How many games can you play with a rock?

Last week Sterling had a work conference at the Grand Targhee resort in Wyoming. So we decided to pack up the family and call it a vacation. Tuesday am we left after breakfast, leaving plenty of time to travel. See, the Browns don't just jump from point A to point B. We enjoy the journey. Our first stop was a picnic lunch overlooking the falls in Idaho Falls in the shadow of the temple. The kids were fascinated by a pelican on the banks of the river. Then we pressed on to Rexburg. There, Sterling led us through the Ricks, excuse me, BYU-Idaho, campus, all the while reminiscing on the good old days. A lot has changed in the last 13 years (16 for me). The new temple is beautiful!!!

The resort was really nice and a fun place to explore. But by far, the highlight was seeing the Bar J Wranglers on their ranch. We'd seen them several other times in concert but this time we were on their turf. The dinner was a fabulous chuckwagon experience, with a lot effort to make it authentic. The concert was wonderful, complete with fiddl'n, yodel'n, bicker'n and of course, a guest appearance by granny! We even got a tractor/train ride. I highly, highly recommend getting tickets to the Bar J Chuckwagon if you're ever in the Jackson Hole area.

So...the dilemma of tagging along on work trips is occupying the time Dad spends in meetings. I was way too outnumbered to attempt swimming. The trails were still wet and muddy from the late spring. The resort was still making the transition between winter and summer, and not everything was up and running. So... the answer to our dilemma..?.. ROCKS!!

• Who can find the biggest rock?
• Who can find the smallest rock?
• Who can throw their rock the farthest?
• Who can throw it the farthest without passing the stick?

And then we checked out of the room but we still had 3 hours until the meetings are over. That's when you set up the laptop with Lion King 1 1/2 (very funnny) in the lobby and entertain your children, in addition to any other children wandering the lobby. When the meetings were over, we headed to Yellowstone. As I close this post, I'll leave you with...

Note to Self:

1. Book a hotel room earlier than 1 hour outside of West Yellowstone. Otherwise there may only be one room available and it will cost somewhere between expensive and way too expensive.
2. Plan for more time. That way, you will probably use your $25 - 7 day pass for more than 7 Hours! But it was a great 7 hours. Hundreds of bison, elk, mule deer, lots of canadian geese, raven, squirrels, etc. Beautiful country, amazing falls at Canyon Village. Ahhh...nature.
3. Bring binnoculars so you can see what everyone else is looking at.
4. Next time, drive the upper loop as well.
5. Next time, hike to upper falls at Canyon village.
6. Next time, bright and early, head out to Hayden Valley to see larger animals.
7. On the way home, bring swimsuits and maybe swim at the city park in Blackfoot, Idaho. Just for fun.

Couldn't get enough snow, I guess. (see Ster, Parker and Millie?)

Entering Yellowstone National Park.

Bison galore! By the end, we were saying, "Oh," disappointment pervading our reaction, "just another buffalo."

Old Faithful...right on time!

My hero...my kids' superhero!

Close encounters, of the animal kind.

My favorite part of the trip. JK