Wyoming Road Trip 2020 - Day 8

Day 8 

I knew prior to coming on this trip I wanted to do something special with each of the kids. My cousin Tiffany had been posting a bunch about the Axe House. I thought it would be a fun place to take the older boys, but knew it wouldn't work for Ella and Zeke. Whenever we go out to the ocean I always make a point to take Ella to this ceramics shop in town. I asked Zeke if he'd be interested and he said yes. So I found this cute shop online and decided to take the kids down on Wednesday, July 15th. 

Ella and Madison hit it off so well that I asked her Dad if he'd be okay letting her come with us and he said yes. So fun to make new friends in new places. 

Ella chose this cute rabbit. 

Zeke chose a race car. 

Madison chose a bunny. 

We were the only ones there in the main area of the shop. There was a whole group of summer camp girls in the back area though. How fun to get to go to summer camp at a ceramics shop!!

The girls both took their time. It was fun to see their different styles. Madison went with a nontraditional color for a bunny. 

Ella made hers more realistic. They both turned out super cute! 

Zeke was done super fast. To kill time he took my phone around and took pictures of the other already finished projects. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to paint anything, but it's way more fun to actually do something than it is to sit around waiting literally for paint to dry. :) I chose this chip and dip container. They had this speckled paint that was very cool so I used that. 

I painted in the tortilla chips and the jalapeño bits in the salsa. 

I always have loved to write on my painting projects. 

All done with his first ever ceramics painting! 

Cute rabbit! 

Muy bien! 

Cute little blue bunny! 

I thought our projects might be finished before we left to come home, but nope. They weren't going to be done for a week. Thankfully Ga-Ga & Pa were staying another week after we left. 

Our second fun thing we had planned for this day was going to the Rec Center. It only $13 for our whole family to go swimming for all day. We only came for one swim session, but we could have come for all 3 if we wanted too! 

The Rec Center was amazing! They had a whole kiddie section that was separate from the main activity pool. It's in the background of the above picture. There was a deeper activity pool with diving boards and basketball hoops in another area that we didn't even go to. Then there was the big activity pool where we were the whole time. There was a lazy river then went all around it and then in the middle were other activity areas. The kids stay at the lily pad area for the entire 1.5 hours. There were also 2 waterslides one that you used a tube for and one you didn't. The problem with those though was you couldn't breath when you were going down them it was so hot! The water was already really warm to begin with and then the slides went outside the building where it was really hot as well so it made for an unpleasant ride. I think we only went down the slides 3 times and then we just stuck with the activity pool the rest of the time. 

You can see the lazy river behind Zeke. There were different paths you could take as well. The rocky area behind Zeke was an area of the lazy river that was all bubbly like rapids. 

My sweet Ella Bean in her new bathing suit! 

After an 1.5 hours I was definitely done and ready to go.

After we ate dinner it was time for a Wyoming vacation tradition....hair cuts! 

Aunt Linda is the best! I do okay cutting Jack's hair throughout the year, but she is a pro at the fade that he wants. 

Handsome boy! 

Last year one of Ella's classmates accidentally cut a chunk of her hair in the back. It was so short there was no way we could fix it. Her hair finally had grown out enough where she could get it cut to the same length. This was Aunt Linda's face when I showed her the cut piece. It was still going to be a good portion of the hair cut off. 

Thankfully Ella was all for it. The tips of her hair where we had dyed it with Kool-Aid were fading pretty bad so it just didn't look as nice. 

Of course this is before her hair dried and bounced up with all her curls. It was a bit shorter than she wanted it, but that's the best thing about hair...it grows!!! 

It had been over 7 months since I had a haircut so it was time. I got about 3 inches cut off, but you couldn't really tell since my hair is so long. It sure felt healthier though! 

Another fun filled day for sure and the kids slept amazing that night after all that fun in the water! 

Wyoming Road Trip 2020 - Day 7

Day 7

Tuesday, July e14th was going to be the coolest day the entire time we were in Gillette. We decided to use that to our advantage and headed out on a day trip to Devil's Tower. It was only about an hour and half outside of Gillette so it wasn't a bad drive. We actually got to drive right through Moorcroft, Wyoming which is where my Mom and Dad graduated highschool and where they were married. It was so fun to see their old school and to see where the church was located...it's now a gas station. :) 

When we started getting closer to Devil's Tower I told the kids to keep their eyes out for it. I had explained to them that it looked like someone filled a bucket with sand, turned it over, removed the bucket and scrapped the sides a bit. It's a pretty accurate description really. 

This is such a fun picture! 

40 years ago my Dad actually climbed Devil's Tower. He made it halfway up when it started to rain and the guide he was will said they couldn't continue. It was fun to come with him since he had all these stories. 

Getting closer! 

To get into the National Park there was quite a line. A lot of people turned around and left. We just toughed it out. 

