Sutter Gold Mine Trip

One of our day adventures was out to the Sutter Gold Mine up by Sutter Creek and Amador City...for folks back home think Waldorf or New Richland sized. We had a little time to kill before our tour so we went back to Amador City and toured their main street.

They had a couple cute little shops I wouldn't mind stopping into again...these pics our of their outdoor decor. The shop took over 3 store fronts and second story...I could have stayed in them for hours looking at their stuff.

Mom spotted this peddle plane at one of the antique shops...she thought they had one of these at some point...this one was only going for $3999...a real deal ;p

A view of some main street shops.

Eventually we had to head back to catch our tour.

Off we go into the mine...

They had some equipment depicting the different ways the mine had been used over the years.

In all it was a good little trip...and we are glad that we got to go in. They are making plans to stop giving tours so that they can start mining for gold again since prices are so high.

Day Trip to Napa

So last Saturday we headed out with the Outdoor Recreation on base and headed out to Napa. For $20/person they drive you around to different wineries that offer free or cheap tastings. We had a great time and might have to arrange another trip with our driver.

Can we take this to go?

We saw some really beautiful buildings along the way. How would you like to have that balcony off your bedroom?

We also ate some yummy food to soak up some of the wonderful wine we were trying.

Hey there sweetie! Are you enjoying the tour?

We also got to take a peek at some of the wine cellars.

Loving that they had both green beans and the grapes up over the trellis archways.

A quick group shoot at one of the "billboards" for Napa.

One of the wineries we just stopped to look at was a castle...we were told their grape juice is way better then their wine ;) But they also had some sheep out grazing and I had to take a picture of my woolly friends.

The last stop was probably the best and it is only a couple of miles from base. Every Saturday from 1 to 5 they have $5 tastings that includes a glass of your favorite wine, all the pizza you want and a band. Talk about a party! I think we may need to hit this place again. They wine wasn't the best we tried all day, but the pizza was yummy and the place felt more like our style.

Busy Days

So this summer the boys have been busy with activities that I got them signed up with through the Youth Center. M has been busy with Soccer (Challenger Posts), Golf and Equestrian. I was able to catch the kids brushing out horses one day, another day they were cleaning out stalls...

you can thank me for only taking pictures of the first activity and not cleaning of the stalls. Once a week we go to the stables and the boy learns how to be more of a farm kid.

This week the boys have started swimming lessons. J thankfully is not clinging to the walls and wailing like back 3 years ago when we attempted the same thing with the boys. I seriously think J thought it was a half hour of torture, and he still might, but he is trying this time around.

His little determined face, or maybe he is just happy that it isn't any longer then 30 minutes.

M on the other hand is thriving this time, maybe the difference between age 8 and 6. M is determined to swim and keep up with his buddy A that has a pool in his backyard. M is less stiff and more relaxed then ever...maybe being able to touch the bottom of the pool on tippy-toes helps with that.

Swimming out to the rope.

Cannonball!

Swimming back to the ledge.

Jumping in from the ledge.

All smiles about the fun time at lessons.

Thankful for warm fuzzy towels. The pool is as warm as bathwater, but outside it was only 75 and SUPER windy making it chilly when out. The boys will continue through the 21st with this session of lessons, my prediction is M will go onto to the next level and J will have fun repeating.

Filling a Weekend

So with the Sanders family on the road I thought I would recap the last nights we got to share together.  The kids had a great time spending time together and we kept on saying why didn't we do more of this the past two years!

On Friday I hosted, J and momma Katz went to a farewell for one of the Commanders here so I got to watch the kids and entertain the Sanders family without them for part of the night. The kids had a blast being outside running around in the cooling summer night.

I think most of the outside time included N chasing everyone with a light saber.

 But that's what makes him happy.

This kids also sat around watching C play on his laptop playing an online game, MineCraft.

 

On Saturday we headed over to join in the fun at Momma Katz's place...the kids were really excited....because they have a pool and all....and they always have fun with them.

One little mermaid all decked out.

A rare moment with N out of the water, he is a fish and wants to be in the water at all times, quite different from the other two boys at this age. He goes in and paddles around with a jacket on and doesn't mind going under either, he just comes up smiling and laughing.

The bigger kids put on a little show doing several jumps in together.

N thought it looked like fun and decided he wanted to jump in too...and I think we did jump in ten times together...no fear that boy!

 After drying off and eating some supper the kids had fun getting as much time in with the Sanders family as possible. They will be missed, but hopefully our paths will cross again someday and happy that we got to share so many memories together.

The kids were really worn out, so much that little L decided to lay down on the concrete and play ds...what a sight...I think all the kids probably slept great last night :)