Fossils!

John took selfless parenting to new heights this weekend. A couple of weeks ago there was a show on TV that profiled a place near Delta where you can go dig up Trilobites and keep whatever you find. He showed it to the kids, and Eli in particular was dying to go. John promised they would go Memorial Day weekend, and then there was no backing out. Eli counted down the days and told all of his friends at school about it. (One friend offered to trade him a real ruby for one.)

It was supposed to be a long drive, but with Memorial Day weekend traffic, it took them 4 1/2 hours to get there. Apparently the fact that I sent some Junie B. Jones CDs to listen to didn't make the ride any more bearable for poor John. (I stayed home with Maggie.) It was windy and cold when they got there, so Jonah cried much of the time. But the other two had a great time and didn't want to leave. They gave them all rock hammers and buckets and showed them a spot to work. Eli says he filled his bucket to overflowing. They did bring home a bunch of rocks with the fossils. They're really cool. There was a nice family there that kept giving some to Jonah and Tori. John also put some good ones in Jonah's bucket, but he kept dumping them out and putting in his own plain rocks. Which are nice too. :) Apparently at the beginning, Tori would chip some rock off off the top and then check the bottom for a trilobite. Then she'd chip some more off the top and check the bottom again, etc. Because the drive was stressful and the conditions were poor, this is one that has been better in retrospect. But what an opportunity! They'll never forget that.