Gem Mine

 Today's post is late because of endless family development. We started the day at a restaurant, realized the kids were going to spin out if we had to wait too long, so we had to pivot. 

We found a little place that had a mountain slide. If you aren’t familiar, prepare yourself. You ride a conveyor belt up the mountain and then a young man dips your tube in soapy water (you read that right) and pushes you down the mountain. Charlie had some reservations. But one of our homeschool challenges is to face fears head on, and together. So, down we went. It was a riot. We basically had the mountain to ourselves and the rush of sliding down a mountainside knocked out most of Ziggy’s angsty gripes and Charlie was so proud of herself she mostly beamed. 

Then it was on to the gem mine. Rob and I had been on our earlier trip and thought it would be fun for the kids. It went better than I could have imagined. We were presented with three large seemingly dull buckets of sand. They shoveled and washed and gasped at the discovery. Aquamarine, citrine, topaz, sapphire, garnet and ruby. All of them hidden within rough looking little stones. The host showed us that with a little attention and tending, the stones would shine. Each of us picked our favorite stone, and had it made into a little piece of jewelry to remember the trip. 

The kids were calm and happy and ready to be back at the cabin. So after grabbing some takeout, Rob and I collapsed on the porch to eat and leaned into each other, satisfied that we had won the day. 

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