Lassen 2013

Summer snow - it's true!!  Our family teamed up w/ Team Maddox to form a Mountain Climbing Crew - no fear of sleet nor snow - we hiked at least 200 feet until we realized we didn't have any breadcrumbs to help us find out way back!  

All worked out for the best though because we packed up and found the most gorgeous picnic spot ever - right by the lake, under big blue skies, and surrounded by snow!

Here's Little Brother in uber-coolio mode - break dancing in the snow:

We had a full day of exploring the park.  We learned about the types of volcanoes, watched a movie in the visitors center where Lulu became obsessed w/ the story of the poor tour guide who fell through the thin-crusted earth into the boiling mud below...she asked questions about every part of what must have been that horrendous experience (over and over and over) - so naturally - we headed to the boiling mud ourselves!  No worries, we were well shielded by guardrails and four parental types, but Lulu was pretty nervous!  It was all a little surreal because I remember my dad taking us on family vacations to visit the boiling mud and sulfur pits.  Mom couldn't handle visiting the sulfur pits - not yet; there's no gaurdrails there and I'm just not that confident in my kiddos' ability to walk without random trips and stumbles (and, frankly, Lulu had me freaked out with all her talk about losing legs in boiling mud!)  The kids signed up for the Junior Ranger program and Lulu was a hoot grilling the Ranger on all kinds of questions....well, better him than me I say!

Thanks to our good friends, and trip-planners extraordinairre - we stayed in a beautiful house in the woods - everyone had their own bed, a fully stocked kitchen, roaring stream in the back, and the campfire pit.  After a long day with all of us crazy women, the two dudes needed a little dude time down by the campfire:

 The next day we packed ourselves up and headed to the sun dial bridge.  Since it was >100 degrees we though there'd be plenty of sun to make that thing work ;) Shheez - we melted - it was caps and water bottles for everyone!

But we did have fun exploring - running across and looking through the panels of the bridge floor, and then looking at the bridge from underneath along the creek.

 Thank goodness we were there to help hold it up!

The Turtle Bay Museum was just the right size and speed for us!  And we came at the perfect time - there was a special Lego exhibit!!  The kids had fun w/ the spelunking exhibit - looking for all the critters - the bats were a huge hit!

Then they learned about the life cycle of a salmon, which, by the looks of Lulu's face, are pretty heavy fishies!!!  The kind high school youth taught us all about salmon, their long journey, and ultimate death (as enacted by kiddos below)

There was also a small exhibit on Pioneer toys.  Little B taught me a "new" way to play checkers.  It was tough - I lost every time :)

So here's a few pix from the Lego exhibit - the jist was that the artist would paint a picture, with one item clearly painted to appear to be made out of legos, and then that item would be made life size next to the picture.  It was in interesting idea - tough for kiddos as there was not touch, and plenty of museum staff positioned in all the corners to monitor!

Some of the pieces were optical illusions - here's on of my favorites:

This is just morbid to me, skulls and kiddos - but Little B inisisted:

 Another exhibit on rural farming was a huge hit too - the kids loved driving the old truck and it reminded of me of my Granpa's 'farm truck' we'd all ride in when we visited as kids.  It think they each took 5 turns at the wheel and still wanted more!

 Amazing that there was even more to see - it's a fairly small place, but they pack it in and they do a great job!  There was a math exhibit - and w/ Grandpa being a math teacher we HAD to go!  Here's the maze where you can only turn left...where's Grandma when you need her!! This place was right up her ally!

This ship taught the kids about weights and balances:

These square-wheeled tricycles were by far a favorite !!  A little tough to get going, but once started they were hysterical!

LOTS more fun was had - another hike around a lake, where we saw several deer, a "friendly" game of apples to apples, smores, walking the dogs, a game of beat the parents, exploring the woods, driving on the forest floor, snacks, movies w/ the big kids, silly times w/ Aunt Kelley & Tony!  It was a great way to kick of the summer.  We were all sad we had to come back!