There are many unpleasant things about moving. Like packing. And unpacking. And cleaning. And leaving the people and places you know. But, there are many reasons that make us very excited to move. Here is an incomplete list of all the reasons why moving day can't come soon enough for the Frisbys.
1. I'm sick of carrying armloads of groceries into our building, up the stairs, and down the hall to our apartment. It will be much better to carry them from the garage to the kitchen in our new house.
2. I'm tired of doing laundry in the community laundry room. I get irritated when I carry my laundry all the way down to the laundry room only to find that all 5 washing machines have been taken by one lady who has just barely started all of the machines. And I really hate it when I walk into the laundry room and the machines are done, but still full because whoever is responsible for those clothes isn't watching the time. And then, when I come back an hour later, nothing has changed - including the fact that I still have laundry that needs to be done. And I really hate it when I open a washer to put my stuff in and I can see what came off the clothes in the previous load. And I really hate having to pay for every washer load and for every 10 minutes of drying time. I am so excited to have my very own washer and dryer just steps away in the garage. Can you tell this is a very big incentive for me to move?
3. Maggie is really excited to finally be living in a garage instead of always being parked in the sun.
4. Secondhand smoke sent our way by our courteous downstairs neighbors. No good.
5. Loud middle of the night conversations or parties by any of our wall sharing neighbors and some of our non-wall sharing neighbors for that matter.
6. I like having a pool, but not one that complete strangers also swim in. And I don't like how those complete strangers yell and splash and make lots of noise that is easily bounced off the surrounding walls and amplified until it feels like they're yelling and splashing and making noise in our living room.
7. The extremely heavy footsteps of our upstairs neighbor.
8. The ability to play Rock Band and Dance, Dance Revolution without the fear of disturbing our neighbors (because unlike a lot of people that apparently live in our building, we are actually concerned with not disturbing others).
9. And, last but not least, we are ready for a dog!
Hooray for moving day!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Good News, I Bought a Dog Today!
So, let's make one thing clear. I wanted to buy a house primarily because I wanted to get a dog (and, yes, I'm aware that you can find rentals that allow pets, but they're harder to find, usually more expensive, and things get complicated if you have to move to another rental. So, we opted to wait until we had a permanent home). So, now that things are moving along for our house, we bought a dog! And, here she is:
Isn't she cute? I know it's not the best picture, but that's the only pic I have right now. It's a little Toy Schnauzer puppy and we're very excited. We don't actually have her yet. She's in Southern California, so we'll be picking her up when we're down there next weekend. At first we were maybe going to get one of my uncle's Boston Terrier puppies in a few months. But, due to Mr. Frisby's pet allergy problem, we decided it would be best to go with a dog that doesn't shed and that we knew wouldn't bother his allergies. Now I'm reading all about how to housebreak and train a puppy. And she will need to be well-socialized, so if anyone wants to meet her and play with her, just let me know. And, we're trying to pick a name for her. We've come up with some pretty good ones, but if you have any name suggestions, we will take them into consideration.
And, speaking of large purchases in connection with buying a house, we also bought a refrigerator this week. And we'll soon be buying a washer and dryer. This buying a house is expensive business!
Isn't she cute? I know it's not the best picture, but that's the only pic I have right now. It's a little Toy Schnauzer puppy and we're very excited. We don't actually have her yet. She's in Southern California, so we'll be picking her up when we're down there next weekend. At first we were maybe going to get one of my uncle's Boston Terrier puppies in a few months. But, due to Mr. Frisby's pet allergy problem, we decided it would be best to go with a dog that doesn't shed and that we knew wouldn't bother his allergies. Now I'm reading all about how to housebreak and train a puppy. And she will need to be well-socialized, so if anyone wants to meet her and play with her, just let me know. And, we're trying to pick a name for her. We've come up with some pretty good ones, but if you have any name suggestions, we will take them into consideration.
And, speaking of large purchases in connection with buying a house, we also bought a refrigerator this week. And we'll soon be buying a washer and dryer. This buying a house is expensive business!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Apostrophe
Life is crazy! Buying real estate is a long and complex process. But, more on that later. For now, I have a pet peeve that I must get off my chest. And, this post may offend some people who are guilty of this pet peeve. Let me apologize in advance. My intent is not to offend. But, really this is driving me crazy!
