Yellowstone!

We packed up all the kids (and grandma) today and headed into the park to see the Mammoth Hot Springs. We decided to stay close to home because we were so tired of being in the car after the long drive to get here yesterday. Our friends, Joni and Jimmy, live just outside the north entrance, so we were in the park five minutes after leaving their house. Joni’s mom is also here for a visit. She grew up in this neck of the woods as her father worked in the park and her brother was a park ranger at Yellowstone for forty years. They know this place like the back of their hand. When we stopped at the visitor center to have a picnic in the shade, Joni’s mom, Carol, told us that she was married in the chapel on that street, July 4th, 1964. And just down that same street was the house where she lived and the building where her father worked. She pointed out where she had her first job and she showed us the wooden porch where a grizzly bear would crawl under and hibernate every winter. She has stories to tell, so it was fun to see the park through her eyes. Joni and Jimmy now live in the house on the Yellowstone River that her grandparents built after they retired




Tobias clicked his camera again today, but not at any fancy cars. It seems he was impressed with all the wildlife that is so up close and personal roaming around the park. The huge elk wandering among the hoards of cars coming and going, the barn owl up in a tree, the prairie dogs popping their heads up above ground, and a five foot long bull snake that slithered past us as we went on a hike, all caught his attention. Yellowstone is certainly all about nature unleashed. And the hot springs at Mammoth were most impressive as well, but the smell was somewhat of distraction from fully appreciating all their beauty. Tobias kept his nose hidden behind his shirt the whole time we were walking over the boardwalks that went alongside and over the hot springs. It was pretty nasty smelling but the landscape was very surreal looking. It was like being on another planet, but then, that’s why this place is special.



When we got home, all the boys had a much needed water fight (it was 90 today) but Kaleb got his nose out of joint when Tobias was able to squirt him more than Kaleb could retaliate. Kaleb wasn’t too happy with me or Tobias anyway because after watching how incredibly patient Tobias is when Kaleb does so many irritating things to him, I gave Tobias full permission to repeat back to Kaleb any and all obnoxious things Kaleb might do to him, to give Kaleb a taste of his own medicine. Tobias had a wonderful smirk on his face after I said that. I told him it was his chore everyday from now on, helping me deal with Kaleb. The minute I said it, Kaleb had to test out those boundaries so he started poking Tobias, and he got poked back. This of course escalated to the point where Kaleb was ready to haul off and slug Tobias hard, but Tobias is much bigger and stronger and was able to just hold Kaleb’s arms to keep him from swinging. (I didn’t really expect nor want Tobias to get hurt in such an arrangement.) Tobias was able to run away and Kaleb couldn’t catch him so Kaleb’s rage had nowhere to go. He cried and cried and screamed and hollered. Kory made him sit in the car for a time out and then he began to scream at me about how unfair this agreement is because Tobias always does MORE than what he does to begin with. I was then able to explain that that is why he shouldn’t get anything started in the first place and he needs to think about all the things he does before he does them. It’s tough being an only child. I told Tobias he’s like the horse trainer, training a wild horse, and hopefully soon Kaleb will calm down and stop being so obnoxious and irritating. One can hope.



When we left Norway a week ago, I brought home a few Norwegian treats with me. One of them was a package mix to make “bolle” - a very common Norwegian sweet roll. I thought Jimmy and Joni would like a little taste of Norway. When Tobias saw the mix, his face just beamed and he asked if he could make it. Master Chef to the rescue! (The only time I used that mix, it was a disaster.) He was smiling ear to ear as he worked that dough between his fingers. He formed all the balls, let them rise and baked them to perfection. They came out of the oven one minute before Jimmy and Joni got back from a meeting at church tonight, so we all had a little “kvelds mat” eating our boller out on the porch watching the sunset. It tasted like home.