After driving into the park, we saw a tiny, tiny bison far away in the distance so we excitedly stopped the car and got out to take pictures! Wow! Wildlife!... Of course as soon as we got back in the car and drove around the next corner, we were greeted by a massive herd of them, right by the side of the road.

A buffalo, up close and personal, in all his bisonic glory. They looked kind of ratty at this time of year because they were changing their coats.

One of the rangers shows the kids some of the animals they might encounter during the day. The kids joined in the Junior Rangers Program, which involved completing a series of worksheets, colouring in, and exploring certain locations of the park.

Junior ranger test 1: How far can you jump? Further than a pronghorn antelope?

Junior ranger test 2: How long can you stare? Longer than an owl?

Junior Ranger Test 3: How fast can you run? Faster than a bison?

Junior Ranger Test 4: How well can you smell? Better than a grizzly bear?

RJ takes a stop at the brilliant blue Celestine Pool, near the Fountain Paint Pots.

A very, very rare picture of the four of us in front of Clepsydra Geyser!

DD and C. were both wonderful hosts and terrific tourguides. They spent the entire week exploring with us.

After passing through incredibly thick clouds of steam, we made it through to the Grand Prismatic Spring. The range of hues and the intensity of the colours was just fantastic.

LR strikes a pose in front of a glorious blue sky and and the vivid orange of the Grand Prismatic Spring.

You can find all the colours in the rainbow at the edges of the pool.

The kids stopped by the Ranger's Station to pick up their hard-earned Junior Ranger badges. The rangers were surpringly thorough at checking the kids work!

We arrived early at 'Old Faithful' so we wouldn't miss the show.

The kids and I defended our seats, while the mums walked off to get some much appreciated ice cream.

Old Faithful blasts a massive fountain of water into the sky, right on schedule!

RJ waits for the others to check out the gift shop at the Old Faithful Inn -- basically the biggest log cabin we've ever seen. It was unreal seeing such a large structure with such huge interior spaces built from logs.

DD and Mum sport a couple of cheesies for the camera.

After a huge day, RJ waits for his dinner at Lake Yellowstone. The kids were absolutely exhausted after everything we'd done, but still managed to have enough attention after dinner to listen to a lecture by one of the local naturalists.

Even quick photos taken from the car window as we drove along turned out amazing. This is just one of the many beautiful fields that we went past.

This huge steaming blue pit created enough fog to cut visibility on the path down to just a few feet in front of you.

Busy little bacteria have stained the area red. A lot of the trees in this area were damaged in the recent fires.

At the end of the day, while the kids were finding out about birds and wildlife, Dad had the chance to explore Lake Yellowstone with his camera.

This incredibly calm lake was full of trees chewed down by beavers. I even spotted one of the little guys cruising off in search of something else to munch.

We were treated to a fantastic sunset over the lake as we were leaving.