I have noticed lately, that the beloved apostrophe is being used all over the place incorrectly. And, I say that the apostrophe is beloved because people seem to be throwing it about willy nilly with no concern for its proper use, so it must be because they love the apostrophe so much. But, the apostrophe has a definite purpose. It can't be thrown around and put in wherever you want to see it. For my sanity (because I'm a grammar freak), let's have a little grammar lesson about the apostrophe.
All of sudden, people are using the apostrophe to pluralize nouns, usually proper nouns. This is not what the apostrophe is for. That's what an "s" is for. For example, we are The Frisbys. Not The Frisby's. My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw this improper use of the apostrophe in some of our real estate documents. The "seller's" (should be sellers, no apostrophe) were disclosing some information to us. When I see someone pluralize their last name to say who they are and they throw an apostrophe in there, it makes me want to rip my eyeballs out of my head. We are The Smiths, not Smith's. Bakers, not Baker's. Thomases, not Thomas's. Get it? Now, if you want to say that this is the Bakers' house, then you can put the apostrophe in because you're showing possession. And because the Bakers are plural, the apostrophe goes after the "s". Right? And just to back myself up, here's the official word from Grammarbook.com:
"Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name."
So, the moral of the story is that the apostrophe is used to show possession and for contractions. And maybe a few variations of those basic purposes. It is absolutely, positively NOT used to make something plural. Yay for grammar! Now please, use your apostrophes responsibly. My sanity will thank you.
*Since posting this, I realize that some people have last names that may be a little more difficult to pluralize. Here's a link that should clear it all up. If you have a last name that you're not sure about, check this out.
I have noticed lately, that the beloved apostrophe is being used all over the place incorrectly. And, I say that the apostrophe is beloved because people seem to be throwing it about willy nilly with no concern for its proper use, so it must be because they love the apostrophe so much. But, the apostrophe has a definite purpose. It can't be thrown around and put in wherever you want to see it. For my sanity (because I'm a grammar freak), let's have a little grammar lesson about the apostrophe.
All of sudden, people are using the apostrophe to pluralize nouns, usually proper nouns. This is not what the apostrophe is for. That's what an "s" is for. For example, we are The Frisbys. Not The Frisby's. My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw this improper use of the apostrophe in some of our real estate documents. The "seller's" (should be sellers, no apostrophe) were disclosing some information to us. When I see someone pluralize their last name to say who they are and they throw an apostrophe in there, it makes me want to rip my eyeballs out of my head. We are The Smiths, not Smith's. Bakers, not Baker's. Thomases, not Thomas's. Get it? Now, if you want to say that this is the Bakers' house, then you can put the apostrophe in because you're showing possession. And because the Bakers are plural, the apostrophe goes after the "s". Right? And just to back myself up, here's the official word from Grammarbook.com:
"Do not use an apostrophe for the plural of a name."
So, the moral of the story is that the apostrophe is used to show possession and for contractions. And maybe a few variations of those basic purposes. It is absolutely, positively NOT used to make something plural. Yay for grammar! Now please, use your apostrophes responsibly. My sanity will thank you.
*Since posting this, I realize that some people have last names that may be a little more difficult to pluralize. Here's a link that should clear it all up. If you have a last name that you're not sure about, check this out.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The End of our Search
So, Mr. Frisby and I found a house. And we're now in contract to buy said house. Barring any crazy problems that come out during inspections, we will be moving into said house next month. I don't have many pictures right now. I'm sure I'll have lots when we move. But, here's the living room with all of the lovely staging furniture:
Getting this house has been quite the process. Finding it was easy and didn't take long. Negotiating a fair price and getting into contract was the difficult part. We're excited, though, and we think this will be a fabulous home. And we expect to be fairly popular with a backyard like this:
Anyone want to come for a swim?
Getting this house has been quite the process. Finding it was easy and didn't take long. Negotiating a fair price and getting into contract was the difficult part. We're excited, though, and we think this will be a fabulous home. And we expect to be fairly popular with a backyard like this:
Anyone want to come for a swim?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Happy 5th of July!
In honor of Independence Day, Mr. Frisby had the 5th off work. We've had a stressful few months, so we decided to head out for a day trip to get away and have some fun. Our destination was Point Reyes. We picked a hike that we thought would be fun and, since the trailhead was near the Point Reyes Lighthouse, we decided to check out the lighthouse since we were in the vicinity. It was a beautiful day, but as we got close to the coast in Point Reyes National Seashore, you wouldn't know it. It was very foggy and freezing and we could see why a lighthouse was necessary there. We obviously weren't dressed very appropriately. Thank goodness we brought jackets. We still had a great time, though, and it was a fun little day trip.
