Heritage Musuem

We stopped by the Heritage Center in Cripple Creek which is a small museum telling the history of the city. There was a lot about the mining history (which we already learned about) and a few other things but that's all. I'm not really sure how the dinosaur fits into the Cripple Creek history but here is a picture anyway.

The boys thought it was fun pretending to be mauled by the stuffed bear. Very realistic guys.

Reece thought the best part was riding on the coin operated cars, and boats.

Could have skipped this part of the trip but the kids had fun and it was free so whatever.

Molly Kathleen Gold Mine--Cripple Creek Colorado

It takes about eight hours to get to Mancos Colorado from Erie Colorado so we decided to make some stops along the way. Our first stop was at the Molly Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek Colorado. You descend 1,000 feet (100 stories) into the Gold Mine through what is called a skip man elevator. It is basically a tiny elevator they use to get everything and everyone in and out of the mine. This particular Gold mine is still in use today along with the tours to the public they offer. It was pretty interesting to see what they had to do in the days of Gold mining past, and present. Needless to say it was a very dangerous job.

Below is a miniature model of what the Gold mine would look like if you sliced it open. On top is where the hoist house is and where you get into the mine from the skip elevator. You can see how far down you go to get to the mine and then all the different veins that they have mined. Crazy!

Before descending into the mine we took a look around at all the equipment. The boys are standing on a steam engine used to power a saw mill.

They found this old truck on the property and immediately thought of Grandpa Honeycutt. Here is your next project dad!

We were all required to wear hard hats before we descended into the mine. I don't know if Sadie thought this was okay or not be she managed.

The blaster guy demonstrated one of the air power drillers they used and still use in the Gold mining process.....one word LOUD!

It was very educational and fun to learn about the Gold Mine. One thing that I like about the Molly Kathleen Mine in particular is that Molly was the first woman to claim this land as her Gold Mine. It was unheard of for a woman to be able to do that in this time period. Long story short, she found the gold and went in to make her official claim where the guy told her she couldn't because she was a woman. She proceeded to take out her pistol and basically told him if he wanted to leave the office that day he better put her name on that claim. Men, seriously. The rest is history. Gotta love it!

The End of School Field Day 2009!

Field day is always the kids favorite! Am I right? Luckily it was a nice sunny day because half of the events involved some sort of water game. Here is Landon with one shoe on one shoe off and a bunch of water on his head. Somehow I don't think this was part of the game.Next was some sort of game where they had to get the ball to the other side without getting their flag pulled. Landon was very intense.

Tug of war! Boys against girls! The girls even had the help of a teacher anchored at the end but the boys still won.....good job guys.

Dayton and his buddy Jude drawing during a chalk game. I noticed at every station these two chose to be partners which is okay with me since Jude is a great kid.

Here they are again. This time the game is pick up marbles with your toes out of the swimming pool and put them in the tin can. Who comes up with this stuff? Both Landon and Dayton had a great time.

Reece was getting a little tired of watching all the bigger kids have all the fun so he found himself a slide and had some fun of his own. As for Sadie Ann? She wasn't impressed so much and slept through the whole thing.

Dare devil Reece

I'm guessing most parent's would try to stop their three year old from jumping off a five foot retaining wall, we just take pictures. (For the record, Trav was the one taking pictures, I didn't see this til I uploaded the photos) Reece is such a crazy three year old, he does everything his older brother's do. He is Awesome.

Landon's Pine Wood Derby 2009

Landon's first annual Pine Wood Derby race turned out to be a great success. He was so excited. I myself was a little nervous about the event because Travis was out of town for it and all the dad's at the church were making all these last minute adjustments to their cars (or atleast looking like they were). It is quite the serious event if you haven't gone before. All of the cars looked great and the boys were very excited. Landon's car turned out to be FAST! He took 1st place among the Bears and actually had the fastest car out of anybody! Way to go Landon. He was so excited to call his dad and let him know. The thing that is most exciting is that Landon built the car by himself. Of course Travis helped him by telling him what to do but Landon did all the work. So cool. We all couldn't help wishing Trav was there but he had a important meeting that he had to be at in San Francisco that night. He actually arranged the meeting early so he could leave and fly home but there were not any flights. I guess the next thing we need to build is our own private jet! It was a fun night. We celebrated with icecream!

These pictures are a bit blurry ( I was holding Sadie and trying to get pictures at the same time, not always easy) but Landon's car is the Silver one on the left side of the track. He appropriately named it the Silver Bullet.

Easter 2009

Here are my cute kiddos in their Easter best. I took everyone shopping with me and let them pick out their outfits. It's so funny how different your own kids are. Landon went with the conservative shirt and tie that looked great. Dayton for sure wanted the jacket to go over his shirt and tie because he said "I look like a manager". Reece didn't care too much so mom got to pick his. All three of the boys said "NO PINK!" Okay okay. I debated about getting Sadie a new Easter dress but my friend Laura had given her this dress when she was born and she is now just the right size for it and I LOVE IT, and can't imagine finding anything better for her Easter dress. So thank you Laura for Miss Sadie Ann's first Easter dress. We have church at 9am and have really been trying hard not to be late so our Easter morning was quick and I didn't get any pictures of the baskets but the Easter bunny didn't dissapoint. I snapped a few quick ones as we were heading out the door. It was a great day. Nothing better than going to church and learning more about the Savior's Atonement and the miracle of the Resurrection and getting to spend time with each other to complete the day.

School Snow Day!

Yeah it snowed! And did it ever, about two feet or more! March, surprisingly, is the snowiest month for Colorado.

Landon's official Birthday (March 26th) started out with school being cancelled because of a huge blizzard that hit Denver. He thought it was awesome!

Dayton and Reece in their "snow chairs"

Reece getting ready to Jump off the wall. Just as he jumped, the camera man (dad) was helping Dayton with his glove and missed the shot. Oops.