Summer Fun

Water balloon fight and splashing in the water play station. It was going to be boys vs girls but all the kids turned on Bill and I and made it an adults vs kids battle. We lost!

Me helping the competition make balloons and build up their arsenal.

Ready for battle!

Joseph calmly eating watermelon during the battle.

They outflanked us and had us running in retreat.

 Relaxing and reveling in their victory.

 Time to just get wet.

 "Hey you guys."

 Ahhhhhhh!

 "Ha ha, that's funny"

Feliz cumpleaños

Several weeks ago the neighborhood celebrated our next door neighbor Bill's birthday with a pinata beat down. All the kids were given a chance to make it rain candy, but as you will see, this pinata clown was not going to give up without a fight.

 

Let the chaos begin. That's Bill in the Yellow with grey stripes polo shirt. Happy B-Day Bill!

Look at that smile.

 

Bill's oldest daughter was the first batter up, Haley was on deck warming up.

 

That pinata was shakin' in its boots

 

And she connects!  

 Focused on the candy and not looking very lady like.

 The big boys are up to bat now...let the candy fly...

 A foot and some leg go flying!

 So sad!

 There goes the other leg. Also note the boy in the yellow shirt on the left is wearing the clown's boots.

Sara ready to help Haley get some candy.

 It's the birthday boy's turn.

 That pinata never had a chance.

 chaos!

 Go Haley and get Daddy...um, I mean, yourself some candy.

 Jackpot!

 Going back for seconds

 Not a bad end to a day.

"Come Here Buggy"

Trip To War Eagle Caverns and War Eagle Mill

Here are some pictures from our trip to War Eagle Cavern and the War Eagle Mill. War Eagle Cavern, which is on the shores of Beaver Lake about 30 minutes from our house, offers guided walking tours, gem panning (which Haley loved), Lost in the Woods maze, hiking trails, picnic and play areas. War Eagle Cavern is home to over 75,000 bats! The two main species that inhabit the cave are the Eastern Pipestrelle and the gray bat. We were able to see a few Eastern Pipestrelle hanging from the ceiling while some others flew past us. If you would like to learn more about caverns, click on the following link for a short video. Discovery Earth

Haley is now a rock hound

Haley showing Renee how to pan for gems

We found one!!

Check me out!

Display showing the possible gems/minerals you can find. We were able to find most of them in the panning that we did.

Haley running back to the gem panning area to try to strike it rich

Haley and her bag of gems

Now it's off to the cavern.

Natural Entrance to the Cavern. Native Americans where the first to use this Cavern. The cool 55 degree air probably provided relief from the hot summers, and the springs provided a constant source of clean water.

Can you  make out what this Native American drawing is of? If you said a deer you are correct. There was also a picture of a turkey, but the camera didn't capture it well.

Good example of a stalactite, stalagmite, column, and curtain

Reconstructed Moonshine distillery. Moonshiners used this Cavern because the police could not easily enter the cave and there is a constant breeze that would have blown the smoke out. The tour guide showed us how there was no soot or smoke stains on the ceiling anywhere.

The Movie "Frank and Jesse" was filmed in the cave and surround area.

Man-made pool within the cave. Most likely to help with the production of the Moonshine and to have for drinking and washing.

Leaving the Cavern

Now it's time for some lunch. We drove a few miles over to War Eagle Mill. War Eagle Mill is a working water-powered gristmill. The original mill was built by Sylvanus Blackburn shortly after he settled in the War Eagle River valley in 1832. Today, the mill sells a variety of flours and meals, ground on the premises. They also have a gift shop and the Bean Palace restaurant, located on the third floor.

Some interesting stuff on display

Waiting for our food. We where sooooo hungry.

So Haley wasn't happy because she was tired and wanted to play with everything, but we kept telling her no. Here she is showing us how sad she is. On a side note, look how good that Diet Coke looks in that canning jar.

Trying to cheer her up.

Still trying to make her smile. But she was too tired and hungry. However, she cheered up when her lunch of chicken fingers and Cheetos showed up.

The gristmill in action

Haley trying to get some candy

Haley looking through a gristmill grinding stone.

                                                                        CHEESE!