Mr. Frisby and I at the Point Reyes Lighthouse
That's me on our hike. In the background is Drake's Bay with the Lifeboat House. That's where the earliest version of the Coast Guard would launch the lifeboats for rescue when there were shipwrecks at the point.
Mr. Frisby at the end of our hike, right on the coast.
A friendly deer along the trail
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
House Hunting
Recently, Mr. Frisby and I started looking for a house. It is exciting and scary all at the same time. And it has completely changed my life. For example, I can't drive down the street now without scrutinizing each and every house as it whizzes by, wondering what the asking price would be. I notice things like mildly peeling/faded paint or what kind of shingles adorn the roof. I check out landscaping and change it all in my head. And I check out neighborhoods and proximities to schools. And, no, this is not on houses that we are actually looking at. This is on ALL houses. In addition, I'm now addicted to HGTV. I think, before we started house-hunting, that I could have counted on one hand the number of times I had turned on HGTV. Now, it's all I think about (of course, that could possibly be because it's rerun season).
And, don't even get me started on the houses we do look at. Thank goodness Mr. Frisby is there to think about the practical stuff. All I can think about when we go in a house is, "do I like the layout", "does it have a decent kitchen", and "how easy will it be to make it look awesome". And, Mr. Frisby is there behind me thinking about things like, "are the eaves in good condition", "how old is this house", "how big is the lot", and "does it have working AC". House-hunting is good times. And when we find our awesome house, you can all come and see it!
And, don't even get me started on the houses we do look at. Thank goodness Mr. Frisby is there to think about the practical stuff. All I can think about when we go in a house is, "do I like the layout", "does it have a decent kitchen", and "how easy will it be to make it look awesome". And, Mr. Frisby is there behind me thinking about things like, "are the eaves in good condition", "how old is this house", "how big is the lot", and "does it have working AC". House-hunting is good times. And when we find our awesome house, you can all come and see it!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Our Great Adventure, Part 4
After spending a much more restful night in the mouse-free plex, we were ready to go on Saturday. I helped with breakfast by making the bacon and sausage. I had to get a little creative since we didn't have aprons.
After breakfast, we headed out for our last adventures. We started by checking out Upper and Lower Mesa Falls at the suggestion of Mr. Frisby. These Falls weren't in Yellowstone, but were near our resort. It was a popular activity and we had a good time checking out the beautiful falls. We even took advantage of the opportunity and took a "sisters" picture.
After checking out the falls, we headed to Warm River (so named because it doesn't freeze over in the winter) where they have an area where you can feed the fish in the river. The kids loved this activity.
After feeding the fish, we ate lunch by the river and then decided to head back to the resort just to hang out for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was great to spend so much time together and we finished off the evening with a rousing game of Pit.
It got so intense that my sister-in-law had to take a breather in the middle of the game at one point.
And that was pretty much it. Mr. Frisby, myself, and my sister headed out early the next morning to drive home. We made a 3 hour stop in Elko, Nevada to attend church and then it was on to the Bay Area. It was a great time and we loved spending so much time with family. We look forward to our next reunion in 3 years!
After breakfast, we headed out for our last adventures. We started by checking out Upper and Lower Mesa Falls at the suggestion of Mr. Frisby. These Falls weren't in Yellowstone, but were near our resort. It was a popular activity and we had a good time checking out the beautiful falls. We even took advantage of the opportunity and took a "sisters" picture.
After checking out the falls, we headed to Warm River (so named because it doesn't freeze over in the winter) where they have an area where you can feed the fish in the river. The kids loved this activity.
After feeding the fish, we ate lunch by the river and then decided to head back to the resort just to hang out for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was great to spend so much time together and we finished off the evening with a rousing game of Pit.
It got so intense that my sister-in-law had to take a breather in the middle of the game at one point.
And that was pretty much it. Mr. Frisby, myself, and my sister headed out early the next morning to drive home. We made a 3 hour stop in Elko, Nevada to attend church and then it was on to the Bay Area. It was a great time and we loved spending so much time with family. We look forward to our next reunion in 3 years!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Our Great Adventure, Part 3
So many pics to post, so little time. Mr. Frisby and I have been busy. House-hunting is now consuming our lives, but more on that later. I've got to finish posting about our vacation, so on with part 3.
