Yellowstone Vacation Day 3

Our second and last day at Triple Play. 

 We started out with go-carts.

Then moved indoors to a gems and fossils learning activity. 

A few of the kids "panned" for gems and fossils in this neat mock up of a mining camp.  You buy a bag that is guaranteed to have either minerals or fossils.  After you "pan" through the sand you can compare what you find to the chart and learn about the different minerals and rocks.  There was also a fossil bag and an arrowhead bag.  None of the kids chose an arrowhead bag.

Here are some of the minerals and fossils they found. 

We took the teeth and separated them because they were so fragile. 

This was a great warm up to tomorrow's planned trip to a real 140 year old mine

 where they will get to try their hand at real panning.

Then we went bowling.  They had duck pins for the little girls.

Check Elayna out in the back round of the picture

We ended the night with a quiet evening in the room reading and visiting and working on some of the school work that goes along with our field trips.  We are having a great time!  Thanks for those that are following along!

Yellowstone Vacation Day 2

We woke up at Triple Play on Day 2. 

Although it doesn't show in the ticker on the side of this blog the kids earned their trip to Triple Play!  I didn't keep updating the ticker because it took too much time to go in and change it and then copy the update each time.  We love Triple Play this time of the year because, as you can see in the pictures, we pretty much get the place to ourselves.  The big attraction is the waterpark but there is also bowling, mini golf (an 18 outdoor and a 9 indoor), water spray boats, go-carts, laser tag, a rock wall, an arcade and play tubes.  It is all attached to the hotel by a sky bridge.  Most of the time we had maybe 2-3 other families in the whole place with us.

You get 2 days of wrist passes for the price of 1 when you stay at the hotel.  Elayna wished she could not wear the bracelet and still play on everything.  Sorry Elayna!

And then off to the water park.

A couple rare pictures with the older kids in them. 

They were so busy going on the water slides they were hard to get in pictures.

This shot shows how we were the only ones there. 

It felt like we owned the water park.

"Mommy, what made this?"

Kylie always loves to do the rock wall

 This was the cutest mini golf course.  Made to look like an old mining

 town and then all under black light.  The flash of the camera ruined the black light effect of course but you can get a feel for how detailed it all was.  There was even a real stream that runs through the whole course and under the bridges. 

Daddy gives Anna a few pointers before she plays her first game of mini golf.

Here is the entrance to the cave.

Inside were painted fluorescent animals on the walls.

Anna getting tired.

During the year Kristin saves up points on websites like Mypoints and cashes them in once a year for a bunch of gift cards to help cut down on vacation expenses.  This year we got $250 in gas cards, $100 at Outback Steakhouse and $100 at Olive Garden, $50 at Cracker Barrel and $125 at wal-mart and $25 at Albertsons for groceries or missing items along the way. 

Stephanie made this adorable little denim holder to keep them all safe and together.

Normally we wouldn't be able to afford to eat someplace like Outback Steakhouse in the middle of a vacation but the cards give us some fun meals out like this while we travel.

Anna enjoys her ribs and potatoes! 

Some people were ready for bed sooner than others

and had creative ways of blocking out the light and noise.