History is fun!

As I mentioned before, Michael was waiting at home for us. It was so sweet to see the reunion between mother and son. It brought tears to the eyes.

Here they are playing the guitar together. I'm sure Miguel loved having someone to play music with. Also someone who he could teach a little, seeing as I'm not exactly a student with a long attention span and Hunter is more interested in playing with friends or video games, Corrine in dancing and socializing, and Laynee in Princesses.

We wanted to show Grandma all about our beautiful residence so we took her to the county museum. It was so much fun!

      That's a really big tree. It was, like 400 and something years old. Pretty neat, huh?


Laynee loved this seal. She kept making seal noises. Which would explain the look on her face in the picture below. She was making the noises just as I snapped the pic.

Hunter the Bird Man.

I tried putting this yoke-ish thing on Layna but she was not very excited about it. I don't have a clue why.

But she was all about going shopping at the general store. Michael went with her, because you know, Child Labor Laws and all. I believe they were just coming into existence in those days. Anyhow, when Miguel tried to get the attention of the lady behind the counter, she just ignored him. Psh. Some people. (I love to watch Laynee's face when we play pretend with her. She'll just look at us like, "What the heck are you doing? You do realize you're making a fool of yourself, right?")

The kids, Miguel and Grandma had a great time playing at the Lincoln logs table.

Hello random, but adorable picture. How did you get in there?

While the others were playing with Lincoln logs, I was having my daily treat. A yummy, lush, ruby red apple. And in case you couldn't tell already, I was Laynee's pet cow. C-O-W.  Moo.

My rider and I roamed all around that place. Ahhh, good times. And bad knees.

And of course, what museum wouldn't be complete without a gift shop at the end? This one was no exception, and it lured us all in like the money trap it is. Pet rocks, home grown moss, stethoscopes; the works. The second Laynee clapped her eyes on a butterfly toy, she was hooked. There was no turning back. She had to have it. Michael and I, being the generous parents we are, said, "No. Way. We are not spending your college savings on a toy that will be forgotten in a day." So she wailed and gnashed her teeth and pouted her way out to the truck. Just as Michael started up the engine, Grandma turned around in her seat and whispered to me, "Can I please buy it for her?" Then she gave me a puppy dog look that I could not resist. So I caved, and hooo boy, you'd have thought Laynee had died and gone to Princess Unicorn Butterfly Heaven. She was thrilled. So just the two of them went in to purchase the dang thing. This shot was taken just after they emerged from the building. We all learned a valuable lesson that day. Grandma is a sucker for her grandkiddies. And I want to be just like that.

Our next stop was the fish ladders. Super cool. The salmon (and many other fish, but mainly salmon) will swim from the ocean all the way back to the river where they were hatched to spawn and then die. The fish ladders are here for the...for the...ah dang. I have no idea why they're there. And Mr. Biologist isn't around for me to ask. So I'll let you know later.

See the fishy? Not the one in the grey jacket, the one behind the glass. You can walk down to the fish ladders and watch the fish swim upstream. There are some HUGE fish that pass through there. This guy was among the smaller ones.

And her trip wasn't even over yet. We still had two more days with Grandma before sending her on her way. But I'll tell you all about them later...