The Peanut Gallery

Last week my older brother visited us for the first time with his family.  His girls, H and E, are slightly older and younger than Penguin Girl, respectively, while his son, R, is just a hair older than Mr. Destructo so they make good (and loud) playmates for each other.  We had unseasonably cool weather that made our outings much more enjoyable.

We went to Dan Nicholas Park and the kids partook of many of the little attractions.  Mr. Destructo felt that it was enough of an adventure that he needed his Rescue Pack.

We had two train rides because R loves trains.  We also hit the carousel twice.  

Mr. Destructo sat out the second time because the horses were too scary.  That was a relief for me because the spinning was so fast that it made me motion sick.  Aunt G sat out with us with her bag of snacks.  We also toured the little zoo and visited the small collection of farm animals.  The highlight of the day was the gem mine.  You get buckets of sand with various pretty rocks mixed in and you use a screen in a sluice to reveal your treasures.  

Uncle W herded the Peanut Gallery behind this scene so that I could take this photo.  I can't believe I got a good shot!  It was a super fun afternoon for everyone.

The next day, we went to the Lazy 5 Ranch, which is always a hoot.  We took the horse drawn wagon ride through the park so we could get up close to the animals.

This was probably the first time R got to feed a giraffe.

One evening, we shooed the Peanut Gallery outside with popsicles.  H got a little upset because hers started to melt really fast.

On their last day here, I set up a painting activity.  I ordered some molds for concrete and made a bunch of animals and fairy doors.  The Peanut Gallery went wild with paint.

E did not seem to notice her hair was in the way.

Penguin Girl was very sad to see her cousins go.  Next year we'll need to plan for a longer visit.