Local Exploration and Summer Reading Programs

On Saturday we went to our Library's Summer Reading Kick Off.  We registered the kids and I and got our sheets to sign.  I expected them to have more going on but we missed the story time and were too early for Invention club.  They let us get out the legos and we borrowed a few more books too.  I think I have about 30 checked out currently. :) We'll stop by every Saturday to check off the books we've read and get prizes for the kids.  I can get a prize too for every ten hours I read and reading to my kids counts in my hours.  We've also downloaded the papers to do the Barnes and Noble summer reading program.  After the kids read 8 books they can pick a free one from the list provided.
Barnes and Noble Summer Reading program
 I found that link through this pin- Free Homeshool Deals
The boys had a great time putting together legos at the library and I think they all read about 3-4 books after we got home again. :)

Their fun lego creations- top two photos by Kaden, Middle two by Asher and the bottom photo is of Silas' creation.

Yesterday Matt felt like taking a drive to see something in the mountains.  We were hoping for it to be a little cooler and nice and scenic.  We decided to drive up the Turqouise Trail and go to the Old Coaltown Museum in Madrid.  The museum was a little over-priced but still worth it overall. We just wish they took care of it better since there was mouse poop on a lot of the displays.  We enjoyed learning about Madrid.  Madrid was a mining town that liked to throw a good party(lights and festival at Christmas time) and baseball game (one of the first lighted Ball fields in the U.S. thanks to Thomas Edison and the power plant he built there) until the late 1950s when the mine closed down.  With the closure of the mine the town turned into a ghost town. It was a ghost town until 1975 when the owner sold individual crumbling housing lots for 2-4k.  Local Artists jumped at the chance to renovate and now there are 300 residents and 40 business in the little town.  We had fun looking at the leftovers of the power plant that Edison built and at the remnants of the Christmas display(which helped inspire Disney to build Disneyland).  The boys' favorite part was climbing on the Steam Engine that used to export coal from the mine and bring potable water into the town.

After the museum we went to Jezebel Soda Fountain and Art Gallery.  Kaden and Silas chose chocolate ice cream, Asher chose an orange soda, and Matt and I shared a root beer float.  Yum!

 Silas loved this sculpture but was a little afraid to stand next to him.

 Getting his already dirty face covered in chocolate too.

 Kaden wouldn't look at me. He did not like being in the sun at all.  That may put a damper on our summer adventures...

 Silas chilling on the way home.
I love exploring local places and going to tiny museums.  It was fun supporting a local economy a little bit and learning more about the history of our area.