The Funnest Mine Ever

Orrin's work is pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

Not only do I super-appreciate the lovely checks they magically put into our bank account a couple of times a month, but they also hosted a Family Day at the mine.

How stinking cool is that?

Alas, Orrin had to work that day, so it was Courtney versus the four children.

Not so cool.

When we got there, the kiddos were all given their own hardhats and the adults were given BHP beanies.  Oh, the joy of free stuff.

(Did I mention that a whole slew of OP's family works there so we were in good company the whole time?)

And then the Merrills try to get a group picture...

And then the kiddos saw this, and wanted to be turned loose to run a muck. 

 But first we made them look at the totally awesome emergency helicopter that the mine keeps there in case someone needs to be flown out. 

 Wyatt wouldn't get in because he was afraid of the medic helping everyone in.  Porter wouldn't because he was throwing a fit about wanting to jump in the bounce houses. 

Not only were there bounce houses, but also an inflatable bouncy jousting thingy, games, and (best of all in my kiddos' eyes) prizes.

 

Let's talk about trains.

Wyatt is obsessed with them.  He goes to bed every night clutching his Little People Christmas Train.  He has to be read The Little Engine That Could at least twice a day. He makes train sounds as he rides around on his scooter.

So, when Wy-Fi saw this train giving out rides to kiddos such as himself, he wanted one.

He wanted one real bad.

Heaven for that child (and yes, my daughters are taking self portraits).

The problem came when I had to take him off.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.

In fact, there was lots of screaming.  And kicking.  And back-arching.

And see those people lined up against the fence in the background of the picture?  That's where we had to stand to wait for the bus to drive us down to see Dad in the pit. 

They were behind about 40 minutes, so we stood there for that long while I tried to calm Wyatt down.  Every time that little tin train would circle around by us and toot it's little horn... a fresh round of screaming would happen.

Anyway, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

The kiddos had their faces painted.

Wyatt was doing this:

That's a fit, people.

When the nice balloon artist gave him a sword, that cheered him up.

We then stood in line for the longest 40 minutes of my life, and finally boarded the bus that would take us down into the pit.

And Wy-Fi finally calmed down.

Thank heavens.

It was a 15 minute drive to the bottom of the pit.  Porter and Wyatt loved every second of it.  They got to see actual live Mighty Machines! 

And then, we finally got to our Daddy.  And he had his turn of packing around the demon toddler. 

They had one of their huge ol' dump trucks and one loader down there. 

Seriously, these things were ginormous.

The best part for us all?  We got to climb all over the things.

We met some of Orrin's work pals and their families.

 

I was trying to snap a couple of family pictures when one of OP's buddies offered to take one of the actual entire family.  I was ready to politely decline the offer, but then I remembered the whole "getting in the picture" goal I set for myself, and decided to jump right in.

I was fascinated by the chains on these tires.

Now, as for the swirly sides of the pit,

 They were nifty.  Really, they were.

But, as a girl that grew up in the foothills of the Kennecott Copper Mine (a landmark you can see from space!)... I was a bit underwhelmed.

Sorry OP.  Please forgive me.

Remember how we discussed my children's strange obsession with rocks?  Well, they were in nerd heaven.

Sadly, it was now time to say goodbye to Daddy and ride back up to the bbq catering awaiting us.

The kiddos were less than impressed with the pork sandwich and potato salad, but they sure did enjoy their cotton candy.

We squeezed in one more train ride for the wailing Wyatt,

and drove quietly home.

Yep, everyone fell fast asleep.

Well, not me.  Obviously.