Today Jacob had a track and field day at his school.  He signed up to run the 100 yard dash, 800 m, mile and a few other events.  (Because of the field trip with Joseph, listed below, I was not able to go watch him.  He said he got 3 ribbons though, although he has not received them yet.  He told me he ran the 800 (1/2 mile) in 3:10.  He ran the mile in 6:22!!  I pointed out to him that his mile time was almost exactly half of his mile time, which meant he paced himself almost perfectly.  I told him he should get with his cousin, who ran track in high school and collage, and get some tips from her.  Who knows how he could improve by the time he is in 7th grade...which is when you can run track at the middle school.

Joseph finally got his 10,000 page reading prize. The principal took 45 kids and I got to go as a chaperone!! That is 450,000 pages read at the school. We went to West Yellowstone to the Grizzly and Discovery Center and then we saw Amazing Predators at the IMAX (Joseph had never been in an IMAX). I loved the movie, just incredible photography, or is it videography.

All of the animals were born in captivity. Once an animal is maimed or has become a problem (not afraid of people), they are relocated. Of course once they are relocated, they can never live in the wild again. Some of the wolves were howling and it was amazing to hear.

To keep thing interesting/stimulating/real life for the animals, things in the habitat are changed/moved daily, food is buried, scents are put out, etc.  We kept waiting for this bear to stand up on all fours, but he was way more interested in rooting around.

This was a pond in one of the wolf habitats.  Every couple of weeks they restock the pond.  We happened to be there on restocking day.  Too bad one of my pictures did not show the fish shooting out.

The wolves had just been let back into their area, so not too concerned with the fish.  It was neat though to watch them find the scents and hidden food, although they did not immediately eat the meat, so I think the ravens flew away with it.

One of the displays in the museum

They had a display of bear proof containers and containers that bears had gotten into.  If something is 'bear proof', it is filled with something very enticing for them (fish) and then put in their habitat.  If after 90 minutes of bears messing with it, it is still intact, then they truly call it bear proof.

This picture was by far the most hilarious one I took all day.  I found it taped inside of a bathroom stall.  I know toilets are different all over the world, but can't imagine someone trying to post on the left!!!!!

Speaking of the world, there were lots and lots of tour busses of asian people.   They were fascinated by all of us.  They would video us walking by, they kept saying hello and loved for opportunities to high five/fist bump the kids!


Now that the snow has melted, the new favorite thing at the house is pogo sticking.  The younger two are getting pretty good and Joseph has been practicing at least 10-15 minutes a day.  From the looks of the pictures, I need to find something more challenging, or build something more challenging for him.

I keep telling him he must wear a helmet because if he fell backwards, look out.  They make really nice (professional) pogo sticks, that allow you to get 4-6 feet of air, which would mean you could do flips, etc.

My niece, Kristine, and I have decided that we are gonna hike 100 miles this summer.  Okay, maybe I just decided it and told her she was gonna join me!  Anyway, we are 2% toward our goal, as we did a 2 mile hike last weekend.