I loved this cute Trading Post with it's beautiful American Flag! 

Dad has his Lifetime National Park pass so we didn't have to pay anything to get in. The drive from the gate to the parking area was only about 15 minutes. We went to the bathroom, filled up everyones water bottles and then were on our way. 

Here's the view from the parking lot. The hike around the tower is all paved and not difficult at all. It was only about 1.5 miles too. 

Here's the view when you get to the trailhead. They had signs that said you could climb the rocks, but once you reached the tree line you were out of bounds. The only way you could climb past that was if you had a permit. 

The kids were so ready to climb the rocks! 

We let them climb up a bit, but since we were at the beginning of the trail we really wanted to get a little further down. 

Once we walked just bit further over we let the kids climb some more. 

There was a break in the trees so you could see out to the valley. It's so gorgeous!!! 

This area was where we really let the kiddos go.

Pa was so sweet to hold the kids water bottles for them. 

Up, up they went! This is me zoomed in. 

This is zoomed out. you can see the bluish color of Jack's tank top way up there. 

I wanted them all to sit on that giant rock, but Ella and Zeke were tired or nervous I don't know. They were really far up there though. 

I'm so thankful that no one sprained and ankle or anything! 

Walking around to the back side you can see how the right side is more of a slope. That's the side that my Dad climbed all those years ago. 

Fully around on the back side getting a picture with Pa right where he climbed! 

Zeke had a walking stick at the beginning of the hike...he found it in the Big Horns. Ella & Pa found sticks on this walk so they had to pose with their walking sticks! 

Jackson though this rock was a good pride rock so he had to be Simba! 

Ella said this rock looked like a frog so she got in the frogs mouth. 

So did Jack! 

Owen cracks me up. I guess the other kids didn't mind being dinner for a frog, but Owen sure did! 

Wilderness Zeke! 

Getting around to the shaded side. 

Love this shot with the kids. 

There are so many big rocks that have fallen off from the tower. I'm not sure how long ago, but I never felt scared like anything was going to fall now. 

It's so cool looking from all sides! 

We were glad to be there on a day that it was only 75. It really was perfect! 

The last bit of the trail turned into woods so we couldn't fully see the tower towards the end. 

Trekking through the woods! 

I had a such great day with my Dad! 

And he had such a fun day with me and his Grandkids! 

We made great memories all around! 

Towards the end of the trail the path broke off and went both ways...one was up and one was down. Of course the kids wanted to go down, but I wanted to see what was up. It ended up being a great photo op point. I asked a lady if she would mind taking our picture. I wasn't sure if she'd want to touch another persons phone, but she was completely fine with it. It was so nice to get a shot with our whole crew together! 

After this we walked a short ways to the end of the trail and then headed out of the park. Just prior to the park gate this this big field that is where all the prairie dogs live. It was huge! At first when you're looking you think you only see a few because you see the ones that are moving, but then your eye adjust and you can see there are tons of prairie dogs everywhere!!! They were so cute! 

There were other people that were out walking in the field to get a closer look. At first I was okay with going out there, but them I decided we probably shouldn't....it was their home after all. 

This is only a fraction of the prairie! 

We stopped at the Trading Post and Pa bought everyone ice cream. I stayed outside to save the picnic table for us. Ella got mint chocolate chip not thinking that it would have dye in it. I traded with her, but she didn't like the chocolate. She did eat a little bit more ice cream, but then she was worried it would make her throw up. 

Of course while the kids were in the trading post with Pa they found things they couldn't live without so I bought them each something to remember this trip. Owen and Jack each got a multitool with their names on it. Zeke got a stuffed prairie dog. I even got myself something...

I love arrows and when I saw this cute ring I just had to have it! 

Ella got a necklace that had her name on it. A crazy fluke thing happened though. She was trying to show it to Pa and she dropped it. It felt through the seat on the picnic table and then it slipped through the cracks in the decking. I couldn't believe it! It was less than 2 minutes after buying it. We went into the shop to talk to the cashier. She told me to talk to a guy with a straw hat on. We explained to him what happened and thankfully we were able to use the flashlight with my phone and find it under the decking. The guy left and got a long piece of wire and together we were able to rescue her necklace. He even said that once he pulled a guys car keys out of the storm drain. He definitely saved the day and made a sweet girl so happy! 

Once we left the trading post we drove back to Moorcroft and found my grandparents old trailer. Since we had been walking down memory lane all day I wanted to continue the trip. We drove to the school where I went to Kindergarten at. 

Dad welded this flag pole for Heritage Christian School about 38 years ago! 

The kids and I had fun on the same swings I did when I was only 5 years old! 

After this we had just one last stop and that was driving by the old trailer we lived in for the first 5 years of my life. It's horribly run down so no pictures of it. It was still fun to show the kids all these spots that are apart of my memories. We ended up not getting back until dinner time. It was a full day of fun!