Back From PA

We had a great time in PA. The girls were so good on our 12 hour trip.  We sure did a ton of fun things, from riding in a horse and buggy, visiting family, Hershey Chocolate Factory, Amish farms, Philadelphia, ate great Pennsylvania Dutch food, and visited an old fashioned amusement park called Knoebles- just to name a few.....

Rocks and minerals.

My girls are so interested in rocks and gems. Olive knows the birthstones for each family member and knows that Mica is just "fools" gold, even though it looks pretty. The girls had a blast when we went ruby mining over 4th of July weekend in the mountains of NC. Olive enjoys matching her new found collection up with these rock photos. She also thinks quartz is lovely because it looks like a diamond.

Back from vacation!

We had a nice holiday in the mountains of North Carolina. The girls thrive in nature, running in open fields, discovering critters under rocks, spending time with Grandmom, and hiking in the deep, deep woods.

During our hike on the Appalachian Trail we saw many interesting mushrooms in a variety of colors, snails, and wildflowers. We also went ruby mining! The girls received a "salted" bucket that contained special colored gems, while Buzz used a "native" bucket and found a 1 carat ruby (in raw form.)

Olive spent many hours looking at her new rock collection. We also caught 3- 2/1/2 pound rainbow trout from a stocked pond...they were jumping to get out of that place! On the way home we spend time with friends in Atlanta, GA and watched fireworks.

 We were all happy to be home, which I think, is a sign of a good vacation!