The boys and Andy were out early feeding bread to the fish.
Then the boys all took a trip to ride a steam engine. When all the kids are boys, the leaves just the moms alone to do what they want (which was a little shopping and lunch at Cracker Barrel). There was a concern from a certain husband that this vacation was planned as an elaborate way for me and Vincie to get some girl time in. While it worked out that way, that couldn't be the purpose for the vacation since it was planned by Vincie's husband, Andy. We just got lucky.
The boys all had fun riding a steam train and learning about miners.
Exploring the end of the tracks.
Rudy pretending to be the train.
The train they rode.
Across from the train was a playground, with a train, so they spent some time there.
Then they took a drive into Centralia. It is an old mining town where the mines started to burn many years ago. There are very few residents in the town anymore and most of the houss have been torn down. Sometimes you can see the smoke from the fires that are still burning underground. There is no way to stop them and they may eventually move toward other towns, too.
In the pictures, you can see how these used to be residential streets.
Once we all got back to the campground, we went swimming and the boys played with their souvenir trains.
And then we had some dinner by the very happy looking chef.
The boys had fun collecting stones ad throwing them into the water- trying to skip them.
They also liked walking along the wall at the edge of he water.
After dinner we went to ride the bumper boats. I think the adults had more fun than the kids, especially based on the fact that when we suggested we ride them again another night, none of the kids were interested, and all of the adults were disappointed! Since our numbers were even, each kid rode with an adult.
Here's me and Rudy. A self-portrait since I had the camera.
Vincie and Tyler taking a rare break from squirting us.
Paul and Sean - Paul had it easiest because he didn't have a kid who wanted to do anything so Paul could control the boat and the water.
Andy and Noah - Andy figured out a way to control the water that would hit you directly. He was dangerous to get near!
Poor Sean was very tolerant and must have wondered what all the crazy people were up to!
Something happened to my camera during the bumper boats. It did get a little wet, but was able to take pictures fine. However, after we got off the boats, I wanted to get a picture of everyone, but my camera wouldn't turn on. We hoped maybe the battery had just died so we tried charging it with no luck.
Exploring the end of the tracks.
Rudy pretending to be the train.
The train they rode.
Across from the train was a playground, with a train, so they spent some time there.
Then they took a drive into Centralia. It is an old mining town where the mines started to burn many years ago. There are very few residents in the town anymore and most of the houss have been torn down. Sometimes you can see the smoke from the fires that are still burning underground. There is no way to stop them and they may eventually move toward other towns, too.
In the pictures, you can see how these used to be residential streets.
Once we all got back to the campground, we went swimming and the boys played with their souvenir trains.
And then we had some dinner by the very happy looking chef.
The boys had fun collecting stones ad throwing them into the water- trying to skip them.
They also liked walking along the wall at the edge of he water.
After dinner we went to ride the bumper boats. I think the adults had more fun than the kids, especially based on the fact that when we suggested we ride them again another night, none of the kids were interested, and all of the adults were disappointed! Since our numbers were even, each kid rode with an adult.
Here's me and Rudy. A self-portrait since I had the camera.
Vincie and Tyler taking a rare break from squirting us.
Paul and Sean - Paul had it easiest because he didn't have a kid who wanted to do anything so Paul could control the boat and the water.
Andy and Noah - Andy figured out a way to control the water that would hit you directly. He was dangerous to get near!
Poor Sean was very tolerant and must have wondered what all the crazy people were up to!
Something happened to my camera during the bumper boats. It did get a little wet, but was able to take pictures fine. However, after we got off the boats, I wanted to get a picture of everyone, but my camera wouldn't turn on. We hoped maybe the battery had just died so we tried charging it with no luck.
