Montana-ventures!

Our trip to Montana was amazing!

Vander and I left Sunday, June 30, to drive up to Billings with my parents. Vander was having a growing day (which is most days I swear) where he very easily slept all day during our drive. He was up for the last twenty minutes, but was easily pacified with his pacifier (this was one of the first times we used the pacifier).

It was nice to hang out with my sister and her boyfriend for the evening and then breakfast the next morning before we headed out to Big Sky. They would be joining us Wednesday evening.

After breakfast we headed out to Big Sky and drove through Bozeman, which I really want to come back to visit sometime. It seems like a great town, kind of like Boulder maybe.

Then we checked into our condo, which I epically failed to take pictures of. I kept thinking to take pictures and thinking I would do it later. It was really cool! It was a three bedroom, three and a half bath condo that was part of the Moonlight Lodge. It had a private hot tub and then a pool up at the lodge. Such a great area!

My aunt and uncle joined us for a couple days too, so it was fun to hang out with them.

Tuesday and Friday we a went into Yellowstone, which I will write a post on shortly. Vander was a great again with all of the driving and was pretty good most of the day. It was helpful that my mom loves hanging out with him so much so that I could take a lot of pictures.

Their first time in Yellowstone!

Sleeping on the chair at the condo

Tuesday was Dylan and I's anniversary, but we didn't plan our trip well and totally forgot that when we were planning so Dylan wasn't going to join us until Wednesday. I ended up hanging around the condo until he made it in around noon. We all went to the pool that afternoon, which was so much fun. Dylan hung out with the little man while I enjoyed the pool. Everyone else went to the Beach Boys concert so Dylan, Vander and I did a waterfall hike just next to town.

I had a chance to play with my camera a little bit.

Sunset pics Dylan took later that evening

Thursday we all went for a long hike in the morning. Long by my standards at least. It was 3.4 miles and I was super tired afterwards. Somehow even though Dylan was pushing the stroller he was powering through the hike and I was definitely the slow one at the end. It was a great hike though and I felt great for having worked out so hard. My sister and her boyfriend hung out with me at the back, which gave Goose and I a chance to chat a little bit. We realized it had been seven years since we went on vacation together where we weren't just visiting where one of us was already living.

That evening we went into town for dinner, ice cream and to enjoy the free concert they had before fireworks. We chilled on the grass for a bit before Dylan, Vander and I headed back to the condo. Since it doesn't get dark until later up there, my parents, sister and her boyfriend came back for us all to watch the fireworks from the deck.

Friday was another great day at Yellowstone. A lot of driving and a lot rain, but also some really cool places! Again, more on that later.

Saturday we went over to Quake Lake and learned about the earthquake of 1959. It was a really cool geological event to learn about. After a delicious meal in Big Sky Resort the guys and my sister went golfing while my mom and I hung out with the little man. We enjoyed our last night eating leftovers and laughing together :)

Then we packed up Sunday and head home. We drove through Yellowstone and Grand Teton and down through Jackson Hole. It was an absolutely beautiful drive and I fell in love with the Tetons! We had a great lunch in Jackson Hole with my parents before we went at our own paces back home.

It was a great trip for all of us. Dylan and I got a lot of time to spend together and Dylan got to spend more time with Vander. I really appreciated getting to hang out with my parents and learn a little bit more about how to take care of Vander and entertain him.

The moose we saw in Pinedale on the drive home