FPDS graduation beach trip

 Since the 6th grade graduation trip got canceled, we took the girls to Destin to celebrate!

Charlie's birthday party

We also celebrated Charlie's birthday and had several of his buddies over to slide after basketball practice.

Jane Gray's first birthday home since 2012

We were thrilled to have our firstborn home for her birthday.  She has been at Camp DeSoto for the last several years for her birthday.  We celebrated big with a giant water slide! 

Jane Gray's Instagram Birthday

 

Was fun to see all of Jane Gray's birthday posts online.

Meg's graduation party at Lake Bruin

 The Hogans took Millie, Meg, and their friends to Lake Bruin to celebrate 6th grade graduation.  

Day 7

Today was the Grand Canyon, the grand finale of our trip!  We went to the North Rim which was cooler and less crowded.  We hiked to Bright Angel Point and then ate pizza at the Grand Canyon Lodge.  We then drove the scenic drive to Point Imperial, the highest viewpoint of the Grand Canyon.  We also stopped at Cape Royal, where the Angel's Window is located, and Encantadora.  We also hiked the Roosevelt Point Trail.  Charlie and Meg enjoyed throwing rocks at a dead tree there.  On the way home, we drove past the gorgeous Vermillion Cliffs and the very unique Cliffhangers.  We couldn't resist stopping in Glen Canyon to put our toes in the Colorado River and skip rocks at Lee's Ferry.  We spent the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and then drove the rest of the way home the next day.  We did manage to find time to stop for a yummy BBQ lunch in Childress, Texas.

Day 6

We drove to Bryce Canyon through Red Canyon with its beautiful red dirt tunnels.  At Bryce Canyon, we took pictures at Sunrise and Sunset Points.  The view was amazing, and Dad joked, "What are y'all looking at?"  At Sunset Point, Dad, Charlie and Meg hiked the very deep (and then steep) Navajo Loop Trail into the hoodoos.  Jane Gray and Mom went to a geology talk while the others hiked.  After that, we all hiked to Inspiration and Rainbow Points for different vantage points of the hoodoos.  They are beautiful!  We also saw a very unique natural bridge!  After Bryce, we headed to Zion via the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.  We saw a ton of bighorn sheep!  We drove down into the canyon, driving through a one-way, one-mile tunnel, and then hiked the very steep and narrow Canyon Overlook Trail.  There was a cave, which we affectionately dubbed "Laura's cave" because she couldn't quite make it all the way up to the Canyon Overlook due to her acrophobia.  The kids made some very neat rock sculptures there.  On the way out of Zion, we saw more sheep, and Charlie and Meg hiked up a mountain right across from the sheep.  Charlie got frustrated when Mom told him that it was too dangerous to hike up to the mountain's peak.  We ate dinner at the Zion Mountain Ranch.  It was delicious, and the kids loved playing with the Ranch's puppy, chickens, and mini ponies.  On the way to the Jacob Lake Inn, we stopped to gaze at the stars and Milky Way in the middle of nowhere, Arizona. 

Day 5

We drove back to Grand Teton and took a boat across Jenny Lake to hike to Hidden Falls.  It was beautiful!  Charlie, Meg, and Dad hiked on to Inspiration Point while Jane Gray and Mom went back to the dock; a beautiful mountain butterfly found Jane Gray and hung out on her finger while the others hiked.  After the return boat ride, we drove up Signal Mountain where we took some amazing pictures of the Grand Teton mountains at Jackson Point Overlook.  Charlie and Dad picked some beautiful mountain wildflowers for Mom!  We then headed to Snake River for a white water rafting trip.  Meg and Charlie took turns riding the bull!  We also saw two bald eagles and several osprey (one was eating a fish!).  We spent the night in Provo, Utah, where BYU is located (we drove past the football stadium).  The drive there was beautiful, and we saw the sun set over the mountains and lots of pronghorn antelope in the valleys.

