The Greatest Generation

On Thursday our family had the privilege of attending a military honors service for a World War 2 veteran from our church.

Dan served in the Army and fought at the Battle of the Bulge.

Look at him there in uniform ~ wasn't he handsome?

Here is his beautiful wife of 72 years ~ 72 years people ~ and his daughter & granddaughter.

Prepping for the 21 gun salute.

Adorable little boys  :)

The beautiful widow.

A kiss from a son.

Great grandma love.

We have the incredible honor of having still another World War 2 veteran at our church. Here he comes to pay his respects.

Ready for the ceremony.

Two members of the greatest generation.

 The salute.

The folding of the flag.

The presentation of the flag.

Taps.

  During the playing of taps every former member of the military saluted. I loved that.

Two members of the greatest generation sharing stories.

It was an honor to know this man & to hear his stories & to be able to thank him for what he did for our country & for the world.

There are not many World War 2 veterans left. If you have the privilege of meeting one - talk to them! Ask questions. Learn from them. And most of all THANK them.

Blessings.

Fishin' Hole

We finally made it up to our fishin' hole for the first time this summer. It wasn't our most productive trip as we only caught 3 puny little fish but we had fun & I took pretty pictures & that's what it is all about. Right?

Everybody getting their gear all set & hooks baited up.

Pretty shot of the creek.

Little boy fishing with his daddy...

"No fish" face...

...to "Fish" face!

DP got one!

No such luck for big brother.

Sister just hung out & sketched the whole time.

Toby tried hard to look cool but this was his first trip into the woods & he'd heard all those Big Foot stories...

And look...I was there!

Hopefully we'll go back soon & actually get our monies worth out of those licenses ;)

Blessings.

Sutter's Fort

In our last week of school we were reading about the California Gold Rush.

And being as we live just an hour or 2 from where gold was first discovered...we decided to make a field trip.

The only major drawback was it was HOT.

100+ degrees :(

We braved the sunshine & headed to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. The plan was to visit the fort first & then head to Sutter's Mill.

The mill is where gold was actually discovered & then it was taken back to the fort to show Sutter.

We ended up only making it to the fort this trip but hope to make another trip down to the mill soon.

Now, in all fairness, I write a lot about where we go & what we do. And when someone or someplace impresses us, I always try to give good press & get the word out.

I think it's only fair when someplace under performs that I share that too :(

Sutter's Fort definitely under performed.

The fort itself is awesome.

 It is right in the middle of the city, yet once you are inside it feels like you are in some secluded place.

They have rooms all set up as kitchens, blacksmith shops, a store, an armory, bedrooms, a jail & all sorts of others.

Very fun, very informative, we really enjoyed the fort.

The problems we had came with the state employees who run the park.

Right off the bat the admission was almost half again as much as they had listed on their website. I had our trip pretty tightly budgeted so that was a blow.

And the person  taking the admissions, questioned us, over & over, as to the exact ages of our kids, implying - not so subtly - that we were lying & trying to cheat them

:(

I really had to bite my tongue there.

My 5 year old is TALL & my 17 year old has a beard. That doesn't change their ages.

We tried to watch a demonstration on muskets. A guide was showing everyone the parts of the musket, explaining what made it a musket, how it worked etc. He was walking around the circle of people watching & showing them up close the workings of the gun.

He completely ignored my boys & walked right past them not letting them see. The first time I thought it was just an honest mistake but he did it 2 more times. :(

The sad part was they were probably THE most interested people there.

So we gave up on that.

The last unpleasant experience was in the little gift shop. We went in, looked around, ooohed & aaahhed at a few things & then headed out. I was just opening my mouth to say 'Thank you' to the clerk when I realized he was eyeing each & every member of my family from head to toe, making sure we hadn't stolen anything!

Needless to say, I didn't thank him :(

So, if you want to go to Sutter's Fort my advice is to avoid all of the people who work there, study up before hand & give yourself a nice self guided tour & enjoy the history of the place.

In between being so offended I could just spit, that is what I did ;)

The boys watching the musket demonstration.

In the model store signing their names with quills (this lady was very nice & friendly).

Here we are!

We most enjoyed the rooms full of guns...

and the kitchens. Just look at all that cast iron just sitting there (be still my heart)

This little book was in the gift shop...no I did not look inside...<<shudder>>

This is not the shot I was going for but I like the way it turned out.

So, that was our field trip to Sutter's Fort where we learned that all historical places should belong to the private sector & the government has no idea how to run a business.

Oh wait! We already knew that... ;)

Blessings.

8

Last Sunday our DP turned 8.

Not sure 'how' that could possibly be, but apparently it is.

Here he is, going to bed as a mere 7 year old.

And here he is, a much older, wiser & more mature 8 year old.

He wanted a fire breathing dragon cake so this is what we came up with:

annnnddd actually breathing fire (well sorta)

He seemed pretty happy with it :)

He wanted ~and received~ a new, more powerful Nerf gun (who doesn't?)  and a new dragon book.

He fell asleep that night with his puppy at his side...

(that is precious right there folks)

According to DP it was "the best birthday ever" so I think we can check that off our list.

:)

Blessings.