Panning for Gemstones

About this time last year we took the kids to DeSoto Caverns.  They had a blast.  We actually had some activity passes left over from that trip, which expire one year after purchased.  With two days left, this past Saturday we headed out to DeSoto Caverns to use the rest of our activity passes before they expired.

The kids were SO excited!

The first thing we did was ride the train. 

I’m not sure exactly what happened with the train, and I assume it was because so many people were in the back of it, but it jack-knifed while we were on it.  It scared the crap out of me.  I grabbed two kids and Gary grabbed two kids and we just held on until we got the train stopped.  No harm, no foul, but that could have been awful. 

Then we stood in line for 15 minutes to go on the tour of the Caverns. 

We lasted about 2 minutes inside the caverns, and left.

Then, after the pool, we participated in the kids’ most favorite activity ever – panning for gemstones!!!

That is seriously all the kids wanted to do.  We took a break to eat a picnic lunch, then went back to panning for gemstones.  Penelope didn’t quite get it.  Although the kids were finding their gemstones and saving them in their little plastic bags, Penelope found her gemstones and dropped them into the water, one by one. . . .

The kids were very, very serious about the gemstones!!

I think everyone had fun.  And we learned a lesson from the last trip (and the resulting ER trip) – the grown-ups hold the gemstones on the way home!!!!