"The Zeller Adventure" Day 5 (and planking)

Well hello there!  I didn't die, I just started the busiest week of my summer the day after my family left - which was probably a good thing because that didn't give me much time to dwell on how much I miss them (*sob*).  The  Monday after they left, Charissa and I started school (more about that later), then on Wednesday I got a desperate call from a local hotel needing help until the end of September as part of their staff had left.  So I started working part time on Thursday.  Brandt was cutting his molars while with my family here (sorry guys) and continued to have some pretty horrid nights so sleep deprivation added to all that.  But now I think things are under control enough that I will continue!

Have you ever heard of planking?  It's, like, all the rage now.  (Do they even say "all the rage" anymore?  Do you even know what I'm saying?  It means "cool".  Okay.)  So anyway, my family is into planking.  And I really got into it, too.

What is planking, you ask?  It's lying flat as a board across different objects.  There is another trend called "owling" when you place both feet together and squat down on a very small object.  But anyway, we didn't do owling, we did planking.  Here are a bunch of the sibs planking an enormous rock on top of Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone.

We spent the day at Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls.  They are some of the most spectacular waterfalls you will ever see.  Strong Man displays one of the more difficult planking maneuvers - the railing.

  

Bean exhibits the "v-plank", a vertical plank, on the family van, (an excellent modified plank for those with back troubles).

Tall Man gives us another planking masterpiece - the "thing to thing plank".

Planking can use a multitude of props to display its optimum beauty. 

The little girls are both so country, they wanted to see what was under the manhole.  They weren't planking, but they look like it don't they?

Anyway, aside from planking, the girls had matching hair-dos thanks to the talent of Aunt Bean.  How sweet are they?

The Brink of Lower Falls.  Isn't it breathtaking?

Taking a rest while walking to Artist's Point. 

The view from Artist's Point - spectacular!  Look at all the colors!

My positively amazing parents.  Since Dad retired from the military in May, he grew a beard.  I was not expecting that the first time I saw him.  Some screaming might have been involved on my part.  I'm used to it now.  I think.  (He's still really handsome, of course.)

Yay for family!  Doug and Brandt stayed home for the day while he worked on his sermon and Brandt recouped from the night before.

Molars are a very difficult thing in the life of a 16 month old.  Poor baby.

Aunt Boots gave Charissa a lift back to the van.  What a wonderful day!