Museums and Such in Yellowstone

Some of our favorite moments at Yellowstone were spent in the visitor's center and museums!  It was nice to be out of the car and explore!  :)

Here is Miss Krystal constantly getting her way ...

 ... and getting dragged along even when she doesn't get her way.  LOL.  (good thing she's little)!

Over by Old Faithful, a new-ish Visitor's Center has been built.  We really had a great time in there!  We observed and read about a lot of interesting things ... 

Aaaaaaad, we goofed off plenty too ...  we REEEEEAAALLY got a kick out of these signs (It Takes Heat) and (Danger:  Wild ...).  Yeah.  We're just awesome like that.

The kiddos were quite frightened by this real-life-looking movie of a hot pot.  They didn't dare touch it until I showed them it was just a life-like video.  THEN it was awesome.  Aaron even stuck his head in it!  :)

More Discovering ...

 

We also paid big bucks and went to a zoo-like museum.  So worth it!!  The kids loved seeing wolves and bears up close and personal.  We saw lots of animals out in the wild too, including several "wooden wolves" that M continued to spot. hahahahahaha!  OH. And herds of cows that Marissa kept thinking were buffalo.  Ah ... good times in the car.  :)

Anywho - check out the look on Miss's face.  She LOVES wolves.  This exhibit was super cool.  The workers hid different food items around - and then let in a pack of wolves that found the food items.  I loved how hushed the crowd was when the wolves came out ... an awe like atmosphere.  Very cool.

Kryssie Pie doing some wolf-watching.  I thought this white/gray wolf was the most beautiful.  Is it weird that seeing these wolves reminded me so much of the books "Shiver" and "Linger"? 

 

We also enjoyed a bear exhibit ... same idea as the wolf exhibit.

The kids went to a class about how animals use their senses that was fun and interesting.

Krystal got to be a "mama bat" - she smelled a scent, and then had to "smell" the scents that were passed out to try and find her baby.  She totally succeeded!  And Aaron had to find a specific item by touch only.  He struggled a little :) - but found it on his second try.  These experiments were quite fascinating and informative, I thought.

 

 We OF COURSE couldn't pass up the photo ops available with the statues out front:

High Five!! 

 

Did I mention how much fun we had?  Here we are doing some more lounging at the cabin:

We took 3 men in a tub to a whole new level!  ALL the kids ... EVERY time.  haha.

We all really enjoyed the little Meggie-munch'kin!   

 

Although the bathrooms were (insert plugged nose icon here) - yuuuuuuucky - the kiddos really took advantage of their time out of the car, and were always looking for more fun and exploring:

Of course, picnic-ing in Yellowstone is a must, and we all enjoyed the outdoors so much!

 ha!  Mom!  What in the WORLD are you doing in this picture?

Hold on to yer britches ... still lots more to come!  :)