On a whim on the way home from our trip to Utah we decided to take a detour and stop here...

We lucked out and got there right in time to see them bringing out the trains... reenacting the day when the last spike was set, completing the transcontinental railroad.

The trains were replicas of the actual trains that were used in the ceremony... pretty cool... one was a coal fired steam engine and the other a wood fired steam engine. We weren't able to go inside but we could take a peak from the outlook point.

Here's the Jupiter train that came from the Central Pacific RailRoad line...

and train 119 coming from the Union Pacific Railroad..

It was blistering hot out so we decided to just read as many signs as we could and then took pictures of the rest to read later. We watched a really good "making of the transcontinental railroad" movie... and the kiddos also did the Jr. Ranger program which was really hard... took us over 2 hours to complete it... the kiddos were about to give up on it when we helped them out a bit.

But they finally finished and were really glad to finally take the oath and get their badge.

Glad we took the time to see it... one of those places way off the beaten path, and we probably won't ever go back again but fun nevertheless to share another important history moment with the kiddos. Plus we got to put a new stamp in our National Park passport.

While in Utah (back in July) we also hiked up to Timpanogos Caves National Monument. It was one of the hardest hikes we've done all year. Here we are ready to head out...

It was all paved which was great but the 1 and 1/2 mile climb up 1200 feet in elevation was tough and left all of us (but Walker, who has endless energy) a bit winded. The views were amazing and nothing beats a hike in a National park with family.

This was a 1/4 of the way there..

and this was about 1/2 way there... took us about an 75 minutes to climb to the top.

Up at the top you wait for your cave tour time to begin so the kiddos spent the time checking out a little chipmunk who was very curious and hoping for a handout. Was proud that the kiddos remembered one of the Ranger rules... No feeding the wildlife in the park. Even though everyone else was giving him food.

We lucked out and got in an earlier cave time tour. Good thing we aren't claustrophobic because it was tight in some places..

As usual Mr. Ranger Walker loved the entire thing... I often wonder how much he retains during the ranger programs but when we returned home he was busy offering cave tours in his tents and tunnel he set up in the living room.

So the lighting was dark as to be expected in the caves so the photos turned out awful... I actually bought postcards because I knew I wouldn't get very good pictures but here are a couple decent ones..

We had to hurry down the trail once the tour was over so that the kiddos could turn in their Jr. Ranger booklets and get their badges... we made it just in time. They closed at 5:30 and looking at the clock in the picture with the kiddos doing their pledge ..we had 1 minute to spare.

They even got to try on real Ranger hats...

After the big hike we all needed some much deserved ice cream...

Was really a fun time and am glad we got to check off another National Monument on our list!

This is how I found Bear this morning after dropping off the kiddos at school...

Love that he is still a comfort to Little Bug and very much loved.

Back in July we headed down to Thanksgiving point Utah for the weekend and headed to the Dinosaur Museum.

A very cool experience for us all. It has one of the largest collections of mounted dinosaur fossils in the world. It is a very kid friendly hands on kind of museum... just perfect for our very active kiddos.

Was hard to grasp the sizes... when looking at books on dinosaurs they give you dimensions but until you see it in "real life" it is just hard to comprehend... we spent a lot of time looking up.

The lighting was tricky in there but I did get a couple good photos... like this guy... doesn't he look just mean?

I found the egg fossils really fascinating... very cool.

Like I said very hands on... one of the areas was all about erosion and how it plays a role in the time period. Both Kiddos and Daddy loved this area... getting wet... building dams... uncovering lost dinosaurs...

They also made their own dinosaur... sorting through fabric parts and attaching them to make their mighty dino...

We all loved the ocean fossils the best...

The turtle was unbelievable... hard to believe it was found in one of the Dakotas.

Kiddos also did a little archaeological digging...

Was one of those places where you could stay all day... looking and looking around some more. We will have to head back down in a year or so to check it all out again. Fun times!

Last week was back to school night. Both kiddos were excited to show us around their classrooms. Walker was most excited to show us how organized his desk was... a little peek into his desk.

Showing us his self portrait picture...

