Final Week of Summer

James had a conference to attend in Sacramento area.  We went up with him and while he worked we got to play with cousins for the last week before school started.  It was 

We went to explore the Black Chasm Caverns.  We've been to another set of caves in the area.  It is amazing how different they can be from each other.  This one had helictite crystals, which grow sideways out from the cave and were very interesting.

Close to the Black Chasm Cavern was the Indian Grinding Rock State Park.  We hiked around the area as we explored and learned about the Miwok village.

It was a warm day but the area was beautiful with a lot of interesting things to see.

Some of the other things we did were exploring Old Town Sacramento. 

We took another day trip up to Coloma to learn about the discovery of Gold in California.  

And went to play in the American River close by.

It was cold, but the kids (and Grandma) were brave enough to jump in and float the river.  The kids loved that, and also the trip to Sunsplash water park that we didn't take pictures of.

Even with all of our outings, the kids always just love the chance to be at home and play together.  Elise had an idea to make candy art, which ended up being a fun activity for everyone.