On Monday morning of our trip (i.e., July 23rd), we headed into Yellowstone National Park again. Our destination was a swimming spot on the Firehole River that a friend had told us about. As was the case with the previous day's swimming, this was a big hit with the kids.
In the above picture, you can just barely see (upper left) the cars parked up on the one-way road. From the road, one took some stairs down to an overlook, then a sort of trail on down to the water. The area right at the base was fairly shallow; there was a rock shelf that the kids could safely walk out on and then jump into the river without getting into the main current of the river.
I initially declined to don my swim suit, so Mark was in the water with the kids while I was on shore taking pictures. Eventually, however, I went back up to the car and changed into my trunks and headed back down. Mark took the following picture of Levi and me after he (Levi) had swam out to me. Levi's picture is adorable; mine not so much.
All in all, I believe Mark is much more photogenic than am I.
And as for the kids, they're just plain adorable.
After we had been there quite a while, Levi and I discovered another little "cove" in the river and went down to explore. On the way down (after I had gotten after him several times for trying to climb up the rocks on the other side of the outcropping that led down to our "beach"), Levi told me to be sure and be careful. "I don't want you to die, 'cause you're my dad," he said. My heart melted.
Then Aaron joined us in our secret spot while Levi chased a squirrel.
After spending a couple of hours at the river, we headed back into West Yellowstone for some snacks and some browsing through souvenir shops. I, of course, bought an ornament as a souvenir of our trip, and I also found a couple of small birch bark boxes, handmade in Russia, as stocking stuffers for Esther and Annie. I had seen these in Russia when we adopted both of them and Aaron, but this was the first time I had seen them in a shop here in the States (very reasonably priced to boot).
After our snacks and browsing, we headed back to the cabin for lunch/dinner, then relaxed while we watched "Mall Cop" (which I think Mark enjoyed as much as the kids).
Later in the afternoon, we headed back into West Yellowstone to see "Annie Get Your Gun," which was being performed at the Playmill Theatre. Prior to going into the theatre, however, we visited a candy shop that had been recommended by a friend. We gave each of the kids $3 and sent them in with Nathan (who was a good sport) while we waited outside.
The kids all seemed to enjoy "Annie," which, I believe, is the first time they (at least the Quads) have seen a live musical production. I wish I could have filmed all the looks on Levi's face (who was sitting next to me) as he watched the show. I strongly suspect he will like musicals. ;-)
Thus ended our last day in Yellowstone. The next morning, we would drive through the Park, then on to Jackson, Wyoming, where we would spend the last night of our trip.
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