Leavitt Reunion in Yellowstone - Part 3 Thursday and Friday

Thursday started off with a LOT of driving. We drove over 2 hours from our cabin to meet up with everyone at a picnic spot on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. Lunch was great but I had not experienced mosquitoes like that since leaving Alaska. It was so bad.
Grandpa was nice enough to pick up fishing licenses for the kids. So after lunch Emma, Alan, Scott, Grandpa, and the uncles went down to the lake to do some fishing. Logan and I went down for a minute, but the mosquitoes were even worse down there so we headed back to safety.
They didn't catch any fish, but I heard they all had a lot of fun. Alan came back very wet.
We stopped at a few scenic spots on the way home.
These pictures were all at the mud pot on the east side of the lower loop. Logan liked seeing the bubbling mud, but Emma didn't like the stinky smell.
This buffalo was taking a nap next to the mud pots and was about 4 feet away from me when I took the picture. Normally I wouldn't get so close to a buffalo, but I was on the trail and there was at least a fence between us. It was very cool.
After the mud pots we stopped at Artist's Point to see the beautiful canyon and water fall. It was amazing. Don't let the pictures fool you, Emma and Alan were having a blast, but they just didn't want to stop to have a picture taken.

(Also at Artist's Point)

That night all 60 something of us met up at the big cabin for dinner. After dinner each family did a skit based on a family memory. The Hilton's turned out well. Emma and Alan dressed up like bears, and we reenacted the Leavitt's summer trip to Yellowstone in 1969, complete with a coke and mentos geyser for old faithful. One of the best skits was by the Mickelsons who wrote their own version of "We didn't start the fire" entitled "We didn't start the Family." The chorus went "We didn't start the family, it was Bonnie and Dee, the rest is history." After the skits we heard mission reports from Eric and Ryan and then had a testimony meeting. It was the perfect way to end the day.
Friday was the last day of the reunion and also the day that we headed home. We got an early start so we could stop a few places on the way down to meet up with the fam at Old Faithful.
We stopped at the Lower Geyser Basin. It was really cool and had geysers going off everywhere. As you can see Alan was very interested in the geysers. :)

These pictures were from the Grand Prismatic Spring. It was absolutely gorgeous! And I think it was my favorite thing that we saw in Yellowstone. I tried, but the pictures just don't do it justice.

Scott and Alan at the Grand Prismatic Spring.

We met up with everyone at Old Faithful. We were lucky and didn't have to wait too long to see it go off.
After watching the geyser, we took the kids over to the gift shop and let them pick out anything that they wanted. Lucky for us they always decide on something inexpensive. Emma and Alan got cute little cameras that show different pictures of wildlife when you click the button, and Baby Logi got a little toy baby bear.
This is the beautiful Old Faithful Inn. I vote that next time we go to Yellowstone that we stay there.
We left for home from Old Faithful, driving out through the West Thumb and then down through the Grand Tetons.
We stopped in Jackson Hole for dinner and finally got home very late Friday night, or I guess it was very early Saturday morning. It was a great trip and a great reunion.