a Mammoth adventure...

Well, actually it wasn't really too mammoth- just a great weekend up to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone for the Elk rut and beautiful fresh air! 

We were lucky enough to meet up with Grpa and Grma Francis at the cabin on Thursday night and the kids loved an early morning 4-wheeler ride with grma--aren't they cute, I just love this picture of the three of them :)

Dave had an "I've arrived" moment on this trip and I had to take this cheesy picture of it.  It's been his dream for so long to own something other than a minivan and a couple of weekends ago we bought this suburban and he LOVES it!  As we were driving up to the cabin in the suburban with the kids happily sleeping in the back, on the way to Yellowstone (one of our favorite places) we just realized that we were finally doing what we had been talking about for so long and it just felt really good to be here after 8 long, great and tiring years!

the new Francis Fam cabin...isn't she a beaut! (more pics from our reunion this summer to come)

We headed into the park on a rainy, Friday morning and our eyes were peeled for wildlife.

This guys was our first sighting and I think I was more excited than the kids :)

later on in the day, we shared the road with this guy

We wanted to be part of the 3million people that come and visit Old Faithful every year!

and there she blows

The purpose for our trip was to see this guy...and he was proud of it!

Every year the Elk come to Mammoth Hot Springs in mid Sept. to October for the rut and it had been years since we had been and wanted the kids to see these guys up close...and they did.

Bad pic, but this bull is gathering his harem to head up the hill for the night. He stood up, bugled and the group followed--it was an awesome scene to watch.

Mia loved sitting on this bear statue at the post office

We woke up to this lady right outside our cabin doors and it was so neat to see her up close and have a little breakfast with her :)

After morning elk-viewing, we headed up to the hot springs and they are amazing and unlike any other formations I've seen

We drove through the park for more sight-seeing and had to get a picture of this old touring bus...cool.

and of course, because I am the mother of this family, we had to get ice cream.  Check out this double decker bunny tracks cone-- this picture doesn't even do it justice!  

This was at Canyon Village Deli if anyone is going up there anytime soon :)

We stopped at the falls  and saw this beautiful double rainbow

mia and dad

We also walked the Norris Geyser Basin loop, which I can't believe Dave and I had never done before.  It is the hottest geological site in the park and filled with a huge variety of hot pots, mud pots, geysers just a steamy, awesome sight to see

We ended the trip by seeing this bull elk relaxing in the grass with the ladies nearby.

During the trip we saw buffalo, deer, bald eagle, lots of elk, brown eagle, coyote and even a very far off wolf (a first for us).  What a great first trip for the kids (first since they can remember) and I know we will be back here many times over the years if anyone wants to join us!