The museum entry is framed with gigantic marble slabs. I think the sign said they were about 18,000lbs each.

As the article proclaimed, keep mom in the picture!

Grandpa Tom went right to work carving soapstone.

This is a cute statute with no owner (see sign below).

I offered to help out if they are looking for a new owner. :)

The hall of presidents. The kids got bored here pretty quickly, so we sent them on some quests, like finding how many presidents were from Vermont (2), Virgina (8), or how many were bald (?) or had beards (6).

This would make a beautiful garden bench, wouldn’t it?

The kids got tired and took a little rest, then rallied for the second half of the museum!

I love this fireplace. Maybe we need to put a layer of marble tile over our ugly brick fireplace.

I found my new kitchen! :)

We were told that for insurance purposes visitors were no longer allowed to view the actual marble mines. That was sad. This picture here is impressive though.

We bought a few things at the gift shop, then found this “free marble” pile by the exit. D’oh! We each grabbed several pieces of raw marble to go with our polished, purchased samples.

Lex wanted to write a newspaper article about our trip, so he had me take this picture of him. I was happy to oblige.

We were hoping to eat lunch by the marble mine, but since that was closed we settled for the next best thing – a beautiful park. Rough life.

We couldn’t leave without a little more rock climbing! And camera posing.

We started at the sheep barn. These guys were all wearing coats. It was a pretty chilly day and we were wearing coats (sweatshirts) too!

Lex found a sign that said they were wearing jackets to keep them clean, not to keep them warm. I guess they were show sheep. :)

This looks like a picture of A, but really it was picture of the guy shaving his cows bottom in the background. There was a lot of that going on today. Elizabeth and I had a good laugh about it. Good times at the county fair.

It was ride bracelet day (the reason we went!) and the kids loved it! They started with the fun house. I love it because I don’t have to say, “Really? Are you sure you want to spend four tickets on that?!?” Instead I just let them ride on whatever dumb ride they want as many times as they want and everyone is happy. :)

The slide is always popular too.

I love that smile!

This picture had the potential to be pretty cool, but not quite. Oh well. They loved the Scrambler and went on it many times! I made them take breaks though, so no one got too scrambled up!

This was A’s first spiny ride. I think he liked it. :)

This year the Ferris wheel was a favorite. (The guy looks like he’s posing too.)

Look at that sky! It was breezy and chilly and threatening to rain all day, but it held off. I’d take that over sweltering hot though!

I brought a picnic lunch (to go with the french fries we bought!) and we settled down to watch a show. This lady had some pretty cool basketball moves.

The kids really wanted cotton candy so we got a little lunch dessert. Lex was curious about how it’s made so we ordered it on a cone instead of in the bag.

They gave him a lot!! Lex likes this picture best, but I like the next one. Therefore I’ll post both. :)

It’s bigger than his head! Good thing cotton candy is mostly air, and he shared happily with Eve. :)

We went back to watch the lady for a few more minutes while the kids ate their treat.

After lunch I decided to buy some tickets and go on a few rides with the kids. I love fair rides! I don’t love the $1/ticket price though. :/ Turns out my arms aren’t long enough to get a three person “us” shot. Where’s Alan when we need him?!

I went on the Scrambler with them, then on the Ferris wheel. Then they went on the Ferris wheel a few more times without me, then Lex was bored and Eve went again on her own!

Lex really wanted me to go on the Wipeout ride with him, so we convinced Eve to go too. I thought it would be like the Himalayas ride (remember that one?!) that she loved when we went to Santa’s Village a few years ago. Turns out it was a bit different and a lot scarier! She kept yelling, “I’m ok, just completely terrified!” Poor girl. She held it together though and survived the ride.

Lex loved it so much he went again on his own!

When ride bracelet time was over everyone was sad, however we wandered over to the tractors and managed to have a little more fun.

Eve waited in line for 40 minutes to get her face painted. The lady does it free of charge and does an awesome job. Eve chose the “dolphin mask” style.

Bunnies for sale. Only $25 each. (no, we did not get one)

On the way out we stopped to visit some young oxen. I’m assuming they are oxen based on the yoke. Does any other animal wear a yoke? The boy was their owner and full of interesting information.

The kids liked getting their hands licked. :)

Lex was filling his sample jars with mica before we even got out of the parking lot!

The view is just amazing! All the way around.

We started with a picnic lunch, despite protests from the kids, who were super eager to get into the mine!

Almost there… must pose for a picture first.

Or a few pictures. :)

Into the mine! At last!

Dad, pausing to explain something on the ceiling to Eve (who you can barely see in the shadow).

Don’t hammer on the pillar!

First stop, into the caves to check out the water level.

This picture cracks me up because Eve looks so delicate and pink. She brought a stuffed animal in a carry bag and just looks delicate. That lasted about a minute before the toy went into the rock bag and her hands were filled with tools!

In the caves.

Handsome boy, always happy to smile for the camera.

Dad, chiseling away what we thought was beryl but maybe wasn’t.

Lex, working hard on a big block of quartz. I wanted to just take the whole thing home!

Eve, hard at work, or so it would seem. When I got a little closer I discovered the true story.

This is her “I’m a little embarrassed” smile. Turns out she had hammered the chisel straight into a crack in the wall with no clear idea how to use a chisel or how to get it out of the wall!

Grandpa Tom to the rescue. He got the chisel out and gave her a lesson on how to use it.

I think these holes are so cool. I always imagine ancient cave dwellers living in them. Turns out it’s just the results from past blasting. Still pretty, but a much less cool story.

Nice find, Mema!

Miners, hard at work.

Looking back towards the entry.

There is a kid-sized tunnel that runs in the rock. In the tunnel is one little window for peeking out.

The end of the tunnel. I went through a few times, but as a semi-tall person I had to stay bent over for most of the path. Not the most comfortable, but it is pretty cool inside.

I love this big sheet of mica, also known as isinglass (Mema, I Googled it!) It is super fragile, but thanks to Mema’s good ideas it survived the trip home and now decorates my shelf.

Eve took it upon herself to help this little creek flow better. All along the way she moved rocks, terraformed the muddy banks, and did what she could to assist the creek. Thoughtful girl. :)

Mema The Brave offered to hold the chisel while Lex hammered off a piece of this quartz. I’m happy to say it was an injury free day!

Near the end, looking back.

Grandpa Tom found this big rock full of mica. He and the kids chipped away at it, creating beautiful mica glitter.

We made it to the end! Time to refuel before turning around and heading up the hill, carrying bags full of rocks!

Happy miners!

On our way back up the path.

Me and the kids.

Eve was happy this day that we both were wearing “hats with brims that go all the way around to protect our necks and ears.” All those times I encouraged her to wear a hat with a good brim and she remembers and encourages me as well. :)

This rock was full of names and initials. Dad added a few of his own.

T + ME

Awww… the cute couple!

We all worked together to carry five bags of rocks out of the mine!

Back at the top we flopped down to watch the information video and rest!