When we returned from Yellowstone, I decided to grab my stuff and take a shower in my parents' much nicer plex. When I returned to the condo from my shower, I was informed that they had all seen the mouse because it brazenly ran out from hiding to try to snatch the granola bar while all the lights were on, the tv was on, and everyone was running about getting ready for bed. A plan was quickly hatched by Mr. Frisby and my brother-in-law to try to catch it. The plan was to set up the granola bar in a plastic grocery bag with a rope strung through the handles. They then looped the rope around one of the rafters. So, the plan was when the mouse went in the bag and started eating the granola bar, they would pull the rope which would lift up the bag quickly, trapping the mouse inside. Here are pictures of the set-up:
The trap
Mr. Frisby and my brother-in-law looking down at the set-up
Mr. Frisby ready to spring the trap
Here's where the plan gets good. After catching the mouse in the bag, Mr. Frisby's plan was to grab the bag and smash it against the wall to stun the mouse. And here, we ran into some debate about what to do with the mouse next. After several ideas were tossed out, my niece (who is 27) said the most humane way to kill the mouse would be to snap its neck. This she volunteered to do after Mr. Frisby smashed it into the wall to stun it. I really was excited to see all of this go down and to see if it would all go down as planned. With the trap set up and the plan ready, we all went to bed. Mr. Frisby and my brother-in-law stayed up for awhile waiting for the mouse. When it didn't come, they also went to bed, ready to jump at the first sound. And then what happened? Mr. Frisby fell asleep. Fast asleep. When the mouse came and started eating the granola bar, he didn't hear it. There was nobody to spring the trap and the mouse went free again. I was disappointed as I really wanted to see if the plan would have worked. Oh well. It was not to be. After more complaining to the office, they finally came up with a plex they could move us to for that night. So, we cleared out the condo and headed to Yellowstone for the day.
The big plan in Yellowstone was to see Old Faithful. But, we definitely made some stops along the way. We drove the Firehole Canyon Drive along the Firehole River. It was beautiful!
Next we stopped at Grand Prismatic Spring. Unfortunately it was difficult to see because there was so much steam. I decided the best view would be an aerial one, but that certainly wasn't happening. So, on we went.
Old Faithful was next. We were lucky enough to get there only about 10 minutes before it went off, so we didn't have to wait long. We all gathered to eat lunch and watch the geyser and it did not disappoint!
After watching Old Faithful, we poked around a bit in the Old Faithful Inn and checked out some gift shops and then headed back to the resort to hang out together as a family. On our way out of the park, we stopped to check out a huge herd of Bison that had some very cute little babies.
When we got back to the resort, we moved into our plex and admired the beautiful towel art they left us:
That night, we ate dinner and played all manner of games together. We had lots of fun hanging out and enjoyed spending time together since some of our company would be heading home the next day.
Next up will be our final day of adventures.
When we returned from Yellowstone, I decided to grab my stuff and take a shower in my parents' much nicer plex. When I returned to the condo from my shower, I was informed that they had all seen the mouse because it brazenly ran out from hiding to try to snatch the granola bar while all the lights were on, the tv was on, and everyone was running about getting ready for bed. A plan was quickly hatched by Mr. Frisby and my brother-in-law to try to catch it. The plan was to set up the granola bar in a plastic grocery bag with a rope strung through the handles. They then looped the rope around one of the rafters. So, the plan was when the mouse went in the bag and started eating the granola bar, they would pull the rope which would lift up the bag quickly, trapping the mouse inside. Here are pictures of the set-up:
Here's where the plan gets good. After catching the mouse in the bag, Mr. Frisby's plan was to grab the bag and smash it against the wall to stun the mouse. And here, we ran into some debate about what to do with the mouse next. After several ideas were tossed out, my niece (who is 27) said the most humane way to kill the mouse would be to snap its neck. This she volunteered to do after Mr. Frisby smashed it into the wall to stun it. I really was excited to see all of this go down and to see if it would all go down as planned. With the trap set up and the plan ready, we all went to bed. Mr. Frisby and my brother-in-law stayed up for awhile waiting for the mouse. When it didn't come, they also went to bed, ready to jump at the first sound. And then what happened? Mr. Frisby fell asleep. Fast asleep. When the mouse came and started eating the granola bar, he didn't hear it. There was nobody to spring the trap and the mouse went free again. I was disappointed as I really wanted to see if the plan would have worked. Oh well. It was not to be. After more complaining to the office, they finally came up with a plex they could move us to for that night. So, we cleared out the condo and headed to Yellowstone for the day.
The big plan in Yellowstone was to see Old Faithful. But, we definitely made some stops along the way. We drove the Firehole Canyon Drive along the Firehole River. It was beautiful!
