Field Trip: Reed Gold Mine

Last week the kids and I joined friends for a day at Reed Gold Mine. We hadn't been since Annalyse was the age Jaxton is now so it was definitely time for another visit. 

We began our visit by watching a movie explaining the history of the mine, but once my friend and I realized that all of us were just talking with one another and not actually watching the movie, we decided it was time to head outside. (Oops - teacher fail for not grabbing the moment to educate them thar kids.)

The boys ran the mine tunnels yelling and chasing each other; the girls held hands and squealed every time the boys jumped out and scared them; and my friend and I gabbed and kept a half-opened eye on the kids. Thankfully we had the place to ourselves so we could let the kids be loud and a tad on the wild side. (Teacher win or fail? Not sure, but they had fun.)

Without question, the highlight was panning for gold. When we came a few years ago, Grady Lee discovered the teeniest speck of gold and this time he had high hopes for finding a "big piece of gold that would be worth enough to buy season tickets for the Panther's."

No such luck for him this time, but his buddy came out a winner! If you look close at the picture above you can see a fleck of gold in his pan. I've never seen a kid smile so big. (Major teacher win!)