Budding Naturalist

We live in a really awesome place.  Just when I think I might go crazy with "one more part time job" or "stupidly expensive plane fare to fly out of Bozeman,"  or "60 mile per hour winds!"  I take a breath, look out my window, take a walk in the woods, or hop in the car for the quick 45 minute drive to Yellowstone National PARK and I am slapped in the face with the reality that I live in the most amazing place on the Planet.

Happy gal. Enjoying her New Year in the Park

Our little wildlife expert.   Looking like a pro, hanging out the window.

Yes, we go to take our kid into Yellowstone for the day ... just for fun.  Just to watch some wildlife.  And by wildlife I mean WOLVES, and elk, and bison, and big horn sheep!  Seriously.  Very cool.  Being the little mimic and animal lover she is, she soaked up every little bit of the day.  She insisted on wearing her binoculars "noculars" around her neck all day and she kept them pointed at the hills, sky and road.  She commented and told us all the things she thinks she was seeing.  Most of it was pretty accurate (buffalo, birds, otters, elk), but she did tell us that she saw a "kangaroo" in the Lamar Valley at one point.  Heck, maybe she did.

The beautiful Lamar Valley - might be my favorite place on earth 

Peter, Nana Joellyn and Mattie... In Soda Butte

Snow fun. 

It was a gorgeous day.  Temps ranged from the teens to the 30's, sunny, no wind, and no traffic.  Not that there is really ever "traffic" in Yellowstone in the winter, but what this means for us:  we can stop in the middle of the road and gawk at things without being bothered for a good 10 minutes.

I see the wolves! 

Mastering her 60x spotting scope skills! 

Mattie loved using her noculars and the scope all day and didn't' stop giving a running commentary of everything we saw.  She loved eating lunch out of the back of the car and going for little mini hikes in the snow.  She was throwing ice balls over the hill to "feed the buffalo" at one point as well.

Buffalo

 After spending  most of the day in the Lamar Valley and Soda Butte, watching 2 different wolf packs (they are AMAZING!), we decided to move on and go to Mammoth and walk the thermal features on the terraces.  It was great.  Mattie is into dragons these days and with all the smoke and sulpher smells from the thermal pools, she was convinced that was where the "dragons lived."  I tell you, her logic and imagination both amaze me!

Where the "dragons live" 

This of course would be where they laid their eggs! 

My heart was full today.  There is nothing better than showing your child what the "real world" is like.  Next to teaching her to love herself and others, instilling a love of this place in her will be the greatest thing I do as her mom.