Next we stopped at Grand Prismatic Spring. Unfortunately it was difficult to see because there was so much steam. I decided the best view would be an aerial one, but that certainly wasn't happening. So, on we went.
Old Faithful was next. We were lucky enough to get there only about 10 minutes before it went off, so we didn't have to wait long. We all gathered to eat lunch and watch the geyser and it did not disappoint!
After watching Old Faithful, we poked around a bit in the Old Faithful Inn and checked out some gift shops and then headed back to the resort to hang out together as a family. On our way out of the park, we stopped to check out a huge herd of Bison that had some very cute little babies.
When we got back to the resort, we moved into our plex and admired the beautiful towel art they left us:
That night, we ate dinner and played all manner of games together. We had lots of fun hanging out and enjoyed spending time together since some of our company would be heading home the next day.
Next up will be our final day of adventures.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Our Great Adventure, Part 2
I had intended to split our great adventure into two parts. But, I was looking through our pictures and realized that we had far too many adventures for just two posts. So, I will have to further split our adventures into other posts. So, this part will cover our adventures on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, we drove to Island Park, Idaho to Jared's Wild Rose Ranch (not affiliated with Mr. Frisby in any way) where we had reservations for my whole family for the reunion. We were only an hour or so from Yellowstone Park there, so the plan was to stay at the resort and then head into Yellowstone to see the sights each day. Different parts of the family had different accommodations based on the number of people in the family, etc., etc. Shortly after arriving, we saw that some of our accommodations were seriously lacking in the livability factor. We swapped out two A-Frames we had reserved for one much more luxurious "plex" (don't ask what that means - that's just what they called them). Since the "plex" didn't fit quite everyone who was supposed to be in the A-Frames, Mr. Frisby and I opted to stay with my sister and her family in the condo they had reserved. The condo, we learned, was a step up from the A-Frames, but didn't have the luxury level of the "plex". As we moved our stuff in and started looking around, we noticed so mouse droppings here and there, but it was too late too change anything, so we determined we would talk to the office in the morning to request a thorough cleaning. After getting settled and catching up with the family we all went to bed excited about spending the day together in Yellowstone the next day.
In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a rustling sound. I listened for awhile and determined that a mouse was getting into our food. So, I grabbed a flashlight and went downstairs to investigate. I went down, looked through all of the food and everything seemed okay, so I went back to bed. A few minutes later, I heard the rustling again. It was the distinct rustling of a plastic grocery bag. This time, I grabbed my flashlight, but didn't turn it on and instead just followed the sound. As I got to the stairs, I could tell the mouse was in a bag on the table directly below me. So, I pointed my flashlight at the bag and turned it on fully expecting to see a mouse scurrying away. Instead I saw nothing. But, as I kept watching, I saw a small little lump moving around in the bag. And then, he popped his head out and looked right at me. A small, brown mouse, munching on one of my granola bars. He would've been cute if he was someone's pet. But, he was not a pet and he was eating my food, so I determined something had to be done. I didn't really know what because I'm not well versed in catching mice. So, I just watched for awhile hoping some great idea would come to me. It didn't. My heart just kept beating faster and faster as I watched the mouse scrambling around in the food bag and jumping back and forth from the stairs to the table. Finally, I decided that Mr. Frisby needed to save the day. So, I ran and woke him up and told him there was a mouse. He came and I showed him the mouse and we sat there for a little while wondering what to do. Then, I said maybe we could catch him in the plastic bag (because he was already in it). I thought maybe we could just grab the handles really fast and then take it outside. So, Mr. Frisby gallantly agreed to try. But, because of the food in the bag, he couldn't grab both handles and close it fast enough, so the mouse jumped out when Mr. Frisby was lifting up the bag and he ran off. So, Mr. Frisby and I went back to bed, but several minutes later, we heard the mouse again. This time we came up with a plan. We would get one of the coolers, grab both handles of the bag really fast and throw it in the cooler and shut the lid. So, we went to see the mouse but this time he ran off fast when he saw us. So, we got the cooler and got it all set up and went back to bed. Unfortunately, though, the mouse didn't come back that night. That was adventure number one. And it's not over.
The next morning, after complaining to the office about the mouse and making demands for a thorough cleaning and mouse traps to be put out, we headed off to Yellowstone. We had lots of great adventures in the Park. And we documented them all with photos:
We saw a Bison moseying down the road. This, I thought, was totally awesome. Hello Bison! That's what I yelled to it as it walked by our car.
