{ The Western Center }

We needed to do something out of the heat today. This was it! The Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology. The kids were excited as we walked across the lawn.

We wanted to look around at all of the cool artifacts and fossils.

But first, we found the Keva exhibition. It was so cool to have all of these maple blocks at our disposal to build whatever we wanted. The kids literally spent hours on their creations. My son built a house complete with truck and trees.

My daughter built a cool train.

And they built castles and courtyards with stairs and beds and gardens.

We dragged them away to go the water center across the way. they learned how many hundreds of gallons go into the production of one hamburger. Fascinating.

When we got home this evening, my son continued in his archeological trek, first taking a very important phone call, then excavating in the back yard.

Every paleontologist needs a trusty assistant.

{ Soccer Season is Here }

My daughter had her first soccer game today. It was HOT. Definitely over 100 degrees. The high for today was going to be 109. She played all four quarters and was such a trooper. She didn't run as much the last quarter. It was just hot. This year hse moved up to the U10 division, so they keep score and have a referee. They lost by two points 5-7, but I thought the girls did great.

{ Dino Mountain, Just 1 Last Time }

We went to the Wild Animal Park today to the see the Dinosaur Mountain once more before it ends. My son was really excited!!!


Hey kid, don't feed the dinosaurs!

The kids got passbooks which they stamped for each dinosaur that they saw.

Scary T-rex.

Last dinos of the day.

We had lunch with icees because it was really hot today and then caught the Dino Magic show, which was cute. Then we headed home and Dad took the kids to the pool.

{ Gifted and Talented Education }

My daughter was accepted into the G.A.T.E. program at school! I'm so proud of her, I can hardly believe it!

{ Accidental Injury from a Kitchen Utensil }

Yep, that's my diagnosis. I sprained my third finger trying to get the bowl off the mixer. Can you believe that? I went today for x-rays just to see if it's broken, it's been the same for about a month now. Swollen and painful. Seriously. Maybe I should have come up with a better story.

{ Back to School }

The kids started first and third grades today. I can't believe how fast they are growing up. After all of my stewing and worrying, my son got the teacher I wanted for him. He was so confident his first day, walking straight to his room and finding his desk. I think this will boost him up and make him like school again. My daughter has the same teacher again for third grade. I'm so excited for this year. I know she'll learn a lot. Her class is sports themed this year, since she knows her entire class is very athletic. It's going to be a great year.

{ Camping at Mammoth }

We started our trip off with a stop to the Manzanar National Monument on Highway 395. This is a former Japanese-American internment camp from WWII. We spent two hours looking through the interpretive center and watching a short film on the subject. It is amazing to me the things that fear and ignorance can lead people to do, including president Roosevelt.

After that stop, we had an hour more to the Coldwater campground where we set up camp in spot 67. Note to self, next time get 39 or 40.

Here we are in Mammoth.

Yummy s'mores.

In the morning we visited Mono Lake. The ranger did an hour long talk which the kids enjoyed so much, especially my son. The ranger talked to him about birds. He had everyone collect shrimp from the lake to look at under a magnifying glass.

Can you believe how strong my daughter is? This is pumice, which is natural to the area.

The ranger pulled some brine-fly larva out of the lake. He said the natives would spread these out to dry and eat them as cereal. He asked for volunteers to try them. My son actually ate one!

Tufas with blooming rabbitbrush.

We visited Bodie, a ghost town north of Lee Vining. It was just amazing what was left there. Apparently, the entire town just picked up and moved out at the same time. They left a lot of stuff behind. Some home had all kinds of trash strewn about everywhere. There was furniture and even jars and cans on shelves.

All of the houses still had curtains hanging. Here's what they look like now.

The general store still had all it's shelves stocked.

We spent the last day fishing in the morning on June Lake. It was so cold in the mornings, that we skipped breakfast and ate leftover s'more makings once we got on the boat.

The crazy local ducks started following us around. Once we fed them two slices of bread, they left us alone.