Duck Island

Mom (Grandma) has attempted to create a duck habitat on the little island in the middle of the pond. She uses the raft (pictured below) to bring food and other goodies onto the island for the ducks. There are two that use the pond and the island, although they have not claimed the dog house as their own to date. Mom is hopeful that the ducks return in the spring for some more pampering.

Here are the kiddos and Gavin with Daffy and Daisy in the background. I didn't get a picture with Mullie in there, but she followed this raft around as if her life depended on it - and Weimers are not supposed to like the water!

That would be Duck Island behind them.

Dillon Labor Day Rodeo

We had a great time at the Rodeo on Sunday before we took off for home. Auntie Kendall and Uncle Ryan and Grandma and Grandpa went too. We ate lots of good fair food and enjoyed the show.

Brighton REALLY liked her new cowGIRL hat!

Max was really excited about these ribbon fries. They were just looooooong pieces of greasy golden goodness with a cheesy powder dumped on top. Healthy - no, but very tasty.

Virginia City and Mining for Garnets in the Ruby Valley

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bradley at the Ranch over Labor Day Weekend. While G&G went to the Bobcat Game on Saturday, the Murphy Crew went up to Virginia City for a day of history and a mining adventure! We had a great time doing all of the things we love about Virginia City...learning about Plummer and his gang, the Vigilantes, the gold strike in Alder Gulch, and visiting the candy store!

We went for a ride on the stage coach and learned a lot about the magnitude of the gold strike of 1863. Most fascinating to Max and Bella, however, was the haunted hospital in Virginia City. It was a good thing we were the only folks on the stage coach, because Bella kept interrupting our tour guide's story about Alder Gulch with questions about the haunted hospital of Virginia City. Gavin and I could hear the entire conversation through the speaker, and were laughing at Bella's questions...is there SERIOUSLY a ghost in that hospital? is she a good ghost? does she make people better? have you ever seen her? do YOU believe in ghosts?
Not only that, the kids got to see where mom worked the summer of 1995 - the Overland Express Restaurant (the white building the background, below).

After our adventure in Viginia City, we stopped to pan for garnets on the way home. It was a great experience for the kids. We bought a big bucket of dirt for $20, used a screen to separate the dirt from the tiny rocks and gems, and then turned the screen upside-down on a piece of foam. The kids used their special mining tweezers to careful pick the garnets out from the rest of the rocks. It was more fun than we anticipated, and we all enjoyed ourselves!