Plan B: Town Alton, Christensen Reunion Day 2, July 3, 2012

The first thing my girls asked for when they woke up was not breakfast; it was if they could go see if their cousins were awake yet.  By the time I stumbled out of bed, to get myself some morning cereal, my munchkins had already eaten with their cousins and were playing hide and seek in the various rooms of our temporary home, the Alton Town Hall.

We had heard that maybe the owners of the cabin rental would be able to round up a waterslide to set up at the park for later that day.  Sure enough, town Alton came through and much fun was had slipping and sliding down the hill at the park, only a short walk from the town hall.

James wasn't afraid to get wet and dirty!

The fire still blazed on the mountainside, so all day long we saw bomber planes going back and forth carrying flame-fighting chemicals to drop on the fire.

My kids had so much fun!

And others of us enjoyed chatting in the shade and watching the sliders. 

After the afternoon of slip-n-sliding, evening approached and some local people had brought over some horses to let us ride.  We all took turns riding, and the horses were well behaved... and hungry apparently.  Most of the time if we were walking the horses around, they wanted to stop to put their head to the grass and chow down.

 Amara and Matthew got hungry for dinner while waiting for another turn on the horses, and I over heard their plans to go see if the food was ready yet.  So off they walked together.

 Horse riding was a dream for my girls, especially Lily who wants to own a horse someday.  She really wants to learn to ride one, and she wishes she could take riding lessons like her cousins, Audrey and Emma.

After dinner, we were summoned to a nearby barn, for a milking demonstration.  We got to see firsthand how they "vacuum" the milk out of the cow, then strain it, clean the machine, and then let the baby cow nurse.  The cow belonged to the Mayor of Alton and he was so nice to answer all our questions, and let us feel what the cow feels by putting our fingers in the milking "vacuum," and even give us all a sip of the warm milk.  It was my first tasting of fresh cow's milk and after I took a sip I said, "Wow!  All you need is a dash of nutmeg and you've got yourself egg nog!"  It really was that sweet and rich.

We're sticking our fingers into the milking machine.

Amara was apprehensive at first (she is still a little afraid of the vacuum), but she was brave and put her thumb in the machine.

Pouring the fresh milk and straining it through cheesecloth.  You can see Matthew waiting with a paper cup for a taste of the fresh milk.

That calf was nursing like wild!