the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls ALL summer but he never thought it would be worth it because apparently he went when he was a kid and said it was small and lame. lol. Well I decided that day was THE day. I looked online to see what time it opened and closed and lo and behold it was a FREE day for anyone with a baby. And since Darren wanted to stay home and study the LSATS all day, lame right? lol, I called up my good friend Laura here in Rexburg. We met at our very first married ward here in Rexburg and have been good friends ever since. Also we both have 2 kids that were born within 2 months of each other. She is also the one who got Darren the booting job. lol. Its funny because everywhere I move I seem to find a good friend named Laura. lol Well, anyways laura was all too eager to come along with me and a way we went. It was actually a lot of fun. Yes, it was a SMALL zoo, but it was perfect for our kiddos. It wasn't crowded AT ALL so we just let our kidlets run around and be crazy. Kaiden loved it and the next day asked for "monkeys" which is his new way to ask to go to the zoo. lol Braylie was excited to see the snakes and the "roars" meaning the lions. lol. She was asking for them the whole ride up there and as we were leaving a zoo keeper brought out a baby ball python, the kids were too scared to touch it though. lol

Haha I LOVE this picture.


Braylie and Kaiden watching the Otter.



Kaiden watching the Lion sleep.

The Zebras. It was also really cool because lots of the animal exhibits had babies in them. Can you see the baby Zebra?



Hugs.



kaiden did not want to get off of this thing. lol

Both kids loved the goats and the petting zoo.


And the giant turtles.

Well Kaiden would NOT stop talking about the zoo and monkeys, so I knew I would have to plan another trip soon. I have an awesome and incredible sweet neighbor named Lauren. She just had a baby girl and she had been in the NICU for a bacterial infection. When they are that young, less than two weeks old, infections can be fatal. I offered to take her toddler to the zoo to give her some free time and catch up on some sleep, but her doctor had told her she could take her beautiful lil Ellie girl out as long as she wasn't touched with unclean hands.. I was ecstatic Lauren could come because I love our conversations. lol So we ventured to the zoo again.

The Tiger was actually awake. lol This was so cool.

Just two boys playing on a chicken. lol

So Kaiden was adamant about riding in Lauren's stroller so Carter got to ride in ours. lol.

Jaxton and a monkey. lol

On saturday we tagged along with our friends, Josh and Chelsea Larson and their toddler and newborn to Yellowstone National Park. I had never been and was really excited to go and Darren had been once as a kid. We had alot of fun. We ALL rode together in our Expedition and laughed and told stories. The Larson's are hilarious and have the BEST stories, and they are really good story tellers. lol. We spent all day at the park driving around from scenic spot to scenic spot. If you've never been to Yellowstone, here's the skinny, there are lots of animals and trees and grass. There's also lots of hot springs, and I mean boiling hot, mud that bubbles and tons of geysers that spew water. All of these factors made for one great day at the park. lol

These are so hot the water is crystal clear and a beautiful blue.

Can you imagine what Kaiden is thinking right now? lol

This is the boiling mud I was talking about.

And here is some steaming coming from the ground. lol.

Then we pulled over because there were buffalo right next to the road.

So of course we got Kaiden out to see the big animals.


And we got to see Ol' Faithful.


I guess she's as faithful as ever. lol.



Kaiden loved being outside all day.


So pretty. I just wanted to jump in. But the smell of sulfur deterred my efforts. lol

My favorite part was being with my family and being outside. I also loved having our friends there and getting to know them better. I also had a blast at the shops in downtown West Yellowstone. We ate dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant. We jsut ordered pizza because we weren't exactly starving, but Darren says next time we go he's getting the Buffalo Spaghetti. lol. And of course I had to get my favorite, homemade Ice Cream and we found a cute lil ice cream parlor with delicious ice cream. If you havn't been to Yellowstone you should totally go. Especially you fellow Rexburgers? Rexburgians??? lol, because we only live an hour and a half away.