Max's 8th Birthday

Max had a great time with family at his 8th birthday party.

South Dakota, Yellowstone, Grand Teton Family Vacation

It was quite the adventure driving the whole family to South Dakota, then to Yellowstone National Park and finally to Grand Teton National Park. We put on over 3000 miles of driving and who knows how many miles hiking the absolutely breathtaking landscapes in each location. Not to mention we encountered all sorts of native wildlife (elk, bighorn sheep, bison, deer, pronghorn, prairie dog, marmot, coyote, grizzly bear, black bear and cub, and moose).

Each location had something unique to appreciate. It's safe to say we were speechless every step of the way.


South Dakota

Bear Country USA

Close encounter with an elk at Bear Country USA

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park

Hiking the Notch Trail in Badlands

King of the mountain!

Deep inside Wind Cave

Driving through a herd of buffalo in Custer State Park

NOT a wildlife animal park!

Needles Highway

Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park

Mt. Rushmore

After all those signs, we had to stop and check it out.

Mammoth Site

Yellowstone National Park

Our first night in the rough rider cabin at Yellowstone lived up to its name. It was pretty cold, despite the wood burning stove.

One of many beautiful waterfalls

Vixen geyser

Cowboy cookout

The boys saddling up for the horseback ride

First time on a horse for all of us (besides pony rides)

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon

Rough Rider cabins

Norris Geyser Basin

Brink of Lower Falls

Lower Falls

Old Faithful

Inside Old Faithful Inn, where we stayed one night

Grand Prismatic Spring

Bison outside Old Faithful Inn

We were lucky enough to see Grand Geyser erupt (bigger than Old Faithful, but less predictable)

Grand Teton National Park

Our cabin

Sun setting on the Tetons

Jackson Lake

Tetons and Snake River

Which way back to our cabin?

Highlight of our hike through Cascade Canyon was seeing a moose

Our moose friend was so close! We could have watched her all day.

Another gorgeous shot of the mountains

View of our hiking trail from a distance

Laser Tag in Milwaukee

We took the boys to a Laser Tag arena in Milwaukee. It was very fun and we all played together. They had numerous types of games for us to play, including capture the flag, elimination, defuse the bomb and generals. Our team, with the help of a couple really good local players, won the overall session.

Try Hockey at Blue Line

Cub Scout Banquet

The boys had their Cub Scout Banquet and Max graduated up to Tiger rank. Sam took the next step and graduated to Boy Scouts. They were both pretty excited.