Fall Break Vacation 2010

So there is this new thing at our house called streaming with Netflix.  I am really enjoying watching new videos anytime I can get the chance. Therfore, I haven't blogged, or facebooked, or basically cleaned my house for a really long time.  My children are all catching up with all of the Disney Channel TV shows that they have never been able to watch since we don't have cable TV. I figure that once the newness wears off we  will all get back to the real life around here, but for now the only time I get things done is when the kids are streaming and I don't want to watch another episode of Zack and Cody on Deck, or I feel guilty enough to actually do something.  I must say that yes, my kids are being properly fed though.

Last week we were lucky enough to get new carpet in our house.  We bought it about a month ago for my anniversary, but we had to wait for it to come.  In the mean time we painted Valerie's room, Marie's room and the Livingroom, in preparation of the carpet. We carpeted the entire main floor of the house, which was a pain because we had to move all of the furniture out to the garage.  Dale took the entire week before it came to pull up old carpet and the old pad.  It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.  It looks great.  We did a greenish brown in the kitchen and livingroom and put green in Marie's room, blue in my room and a sandy color in Valerie's room. It's been a long time coming.  It was one of those things we have wanted to do since we moved to this house over 6 years ago. I love it.  Jessica may never get her room back though.  Valerie's things went to Jess's room during the installation and they are having a hard time being moved back:)

The day after the carpet was installed we left for Yellowstone during Fall break.  Unfortunately Jessica couldn't go with us because she couldn't get off of work and school in time.  We really missed her. We left on Wednesday night and stayed overnight in Idaho Falls, so we could get an early start in the park.  We stayed in West Yellowstone the other  two nights.  Let's just say we saw it all...well, all that we could stuff into three days, including: Yellowstone Canyon, Norris Gyser Basin, Old Faithful, Mammoth, Tower Falls and pretty much every falls and hot pool along the way, not to mention the animals including BUFFALO, deer, elk, bear, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and ducks.  We would leave at 9:00 in the morning and return after dark, around 7:30, when we would eat dinner, then fall into bed and do it all again the next day.  The weather was pretty good.  It was sunny on the first day. The second day was a bit overcast and the third day it rained.  It was cold but never too cold.  Our coats, hats and gloves kept us warm.  I have to admit that when Dale said we should bring all of the gloves and hats, I thought, "Why? It's not going to be that cold."  I was wrong, and grateful for his wisdom.  I love Yellowstone. Seeing everything again brings back a lot of fond memories, but I think we wore our kids out.  If we had to do it again we would either cut back on trying to see everything or stay a day or two longer.  We really didn't have any down time, no time to shop, or just hang out, and I think that is part of the fun of vacationing. Next time we will know better.  It was a whirlwind tour, but one with a lot of memories. 

Idaho Falls

From West Yellowstone

The Canyon Falls

Mammoth

Firehole Falls

Old Faithful