Derek went to visit Grandma Carol Day 1&2

This Summer Derek got to go on his first adventure to Grandma Carol's.  This is Derek's first trip where he is gone without his parents so I was really worried about how it would go.  The night before we left he was crying and saying that he didn't want to go.  We convinced him that he would have fun and he went to sleep. 

I won't lie though for me this house has been eerily quiet.  And I do miss this funny little boy. Luckily I get to talk to him every night via FaceTime.  I love technology!

The next morning we headed to Wyoming to meet Grandma Carol in Rock Springs.  We left very early, but with all of our stops that we had to make including potty breaks, diaper changes, and more potty breaks it took us much longer than it should have.  We ended up meeting Grandma in Green River instead.  Jake was a terrible traveler the way over but did really pretty well on the way back, which was nice. 

Carol sent these pictures of the trip back to Casper at Point of the Rocks,  Derek got a quick lesson on the stage coach.

Picture taken in front of the remains of the stable at the Point of the Rocks Stage Station built in 1862

Derek sticking his head out the window of the old stable at Point of the Rocks Stage Station

Marker showing this was part of the Overland Stage line.

The end of the day ended with dinner at Pizza Ranch which is Derek favorite place to eat in Casper. 

Derek has his cry face, at night he gets sad and misses his family.  The first night he asked me if he had to stay the whole time or if I would get him earlier.  He forgot to take his favorite little stuffed animal Dusty, so he is sleeping with Billy.  Billy was Corey's cabbage path doll that Carol still has. 

The next day he was happy all over again, and off to the dinosaur museum.  Derek loves Dinosaurs so he definitely had lots of fun. 

Run! This T-Rex will get you!

Definitely a big prehistoric turtle

Digging for dinosaur bones

Derek standing infront of the Columbian Mammoth purported to be the largest in the world.  Dee the Dinosaur is over 14 feet tall and was approximated 65-70 years old when he died.  11,600 years ago.  He was found not too many miles from Casper. 

Trying to assemble the magnetic Dinosaur

He finally got it!

Derek got the opportunity to go in one of the rooms where they are removing plaster from dinosaur bones and touch the bones! How cool! These bones are from the horns of a triceratops and he got to touch them! They are over 65 million years old.

Here the lady is showing him a toy dinosaur and explaining where the horns were located!

And of course he had to have a souvenir and he wearing matching socks.  I promise I sent him with matching socks!

Thanks Grandma for Adventures!  I'm sure the next couple of days will be just as great and you will be so tired by the time he comes home.