Workin' in a coal mine

The morning seemed warm, so I thought today might be a good day to take the girls to the mall (to let them play out of the heat). The girls had a great time at the mall's indoor play area and we all had a nice lunch together. And just like the last time we were at this mall, Amelia found herself talking to a Spanish-speaking girl and the resulting misunderstanding made for another hilarious Amelia quote. Though I didn't hear everything the other girl was saying, I did hear Amelia's response: "I'm not an asi es tu, I'm just Amelia!"

Maybe Amelia needs to learn Spanish.

After leaving the mall, my curiosity got the best of me and we headed to a new destination. You see, somewhere in the back of my mind I have a dream of taking my girls to every historical site in the state of California. I figure I could take a photograph of the girls at each marker to keep track of where we'd been and where we were going.

Of course, in my dream I have a great sponsor who helps me pay for gas and incidentals along the road in exchange for acknowledgement in my popular blog.

Today I brought the girls to California historical site number 932 - the Mount Diablo Coal Field. And even though all of the buildings within the park were closed at site 932(some due to renovation) we still had fun. The scenery was lovely and the girls both loved climbing up and down a huge mountain of dirt and rock that had been displaced during mining operations a hundred years ago. The dirt that had been piled up to make the hill we climbed was so fine, that it got all over the girls' clothes and skin. Poor Diana looked like a miner by the time we headed back to the car.

So maybe I'll pull over more often when I see signs indicating that a historical marker is nearby. Maybe I will try to see all of the designated historical sites in my state. I realize that California is a really big state, but a journey of a million miles starts at the first historical marker.

One down, about 983 to go...

Lisa