School Photos 24-25

Wow the school pictures were a racket this year - and all 3 schools used different systems/different companies. I was able to get a somewhat inexpensive package for Leah ($12) but man were the high school & middle school options steep. 

Amelie's 14 years old in the 9th grade - her first year at Hickman High School. They took school pictures on the first day of school - so they could use them for the student ID's I bet. She picked out the pink background: 

Jim is 12 and in 6th grade, his first year at Jeff Middle. He took photos early in the school year - just not quite as early as Amelie. He's growing out his hair. 

And Leah's 7 years old in Unit B - 2nd grade! She's got Ms. Bashem this year. We just got her pictures home in  her Friday folder yesterday. In the days right after my Grandma Doris passed away, I was getting her ready for school picture in the morning and she very cheerfully informed me that school pictures were yesterday! Neither Sam nor I could remember what she'd worn (or looked like!) the day before and we had to wait on the packet a long time to see! At least her hair looks nice: 

Here is the link to last year's set of school photos: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2023/10/school-picture-day.html 

Leah Says / James Says

Leah, about her loose tooth: “I know what wiggly feels like and it doesn’t feel wiggly. It just feels weird.”

Sam, describing our road trip route: It kind of looks like a rhombus.

Leah: “It also looks like a slanted rectangle.”

Leah wanted me to fix her breakfast and I suggested she fix her own.

Leah:  “But I don’t know how to work the skittle!!! Wait…”

Me: It’s called a griddle, baby.

Leah: “Oh right!”

(And then she did enjoy using the griddle.)

Sam asked if she was jealous of a bird’s wings and she replied: “No. We have technology.”

Bonus James content:

Sam: What’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake?

James: Muffins are worse.

He’s also picked up a bit from a comedian on YouTube & now says “Yer ruining me life!” in a British accent at the slightest inconvenience.

Big Trip, Dinosaur National Monument

The last National Park we visited on our National Parks pass was actually a National Monument. 

We were prepared with umbrellas for a walk through the desert:  

We saw petroglyphs on our walk: 

This was when Leah's favorite color was orange: 

There was a place on the wall where you're allowed to touch a few of the real dinosaur bones embedded in the rock. On the opposite wall, they show where the other skeletons/fossils (outside of the preserved section of rock in the observation deck) wound up at different universities & museums. 

Here's the kids compared to a dinosaur bone: 

We rode the shuttle back from the observation deck to the visitor's center. (Pro tip: do this the opposite of us - ride the shuttle up & then walk back down! ha!)

Big Trip, Rafting & Tetons

We left the park & sprung for a guided rafting trip. We learned that the park was named for the Yellowstone River. 

Both Jim and Amelie got to "ride the bull" and sit on the front of the raft for part of it & they both also jumped in & swam a bit in the (cold!) water. Our 20 something guide was a student from South Carolina. She did all the work! 

There was no place to collect admission on the way into Grand Teton (we had the National Parks pass, so we were covered) - we guessed maybe because most people do it that way & the parks are so close together. 

We just drove through & stopped at a lookout - there were amazing views. 

Big Trip, Yellowstone

(This is quite delayed, but I'd like to finish the Big Trip blogs!) We camped 3 nights in Yellowstone.                                                     

You know, the kids were remarkably good sports about having their picture made: 

The kids in front of their tent: 

And the kids in their tent  (reading): 

Our campsite was very wooded: 

This shows more of the set-up: 

Sam & I had the smaller tent: 

We ate one dinner at one of the visitor's center - and it cost $100 for a remarkably mediocre meal! Ha! It was convenient, though. We also took a shower - James and Sam went through the men's line and were completely done before the girls and I got even part way through the line. 

We saw the Grand Prismatic Spring two different ways - first we went on a hot hike up to see if from the overlook & a different day we went right to it and walked around on the boardwalk. 

It was steamy! 

Old Faithful: 

Look how many people were there!

At the visitors center: 

And then this was just when we stopped off at a scenic point & tromped around: 

The grand canyon of Yellowstone: 

We took lots of pictures there - it was very scenic & not crowded & we went at the end of the day so it was nice & cool: 

And now for the wildlife portion of the program. I thought this one must have been a moose, it was so gigantic. But I was assured that moose are even larger & it was an elk (still very gigantic!) 

A coyote RIGHT by the car: 

Bighorn sheep: 

Always cool to see the bison. I liked seeing them in the big herds, too, and rolling around in the grass: 

Sam took the kids to a ranger talk where they learned about the reintroduction of wolves to the park & how that benefited the flora (and other things!) But we all enjoyed the wildflowers everywhere! The 200 or so wolves in the park keep the 70,000 or so elk on the move, which allows the flowers & other plants to grow. 

I forget where this was, but we had to park a fair ways away & walk along the road to see a feature, and there was a path through the woods to get there & someone built this: 

No pictures of the incredibly stinky Mud Volcano geothermic features. Also no pictures of the big lily pads and trumpeter swans at the continental divide - but we saw them twice and they were very cool!