Train Museum

One of our first activities in Ely, NV (which was where Derek's parents grew up and went to high school) was visiting the railroad museum.

This is an old steam engine that was nicknamed "the ghost train." During WWII they wanted to scrap all the old steam engines so they could use the metal for the war effort. The engineers liked her so much, they kept hiding her in different places so she couldn't be used for scrap metal - hence the name. She still runs today, in fact, we got to see them dumping all her soot and filling her tender up with new coal.

We went on a train ride and got a tour of the town and then toured the machine shed. The ghost train was parked there in the shed at the time so we got to take a picture with her.

Visiting the Ranch

Another highlight was visiting the ranch where Derek's mother grew up. Her father raised sheep and they lived about 50 miles outside of town. She told us that all the buildings were the same ones that they had when SHE lived there. When we saw them, everything was pretty run down and in disrepair, but it was still neat to get a picture of how she lived.

This red building was the old Pony Express Station. It is right next to the blue house that was their family's primary residence. They used the Pony Express building mostly for storage and from time to time had people living on the top floor (you can see a staircase on the left side of the house).

To the left of Grandma (with that huge bush covering the front) is the home where she lived.

While we were there looking around, it started to rain on us. Here we are trying to get a little cover from rain.

Ryan and Katie and Grandma went ahead and posed in the rain anyhow.

You've Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

Millie had her first birthday while we were camping. Her cousin, Laney, had a birthday 6 days earlier, so we celebrated for both. Grandpa made a cherry/apple cobbler which the girls enjoyed, and Grandma brought balloons for the kids to squeeze and pop and gnaw on and chase. She also chewed that #1 candle to shreds.

We didn't get to do any of our normal birthday traditions, but she had a nice day anyway.

Happy Birthday Emmi.

Cathedral Gorge

On our drive back to California, we stopped at Cathedral Gorge for a few hours. None of us had any idea what a big hit it would be for our kids. This place was awesome - basically huge walls of dried mud with mazes all throughout. We'd find an opening and walk through until we got to the very end.

We all had SO much fun.

This should give you an idea of how narrow they were.


Here's a view looking up.

Millie LOVED crawling through the tunnels. At one point she tried to squeeze in a tiny little hole, but I knew I'd never be able to get her out if she got stuck. She didn't appreciate me stopping her from trying it out.

Ryan and Katie found this tunnel that only THEY could explore. Derek and I were too big to fit, but Ryan took his flashlight and crawled all around in that dark little cave, and then took Katie once she was sure it was safe. They said it went back pretty far and opened out into another place, but we never got to see it. ;) They spent a LOT of time exploring it.

We definitely got in our fair share of climbing and searching.

This is definitely a place that we'd enjoy visiting again.

I Still Have Hobbies - Even Without Free Time

I've recently learned how to knit. My first project was a wool "soaker" like is pictured above. (Basically a diaper cover.) Unfortunately, I did not check my gauge so the end project ended up being *almost* big enough for ME to wear. This red and white one was my second project, and I would call it a success.

I am currently working on my third - a doll. It will probably take me months to complete. Whenever I am knitting around Millie, she takes to the ball of yarn like a kitten. It ends up getting all tangled - so I have to knit while she's asleep. Makes for slow project completion. When I finish, I'll be sure to post a picture.

Um, I Thought We Were Past This Behavior

I just didn't expect that when Ryan came in to "tell me something important," after lights-out time, that it would be THIS.
"I wanted to make Katie look beautiful so I drew with a marker to make her a clown."

What the? I just did NOT expect that these shenanigans were going on at 9:30 when these kids were supposed to be dead asleep. After further investigation, I found out that they had also decided to make a mural on the wall in their bedroom. Traced their hands and such.

Thankfully, the owners of this property had the good sense to paint the walls with glossy paint. And thankfully for Katie's face, Ryan chose to use a washable marker. Isn't he FIVE now? I wonder what that clown was thinking at the time.

Ryan's Birthday Party

Ryan turned 5 on June 2nd. As his birthday approached, we discussed the possibility of actually planning a party for him this year. I haven't thrown a real birthday party for any of the kids yet. He told me that he wanted to go to Boomers (a local miniature golfing place.) I am too cheap to host a party at an actual establishment, so we gave him the choice of going to Boomers as a family and not inviting any friends along, or having a friend party at the Lagoon (basically a pool party). He was adamant about Boomers so we made it happen. Luckily, Boomers gives a free pass on your birthday so he could go on all of the rides as often as he wanted for 4 hours without it costing us anything. He really had a fabulous time.

These go karts were his favorite. Derek took one turn with him and then I did another one with him later. Let me tell you - it was a lot of fun. Plus, they let you go for a LONG time. We were driving for probably 15-20 minutes. Ryan and I got a fast car and we were able to lap everybody else on the track.

You should've SEEN his face when he drove this car alone for the first time. Derek and I doubted his ability to drive it - it just seemed like a grown up thing to be doing. He had a look of terror on his face when he first pushed the gas pedal, but 2 seconds later when he rounded the corner, he was ALL smiles. He did this ride 4 or 5 times.

The miniature golfing was a riot. The videos give a pretty good representation of how the kids took care of golfing. I think that if Katie KNEW any swear words, she probably would've used a couple. She wasn't crying frustrated, but she sure got grouchy a bunch of times. It was actually very amusing. Millie just crawled along the green and tried to grab the balls whenever they got near her.

It was a successful birthday. He got some fun presents and had a ball at Boomers. What more could a five year old ask for?

Am I Scared of Lizards?

No. But I sure screamed when I saw this guy in the diaper pail. It was just so unexpected. I about gave Derek a heart attack with my screaming. Silly girl!

My Helpers

Firstborn

This child is really growing up. It is actually hard for me to believe that he is STILL four. He'll be five in the beginning of June. You know what that means - kindergarten this fall! I have spent some time waffling back and forth between sending him to public school or home schooling him. I have plenty of reasons for both, but right now we are feeling good about sending him to public school.

He is learning how to read and it has been easier than I thought it would be. He's picking up on phonics quickly. He actually really enjoys doing worksheets so every day he does some handwriting worksheets and math worksheets. Today during dinner he insisted on doing math while the rest of us were eating. Funny boy.

He and Katie are playing extremely well together lately and I'm glad they are such good friends. He is trying really hard to be obedient and does two jobs every day in our home. I love to see him grow up - he's a neat boy and we're lucky to have him.