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Monday, May 28, 2012

Black Chasm Cavern

 Grandpa came for a visit so we went for a little drive up to the foothills to check out some caves.
 Once of the perks of living in Northern California is we are in a central location to take in a lot of different terrain and sights. Even though I grew up in Northern CA. I never went to any of these caves. So we packed a picnic and headed out for the hour drive!
 I thought the kids might be bored by what they saw, but they do pretty well with stuff like this. They love listening to the guides and trying to answer questions and learn new facts. This cave is one of the best places in the world to see these calcite deposit formations.
 They look like crazy little worms that have been squished out of a mold, or fancy blown glass sculptures.
 This formation is called bacon.
 And here's a picture where I look like a bat. I thought it was appropriate, being in a cave and all.
 Waaaay down there, the little speck of blue is an underwater lake.
 I just like this truck.
 In the gift shop, the boys wanted to buy geodes. Before she helped them crack them open, she explained how they are formed. I honestly don't remember what she said. Something about heating up and cooling down.

 Ty's had cool little wormlike formations inside.
 Ashlynn chose to buy a back of "rare gems" in sand.We used the sluice they had outside to separate the rare stuff from the sand.

 Then we drove into Jackson to check out the cute little old mountain town. My Great Grandma use to teach school around here somewhere.
 We found the best shop in town. Grandpa said Grandma would have loved this shop!

 When we asked Grandpa what she would have bought he pointed to the white fudge and said, "Divinity". The kids said, "What's Divinity?" The little old man behind the counter quietly gave them each a sample and said, "I can't have kids leave my store who haven't tried Divinity!" The kids liked that!
Ashlynn and I vowed to come back and hit every single one of the antique shops someday, when the men fold aren't hovering over our shoulders!

Friday, May 18, 2012

Ty's Kindergarten Graduation

 We have ourselves a graduate! He got all spiffed up for the occasion. This might be the first kindergarten graduation we've ever had in our family. I don't remember Ashlynn or Briggs even doing a ceremony. The format was great! They sang us a song. The teacher read a poem and a book about what the kids may grow up to become. Then each child stood on a chair front and center with the teacher. The teacher told us what that child's favorite part of Kindergarten was and what they want to be when they grow up. Then they posed for a picture for the parents!


 Ty said his favorite part of Kindergarten was going to King Skate and he wants to be a baseball player when he grows up! (But he says he doesn't know what team he's going to be on...)
Then we went to Cold Stone for a little celebratory ice cream! We are so proud of you, Ty!

Last Day of School

 Last Day of School Picture! Even though it's only the middle of May, the kids look ready for summer- I'm ready for summer!
 This year I wrote notes everyday and put them in their lunches. I told them to save them and not throw them away. Because I dated them all, I was able to collect them and put them in order in a scrapbook and present them to them on the last day of school. Because my kids were superstars at the school with their reading, I also included a list of all of the books that they read this school year. The were pretty excited to read through them.
 I snuck into Briggs' class to take a picture with him and Ms. Hausmann, who was awesome!
 This is what 3rd graders do when you bring out a camera. So cute!
 In the hallway with all of their "last day of school" loot!
Ashlynn with her awesome teacher, Ms. Bridges. We were so lucky to have AMAZING teachers this year. They helped my kids soooo much! We are crossing our fingers that we get so lucky next year!