We stopped at the Artist's Paint Pots where the kids had a great time watching the yucky mud boil.
We saw Elk grazing near the side of the road. Or maybe they were Mule Deer. We had a hard time differentiating.
We hiked around Norris Geyser Basin. We saw no geysers go off.
But, we did smell them.
We finished our hike around Norris Geyser Basin
Then we saw another Bison who had stopped for a bite to eat on the side of the road.
We also saw more Deer Species (these ones we're pretty sure are Mule Deer).
And then we checked out Mammoth Hot Springs
And, apparently missed the Black Bears that were just down the road past the Hot Springs that my sister and her family did not miss because they did not stop at the Hot Springs.
After our stop at Mammoth, we headed to Tower Falls where my brother and his son contemplated the beauties of nature.
And then we headed to Artist's Point which overlooks the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
And enjoyed the beautiful Lower Yellowstone Falls.
After our many adventures in the park and our mouse adventures in the middle of the night, we were exhausted. So, we got some food in Canyon Village and headed back to the resort to prepare for more mouse-catching adventures that night.
In the middle of the night, I was awakened by a rustling sound. I listened for awhile and determined that a mouse was getting into our food. So, I grabbed a flashlight and went downstairs to investigate. I went down, looked through all of the food and everything seemed okay, so I went back to bed. A few minutes later, I heard the rustling again. It was the distinct rustling of a plastic grocery bag. This time, I grabbed my flashlight, but didn't turn it on and instead just followed the sound. As I got to the stairs, I could tell the mouse was in a bag on the table directly below me. So, I pointed my flashlight at the bag and turned it on fully expecting to see a mouse scurrying away. Instead I saw nothing. But, as I kept watching, I saw a small little lump moving around in the bag. And then, he popped his head out and looked right at me. A small, brown mouse, munching on one of my granola bars. He would've been cute if he was someone's pet. But, he was not a pet and he was eating my food, so I determined something had to be done. I didn't really know what because I'm not well versed in catching mice. So, I just watched for awhile hoping some great idea would come to me. It didn't. My heart just kept beating faster and faster as I watched the mouse scrambling around in the food bag and jumping back and forth from the stairs to the table. Finally, I decided that Mr. Frisby needed to save the day. So, I ran and woke him up and told him there was a mouse. He came and I showed him the mouse and we sat there for a little while wondering what to do. Then, I said maybe we could catch him in the plastic bag (because he was already in it). I thought maybe we could just grab the handles really fast and then take it outside. So, Mr. Frisby gallantly agreed to try. But, because of the food in the bag, he couldn't grab both handles and close it fast enough, so the mouse jumped out when Mr. Frisby was lifting up the bag and he ran off. So, Mr. Frisby and I went back to bed, but several minutes later, we heard the mouse again. This time we came up with a plan. We would get one of the coolers, grab both handles of the bag really fast and throw it in the cooler and shut the lid. So, we went to see the mouse but this time he ran off fast when he saw us. So, we got the cooler and got it all set up and went back to bed. Unfortunately, though, the mouse didn't come back that night. That was adventure number one. And it's not over.
The next morning, after complaining to the office about the mouse and making demands for a thorough cleaning and mouse traps to be put out, we headed off to Yellowstone. We had lots of great adventures in the Park. And we documented them all with photos:
We saw a Bison moseying down the road. This, I thought, was totally awesome. Hello Bison! That's what I yelled to it as it walked by our car.
We stopped at the Artist's Paint Pots where the kids had a great time watching the yucky mud boil.
We saw Elk grazing near the side of the road. Or maybe they were Mule Deer. We had a hard time differentiating.
We hiked around Norris Geyser Basin. We saw no geysers go off.
But, we did smell them.
We finished our hike around Norris Geyser Basin
Then we saw another Bison who had stopped for a bite to eat on the side of the road.
We also saw more Deer Species (these ones we're pretty sure are Mule Deer).
And then we checked out Mammoth Hot Springs
And, apparently missed the Black Bears that were just down the road past the Hot Springs that my sister and her family did not miss because they did not stop at the Hot Springs.
After our stop at Mammoth, we headed to Tower Falls where my brother and his son contemplated the beauties of nature.
And then we headed to Artist's Point which overlooks the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.
And enjoyed the beautiful Lower Yellowstone Falls.
After our many adventures in the park and our mouse adventures in the middle of the night, we were exhausted. So, we got some food in Canyon Village and headed back to the resort to prepare for more mouse-catching adventures that night.
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