Wraith Falls, Minus the Waterfalls

Typical for me... I took pictures of Evan on our hike to Wraith Falls yesterday and didn't take a single picture of the waterfall. Don't get me wrong, the waterfall was pretty. But taking pictures of my cute little boy enjoying the sights was higher on my priority list at the time I suppose. But I am sure there will be more nature pictures to come. My brother and I rented an awesome camera lens to share that I have yet to try out. It's a little intimidating as it weighs like 20 lbs, and if we break it, we have to pay $1300!! I am gonna stick with my little 50mm as long as I can and leave the telephoto pictures to Kevin. I am SUPER clumsy and I can just see myself falling an injuring me and the lens. $1300 dollars later, a broken camera lens, and an irritated Paul... I would be wishing I never laid a hand on that thing!!!

Never Thought Seeing Elk Would be Old News

A grizzly bear.
A baby elk.

Another elk snoozing in the sun.

An elk who looks somewhat annoyed that we disturbed his sleep with our picture-taking.

A buffalo who is not in the best mood. If you could only hear the noise he was making and see the spit flying from his mouth and nose.

The veiw from our car. We had to roll the window up when they got closer and the picture-taking ceased as they were inches from our car, some of them running full speed ahead.

We have seen tons of elk and buffalo since arriving in Yellowstone. So many elk that we don't even slow down the car at times when the are on the road side. Initially we were so thrilled to see them we stopped every time to take pictures. Now we are on a hunt for more rare animals, like bears, moose, and long horned sheep. Day two of Yellowstone consisted of an early morning trip to the park to watch the animals when they were most active, right after sunrise. We spotted a grizzly bear, a few wolves, and a herd of pronghorn antelopes. I learned how to tell if it's a grizzly or a black bear, by the hump on the back of the grizzly bears back. This one was fairly far away as you can see, which was fine by me. When you are bear watching while pregnant, with a two year old on your hip, far is good. The wolves were even farther, so I didn't load the pictures on the blog for fear you would mistake them for specs of dust on your computer screen. They were fun to watch though. They were playing tug-a-war with piece of skin from an animal they had killed. Luckily another onlooker had a great telescope that he let me look through, which put my binoculars that look like I got them out of a cereal box to shame. Meanwhile, Evan and Daddy walked around in the field, dodging large piles of buffalo poop, followed by a play session in the car. Evan likes to pretend he is driving and loves to push any buttons within his reach. One button however was the lock to the rental car which also sets the alarm. Much to our surprise when we opened the car door after our wildlife viewing, the alarm went off. Onlookers consisted of avid wildlife watchers with expensive telescopes and camera equipment who just seconds earlier were making sure to whisper as to not scare away the animals. Evan took care of that in about 2 seconds. A few seconds later the park police came up to inform us we had parked illegally. Luckily we will never see those people again. It was just slightly embarasing, this is coming from a person who prefers to blend in at all times!!! We finished the day with a long nap at the cabin, followed by a short hike up to wraith falls, pizza at a local pizza joint claiming they were the "best pizza in the west", and smores over our grill. Then we enjoyed the cool weather and stars out on the porch before retiring to bed. A perfect day in my eyes!!!

Exploring the Park

Here are some more pictures from Day One at Yellowstone. It was a little nerve wracking letting Evan walk around near the hot mineral springs and near the edge of huge cliffs overlooking waterfalls. But we had to balance letting him stretch his legs a bit after the long drive to get there and staying safe... it was a fine line. Some of the pictures are a little foggy, but that is from the steam coming off the water. It was beyond beautiful.

It's Been a While

It's been a while since I have blogged, and since I have enjoyed nature this much. Here are some nature pictures from our trip to Yellowstone, Day One. We went on trails around hot mineral springs, looked at a gorgeous waterfall, saw herds of buffalo, and watched some elk sunning themselves. This was followed by milkshakes and elk burgers at a local hamburger joint. After watching the beautiful creatures, it really made me sad to try elk. But not enough to not try it. The buffalo were probably my favorite part of the day. They were literally inches from our car, walking down the middle of the road in large herds. They were making growling noises and some of them were running, almost acting as if they were going to charge at the cars. Something was making them mad. I was just grateful I wasn't the guy on the motorcycle behind us.
Our chalet is beautiful. It sits right on the snake river and the Yellowstone mountain range. I think the weather is one of the best parts about Montana and Wyoming, at least in late summer. 40's at night and 70's during the day. Beats Florida's weather right now, any day of the week!!! More pictures to come. And I apologize to those who actually do read my blog for the lack of pictures lately. Just been busy I suppose. You know, moving once again (don't ask) and getting ready for this baby No. 2. Blogging was last on my list for a while, but we're back...again.

PJ portraits

It's been a while since I have taken a picture of Evan that I truly LOVE. I used to take pictures of him so much, that I was bound to fall in love with one of them every once in a while. But lately, our picture taking has been scarce. Just lack of motivation I suppose!!! But I took out the camera last night when I put these adorable PJ's on him (hand-me-downs from his buddy Wilson) and we were waiting outside for Daddy to come home. And I must say, I definitely got a few keepers. He is getting to the point where he can almost pose for me. I use that term very loosely. But check out the pictures of him on the steps, him with a wide legged stance, and him sitting on the ground looking back, I asked him to do all of that, and he actually did!!!

Sea World and Breakfast with Elmo

Yesterday we spent the morning at Sea World with our friends, Jen and her son James. We had a blast. I must say that was the first time that I think Evan truly "got it" and enjoyed it. He was super excited about all of the exhibits and shows. We started with breakfast with Elmo, who he calls Elbo. What I thought would be his favorite part, was his least favorite. He had never seen a character before up close like that, and actually doesn't watch sesame street. So he only knew who Elmo was, and the rest he found a tad creepy. After that we ventured over the Wild Arctic and saw polar bears, beluga whales and walruses, followed by the Shamu show. He was so wide eyed during the show, and he clapped at all the appropriate times. He loved it! He talked about whales and Shamu the rest of the day!!! We need to do it again soon, before I have two babies to carry around. My friend Jen is pregnant too, so we both were exhausted and HOT by the end of it, but it was well worth it to see the smiles and looks on their faces. Another priceless moment was in the car on the way home, we looked back and they were holding hands in between their car seats!!!

Nye Nye

Evan LOVES to sleep these days. And I couldn't be happier about that. He sometimes asks to go to bed, he will just say "nye nye" (translation: night night) and run to his bed and try and climb in. Maybe we are boring him, or just plain wearing him out. But whatever it is, I want to continue it!!! So here are a few pictures I took of him getting ready for bed tonight. My favorite one is the last one, where he puts his little mouth in between the slats of the crib for a "nye nye" kiss. I could just eat him, he is so cute.

Many of my friends with kids envy the fact that Evan is such a great sleeper. But if they had to deal with his eating issues, they probably wouldn't trade my problems for theirs for even a day!!! Plus I should note that the boy wakes up at 6:30 every morning, luckily we are morning people so it's not too bad.