Family Field Trip!

Ben had Friday off, so we were able to go on our first family field trip with all three kids homeschooling!!!

Having Camille home has changed the dynamic of our homeschool, and we are still working out the kinks. But, finally having the flexibility of having all three kids home is wonderful! I'm so, so happy to have them all home- even if it is hard some days.

Our first field trip? To the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit. Tickets for this exhibit were about $55/person. But, because I organized it as a field trip, we were able to go for $5/person because we got the school price.

They have a new Mindbender exhibit as well- we loved this part! There were so many cool and intricate puzzles for us to figure out. They were really hard!

 Then they did an experiment in the body exhibit- figuring which cereal has the most sugar. Let me say- there is A LOT of sugar in cereal!

And, the kids room:

First Day of Cloverleaf!

The girls were all so nervous. Audra is starting the Middle School program, so it's all new teachers. Claire wasn't sure which of her friends would be back, and of course Camille is brand new to Cloverleaf.

Camille was sweet the night before. She asked Claire if she would sit with her at lunch (I was later told they did sit together), and in our family prayer she asked Claire to pray for her.

My heart melted. These girls fight like you wouldn't believe, but they also love and support each other when it matters most.

Not surprisingly, they all had a very successful day. Camille wouldn't tell us much about her day (as is her style), but Audra had a great time with the MS and everybody survived.

And, boy oh boy, did I enjoy finally having a little bit of a break!

The Miracle of the Booster!

When we arrived in Reno, Camille's booster didn't make it. BOOO!!!!

They said they would deliver it on Wednesday.

Nope.

Nor did it come Thursday or Friday.

I truly never thought I would see the booster again, but miracle of miracles- it was at the Reno Airport and Camille and her booster were reunited.

We did not check it on our flight home.

Last Supper!

For our last night, several of us headed to dinner at a fun pizza place.

Oh, man- the good-byes were HARD! Our girls cried, and cried, and cried. We truly had the best week- I would go back and do the exact same itinerary all over again.

 Camille and Freya were best friends for the week! Freya told Michelle that Camille needs to go on all of their vacations. I am certain Camille would be OK with that.

The kids put on a talent show- they designed it and came up with everything all on their own. It was really cute- Bridger played with Hot Wheels, Camille recited a poem, Audra and Aubrey sang a song, Claire emceed. It was really cute.

And, just like that, the week was over. I can't describe how wonderful this week was, and how hard it was to say good-bye. Yes, we were very glad to sleep in our own beds again and get some better sleep (we were SOOOO tired!), but this week really reminded me once again about how awesome our family is and how great it is to be with them! I'm so glad families are forever and we get to spend the rest of eternity hanging out!

Virginia City

At one point in time, Virginia City was the third largest city in the West- San Francisco, then Denver, then Virginia City.

I now know why it is a completely dead city at this time: it is AWFUL to get to! I hated the drive to get up into this backwoods mountain town. I never, ever want to make that drive again- and I wasn't even the one driving!

With that said, however, it was pretty fun to go visit this place. It is a true mining town. We decided to go because it reminded us all of our trips growing up to Jackson Hole- back before it became 100% commercialized.

We saw a comedy show, which really was a lot of fun. They even had a Mormon joke:

"You are such a moron, Jess!"

"No I'm not, I'm Episcopalian!"

I laughed.

 We went into the mine. It was a pretty short tour, but I'm glad we went because we learned a lot about the town.

Here is the cast of the show- it was fun!

Then, of course we had to stop at the candy store:

The history teacher in me loved being inside buildings built almost 200 years ago and experiencing how so many people lived at one point. Man, that must have been a rough life! Denver would have been such a better place to land!

Beautiful View!

On our way to Virginia City, we had to stop to get a picture of this view:

Family Picture!

Before we headed out on our last day of adventure at Virginia City, I insisted we get a family picture. I honestly have no idea when, or if, we will get all 30 of us together again that doesn't involve somebody dressed in white. I plotted the perfect double Brady Bunch pose, and after breakfast we corralled everybody to the barn- even if Isaac was kicking and screaming the whole way.

BBQ

What is better after a day on the river than a BBQ? Not much! We all had a big appetite, and were well fed as we enjoyed the cabin scenery and BBQ pit! Matt and Ilea even got us food for s'mores- the kids were in Heaven!

Phinn and Rebekah:

Audra and Rebekah:

Tabatha, Ali, and Ilea:

Zak:

Isaac, doing everything in his power to avoid having his picture taken, and succeeding quite well: