Come see us...

In the middle of September, after we had settled into our apartment, Dan's parents came up from Florida for a visit.  We enjoyed just hanging out and catching up, but we also wanted to show them a little of the area.  Where better to start than Theodore Roosevelt National Park...

with grandpa...

The park had lost some of it's color from the last time we visited, you could definitely tell that the nights (and days) were getting cooler and that fall was right around the corner...

We took a picnic with us and as soon as we finished eating the kids took off running...enjoying the open grassy area for a game of freeze tag...

Next, we picked up Jr. Ranger books for the kids.  They thought it would be extra fun to do them while their grandparents were with them.  I think most things are fun when you can do them with grandparents :).

One of our favorite things at TRNP is the area with the cannonball concretions...

trevor and grandpa

They look like giant balls that got stuck rolling down the hills...

The kids love to scramble around on the rocks.  Climbing is fun :)...

At the base of the hills there is soft sand.  Apparently the bison pass through there on occasion...

so glad i didn't come face to face with a buffie when i rounded the corner

After the rocks, we went for a drive through the park.   Lo and behold, the buffies were migrating...

At the far end of the park, we got out to walk the trails and see the sights...

Mmmm, sage...smells so good...

This overlook is towards the middle of the park.  Beautiful views of the river and hills...

We took them to our favorite spot on the lake, but it was too chilly to get out.  Driving around, we found a field full of thistles with orange flowers.  We looked it up and it was a Safflower field!  Pretty neat :)...

blurry photo, pretty flower

They wanted to see where Dan works.  Since that changes constantly, we just showed them several different locations.  Not places that he necessarily worked, but similar...

*i didn't take this photo

Before they had to leave to go back to Florida, we had another little birthday party for Ash and Ty (their birthdays are 1 year and 2 weeks apart, the visit was in the middle of that).  They wanted to share their birthday cake with Grandma and Grandpa :)...

We had fun, but the time came when the grandparents had to go back to Florida.  It's always hard to say good-bye, so we don't.  Just "see ya later"...