Spring Break Fun - Part II AND Another Bloggy Buddy MIRL

Grandpa had a chance to get involved in the Spring Break fun, too. There seems to be a pioneer theme going on. Last summer DC and I discovered Bobcat Ridge, and spent two beautiful evenings there, walking and taking pictures. I showed those pictures here. At that time, I took this picture of the entrance to the area.




The place is maintained as a natural area and is used as an educational setting for area students. They set up an exploration opportunity on the last day of Spring Break. The girls went with Grandpa and Great Auntie Grace. She is always up for an adventure, and I didn't think the littles would gain too much from the experience at their age.









There were several stations set up for the self-guided tour. They saw a preserved rattle snake and were told what to do if they ever encountered one on a hike.




They learned about the various animals you might encounter on a hike in the area, and what their tracks look like. They also were told they might encounter a bat or two.




They visited a pioneer cabin and learned how hard it was to get water before the days of sinks and faucets.









They played games that kids played 100 years ago - some of the same things they do today - pick up sticks, with real sticks; rolling a hoop; and their favorite - jump rope.






They had a great time, learned lots of things, got a little prize at the end, and spent good time with Grandpa and Auntie. Perfect ending to a good week.


This has been an interesting week for Grandma Dawn - I've actually had several fun encounters with adults and got to be just plain old Dawn!! One day I had a nice visit in a lovely coffee shop with a friend I haven't seen in several years. We had so much fun talking that we never got around to going up to the counter for coffee - or in my case, a cup of chai, since I don't drink coffee. Nobody seemed to notice that we weren't spending any money, thankfully.

Today I made a short trip to the town 20 miles south of mine. I love the friendships that have been fostered here in blogland, and have been so privileged to have met 10 of these friends in real life - and have stayed in some of their homes on vacation in Maine. What a blessing! This friend lives closer than any of the others, but it took us a long time to work out a time to get together. I guess that's what happens when you try to work things into a busy everyday life, rather than meeting someplace while you're on vacation.

We met at McD's for those $1.00 sodas - and definitely got our money's worth. It is so amazing how you can "know" someone in cyberspace, and when you meet face to face, it is a seamless transition. Grammy and I had a wonderful visit and plan to meet again. She also has 4 grandgirls, all close to the ages of my 4. So we may get them together at a park this summer, or we may just do another adult visit - or both!

Spring Break Fun - Part I

Spring Break is officially over. We had one really nice day, several mediocre weather days, and the rest were windy and yucky. But we did our best to have some fun. I seem to have forgotten a lot of what we did - what does that say?

One day we went to the little museum downtown. I hadn't been there for a long time, the but girls had been there with their great aunt not long ago. They really like it there, and the littles had their first experience. I wanted to go to see a display of pioneer women. but we went through all of the exhibits.

We stopped for a family picture in front of the museum - with this sculpture family.




One display was art from all of the schools in town - Care Bear spent her time trying to find the ones from her school - and was disappointed at how few there were. We went on to my favorite part - the feeling of going back in history to our town.

The doctor's office




The milliner's shop




The General Store



The hotel - looking from the lobby out on the street





The girls sitting on the "upstairs"



The biggest industry for many years was the sugar factory - it is now unused, and the buildings are in ugly disrepair - I wish they'd decide what to do with that area of town.






Upstairs was the "Loveland Valentine Remailing" display

I liked this one because it was the year I graduated from high school --




Some of the yearly special valentines



We finally got to the pioneer woman display. It featured dolls with outfits from various periods of history.


This one represents the first public teacher in Loveland, for whom the girls' school was named --







I love this crazy quilt, which is one of the few things which was salvaged from the terrible Big Thompson flood of 1976.

In the front area of the museum is a refurbished buggy - it looks a lot like a stagecoach, but smaller - I call it a pioneer mini-van. The girls had so much fun dressing up in period clothes and pretending they were going on a trip.

We ended up the morning at Mc D's, where they spent a lot more time playing with their PetShop toys than eating.

Stay tuned for Part II of Spring Break Fun.