After sleeping in and a minimalist breakfast (we actually don't really like cooking when camping unless it's hot dogs and s'mores over the campfire...), we went back up to the cavern gift shop (just up the walkway from our cabin - which meant lots of people watching while we sipped coffee and beer on our porch throughout the weekend) to do some mining. The kids had the choice of gemstones, arrowheads, or fossils, and they chose fossils. Of course they did!
Yes, Cora now has her very own walking stick, just like James. She was thrilled! Not to be left out of the souvenir shopping, James chose a glow-in-the-dark salamander. If only the cave salamanders glowed... how cool would that be?
Lots of fossil shells, some shark teeth, and some petrified wood. They were very happy with their finds, and later traded some teeth and wood for gemstones with a boy they met in the campground. They actually made a few friends on this trip... the girls in the cabin next to ours (ages 3 and 5) instantly became their "new best friends" and they played together for hours on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. When we got back from town, the older girl was literally sitting in the walkway, just waiting for Cora to return from the aquarium. It kinda took away from the "family time" we envisioned, but they had so much fun, we just had to realize that our kids are growing up - as parents, we only get to be their "whole world" for a limited time, and ours seems to be slipping away already. Kinda sad, but also kinda nice... We relaxed with them in view, they ran circles around us as they played, and it was comforting to witness yet again how well adapted our kids are socially. We seriously love that they can make friends everywhere they go and hope that their independence and confidence takes them good places in life.
After the fossil search and running around with friends, we went down to the campground's go-kart track to race, boys vs. girls. Jay says my go-cart was just unfairly faster, but I think my years of training with Robyn and Stephen in Oregon just made me a better driver ;-)
See? I won even while taking photos. Booya!
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