They did away with parent teacher conferences this year so this is really the only time during the year to meet their teachers. She tested him on reading and he just got into the second grade reading level! The problems we had in kindergarten "works quietly when appropriate" isn't an issue anymore... since they do everything as a class now, there aren't any more centers where they had time with classmates.

Here he is with his teacher whom I really love and is such a good fit for him...

Then it was on to Ainsley's classroom. A peek into her desk...

And her cute little self...

I let her wear her hang down earrings that night so she was mostly excited about that. It's funny how all of a sudden 3rd grade is serious work... there aren't any cute drawings or pictures hung up to look at it's mostly folders and binders of work completed. This year it's also the change of grading to A,B and C's. She gave us a demo with her "clicker" as to how they use their new state of the art learning system... the Promethean board.

Here she is with her teacher whom I absolutely love and can not say enough wonderful things about. And in the back it's the Promethean board.

I'm really excited for both of them this year... lots of fun learning. Fridays will be my days to volunteer in their classrooms. In the morning with Ainsley's class and in the afternoon with Walker's. Really love that I can do this and be involved and in the know as to what is happening.

Whew... what a crazy couple of weeks... my home away from home lately is the school and the gym! But yesterday this temporary working girl took everyone out for dinner... granted it was kids choice... no surprise they picked McDonald's but was fun to do a "my treat."

For the moment we've found something that's working for Walker's drop off at school... something that he loves a smidge more than his Mama...

Money... in the hopes of saving up a bunch for the outrageously priced Death Star Lego set. So the deal is no tears each day and at the end of the week he gets $5 bucks. Worked out well this past week but I was also at school a bunch. He's excited and is really loving school right now... hope this trend continues next week! Keep fingers and everything else crossed.

Will be back to home next week so I plan to post a bunch of recap pictures over the last month or so.

A new favorite picture and quote for today...

This is life for us in the evenings after dinner...

And a snapshot of life in the morning...

This week and also next week there will be 3 lunches to make... I've been packing a lunch because I have been working all day at school in the Kindergarten room, doing lunch duty and 5th grade recess. Long story short the school secretary has been in an accident and is on a day by day basis as to when she feels ready for work. Her job can only be filled by one other person... the current Kindergarten aide. So I have been taking the Kindergarten aide's job. Which I really do enjoy! So for the next week I'm a working girl... which is evident in my house... out of groceries... out of clean clothes.

The crying separation issue is still going on with Little Bug... today though he was fine... he said it was because I was at school all day. Here's to hoping tomorrow continues the same!

Couple weekends ago we took the kiddos to see this...

Wish that I knew before we saw it that it was going to be a continued movie... in fact there are 2 more chapters going to be made. Besides that the kiddos thought it was REALLY good. For those of you who haven't seen the movie it's about a group of kids that have a gift of manipulating the Earth's elements of water, wind, earth and fire to do what they need to... which is mostly used to fight the bad guys. So on that note... the other day Walker was outside manipulating the element of wind and doing a bit of airbending himself. Really love his imagination... most days.

He was all smiles when he came out yesterday...

He had a great day... got an "Amazing" on his penmanship work...

Which really amazed me... they are now learning how to write using curlys..(he traced the first letter/word in each line and then did the rest on his own!) When I asked him what the best part of the day was he said, "Recess." Lunch was also pretty high up there too. So all in all it was a great day.

This is how we started out this morning...

Had to walk him to his classroom since he wouldn't go through the outside doors... gave his teacher a little heads up and then left... so hard... so very hard. So much for being a Stay at Home Mommy with my goals to raise smart, independent, confident kids that are ready to tackle the world when full time school starts. I asked him what about school was making him cry and he said, "The thing I don't like about school is that I miss you Mommy!"

So hoping this gets easier each day... with Monday being a holiday Tuesday is going to be another rough morning.

Ainsley had a great day... they spent most of the day learning about their new Promethean learning board (which is an interactive whiteboard). The District bought 10 of these and dispersed them throughout the schools and Ainsley's classroom was lucky to get one. She was a non-stop talking about who said what... what so and so looked liked... and gave me a play by play of the whole day.

She was a happy camper as she went off this morning... except for yelling to Walker, "I'm going to get a tardy slip if we don't get going!"