National Parks: Yellowstone

National Parks are a perfect place for families to make memories and have adventures.  I know that at times they can be crowded and I am one of the first people to complain about crowds especially when I'm out in nature, which is where I go to escape from people.  National Parks at times seem more like an amusement park than a place to explore nature, fighting through crowds, waiting in lines, fighting over parking places, YUK! But even with the crowds and the commercialization of it I have a soft spot in my heart for National Parks.  Nothing says good clean leave it to beaver fun like a trio to a national park.  The parks just feel like a place where families should be together.  In addition the parks allow us to experience the incredible natural beauty that the United States has to offer, and, because of the millions of people who visit the parks every year, the parks have been set up in a way that make experiencing this stuff easy and safe for kids.  This last weekend I took my family to Yellowstone.  For whatever reason I have never been to Yellowstone.  I have lived 5-6 hours away from it my whole life but have never been.  I decided it was high time and thought it would be a great place to take my boys.

If you know anything about Yellowstone you will know that it is a beautiful combination of wilderness, wildlife, waterfalls, and active thermal features including geysers, mud pots, hot springs etc.  I was excited, but  when we began telling friends that we were heading to Yellowstone, some were not supportive and some expressed concern saying that they would worry about taking young children to a place like that as the thermal features can be very dangerous and deadly.  I had no worries as I know that while yes, these are potentially dangerous sites, if you follow trails and keep an eye on your kids there is very little risk at any National Park.  And as suspected we had no accident or even close calls.  My boys loved watching the "smoke" and water come out of the ground, They loved the hikes (both of the older boys hikes 8 miles over 2 days and loved it), waterfalls and Wildlife.  We kept the kids safe but to a 3 and 5 year old they had a pretty amazing adventure.  To them, seeing geysers and buffalo roaming free was like stepping into a dreamworld.   If you haven't ever gone, make a trip to a national park there is one near you here is a list.  Hope to see you there!