Day 4

We started off at Mud Volcano and Dragon's Mouth Spring.  They were close to our cabin, and they were very cool!  We drove through Hayden Valley along the Yellowstone River on the way to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  We got to see a baby grizzly bear; it ran along the road, chewed on a shoe, and climbed a tree.  Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was gorgeous with its waterfalls and beautiful rock formations.  Charlie found an osprey nest at the top of one of the rocks!  From there, we headed to the West Thumb Geyser Basin, where we saw two huge elk bulls.  We also saw two very blue pools, the Black and Abyss pools (the Abyss pool is the deepest in the park!).  We crossed the Continental Divide (several times) on the way to the biscuit basin on the Firehole River, where Charlie fly fished again.  Dad found a very neat bison skull there!  The girls drove to Old Faithful Lodge to pick up lunch and saw Daisy Geyser erupt (75 feet!), and a bison, which crossed the street right in front of us.  After lunch and fishing, we drove the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway to the Grand Teton National Park.  We stopped at several beautiful overlooks and turnouts - Willow Flats, Oxbow Bend, Snake River, and Elk Ranch Flats, where we saw tons of bison.  We drove down Schwabacher Landing and Antelope Flats Road/Mormon Row looking for moose and finally found one eating near the Gros Ventre River.  We ate dinner in Jackson Hole at the Wort Hotel; the adventurous ones in our group (Dad, Mom, and Charlie) ate elk and buffalo.  We took some pictures under the elk antler arch on Jackson Square, drove to the DQ for blizzards, and then went moose hunting.  We found 3 moose bulls!  We spent the night at the Cowboy Village Resort in a cabin, and sweet Meg said it, and all of the cabins where we have stayed, reminded her of camp.

Day 3

We started day 3 at Norris geysers.  They were beautiful but very stinky!  We stopped in Gardiner on the way to Mammoth Springs.  We ate a yummy lunch and got ice cream at the Gardiner Pharmacy.  We re-entered Yellowstone through the Roosevelt Arch, the original entrance to Yellowstone.  After Mammoth Springs, we headed to the Undine and Wraith Falls.  We hiked to Wraith Falls, and sweet Dad picked some Queen Anne's lace for Mom.  We took a break for Charlie to fly fish the Firehole River.  We took the Firehole Canyon Drive there, and it was beautiful!  Charlie also fished the lower Gibbon River and caught a trout there.  After a few hours of fishing, we headed to the Upper Geyser Basin and Old Faithful.  It was beautiful and iconic!  We also saw several other geysers and the Morning Glory pool (after a very long hike!).  We ended the day with dinner from the Old Faithful Lodge and spend the night in a cabin at Yellowstone Lake. 

Day 2

Day 2 found us driving past the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn/Custer's last stand on our way to Montana.  We saw beautiful snow-capped mountains in Billings ("purple mountain majesty").  The boys trout fished in Roberts (Charlie caught two trout!), and the girls rode horses in Red Lodge.  We saw a lot of deer in Red Lodge, and Jane Gray greeted them all with a "hey, girl, hey!"  From Montana, we drove the Beartooth Highway to Wyoming.  It was very scary with lots of tight turns and scary mountain views.  We saw a lot of snow and wildlife.  Our favorite animal was the "gangsta" groundhog eating a cigarette.  We loved playing in the snow and had a big snow fight (in July!).  We reached the summit and took a family picture; it was so windy!  We drove into Yellowstone and immediately saw a bison!  There was a ton in Lamar Valley!  We even saw a black bear and got out of the van for a closer view.  We drove through Hayden Valley on the way to our cabin in the Canyon Village and saw Charlie's trophy elk; he was huge!

Day 1 of our Wild West adventure

We drove along the Lewis and Clark trail through Omaha, Nebraska, and into South Dakota.  We saw lots of windmills and amber waves of grain.  Dad also liked seeing lots of prairie pothole ducks.  Our first stop was Badlands.  It was beautiful and HOT!  We saw our first pronghorn antelope and even a very large mountain goat.  There were lots of prairie dogs and bison, too.  The highlight was a hike up a very tall overlook. After the Badlands, we stopped at Wall drugstore and ate dinner.  We then headed to Mount Rushmore.  President Trump was in town, and we were not able to get into the park, so we drove Needles Highway with beautiful views and narrow stone tunnels to find some vantage points of Mount Rushmore.  We found three!  One was at sunset in a meadow, and the other two were off the highway with one being through a stone tunnel.  Mount Rushmore was beautiful all lit up at night, and we felt very patriotic listening to the President's speech about the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore.  We drove to Sheridan, Wyoming to spend the night, and we saw lots and lots of fireworks on the way.

Barbour family trip out west!

We loaded up the minivan and headed west!  We stopped in St. Louis at our favorite Italian restaurant on the hill - Cunetto - and spent the night in St. Joseph, Missouri, in honor of Uncle Paul.  The highlight was "diaper baby"!

Jane Gray's equestrian letter

Jane Gray lettered in equestrian!

Meg's FPDS graduation

Meg finally had her FPDS graduation.  We were limited to two guests, but we asked for permission to have three grandparents there.  Pop took us out to lunch after graduation at Brent's, and Nana and Grandpa gave Meg a beautiful engraved locket.