Busy Saturday. Mt. St. Helens-30 years

Saturday was so much fun! Crazy busy though. Got up, got Rachel showered and dressed for dance (creative dance including tap, jazz, ballet), off she went with dad. Showered Matthew and I and got dressed, packed a lunch and car activities (dry erase, gotta love it) then raced out the door to the library for the 11 am performance of Presto the Magician. My children's FIRST magic show (and it was free).
It was very fun. The guy was GREAT with the kids, being silly and involving the kids. Matt's favorite trick was one where you twisted your hands all up together with your thumbs down and then flip your thumb up. Despite following his actions he could do it, we couldn't. Rachel loved the last trick which was a paper rabbit that turns into a real one and Matthew couldn't decide whether he liked the one where he cut himself in half with a rope (held on either side by a volunteer child) or the one where he holds a rope out and lets go of one end and it stays sticking out. He did that one VERY funny, having the class wiggle fingers and whisper magic words only to not have it work twice, the third time, every time he let go of an end of the rope while trying to tell us how to do the trick it would stay out while he pretended not to see it or know why the kids were roaring with laughter and pointing and shouting. When we finally wiggled and whispered it failed to work and he said "this trick never works". The kids loved it. MUCH FUN.

Then it was off to Mt. St. Helens. Something my little volcano lover Matthew has been begging to do again. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, almost summer weather and we were in shorts and t-shirts. Got up there and there was still SNOW on the ground!! Though it was patchy and dirty and it was still t-shirt weather. We discovered that Johnston ridge was only open because of a fundraiser so it cost us to get in (usually my all-access pass gets us in free) and it was $2 more a person then the regular fee!! Grrr. Ahh well. At Johnston Ridge there is an Observatory. They show a really neat video of the eruption and all that followed. As we sat watching it I realised that it was three days before the 30th anniversary of the eruption. I missed it by six months but Matt remembers it (he was 5). It really hit home how much damage, and recovery, has happened in that thirty years.
There is a HUGE model of the mountain and surrounding area in the main room and when you push a button it tells you the progression of the explosion and the model lights up with bunches of colored lights on the areas being talked about. For some reason my children are fascinated by those lights and will stand and watch and push the button over and over. The only encumbrance is that it is a bit high and especially Rachel has a hard time seeing it, making it very tempting to clamber up the side to get a better view. Getting a chair to stand her on did little good as she felt like she needed to move around as the lights did.

They also have a really neat seismograph that the kids can jump and make "earthquakes" and watch the needle jump and then new fancy computer graph jiggle. Matthew spent a good then minutes hopping in front of that screen and laughing.

Outside there is a great view directly into the mountain and the dome that is growing there. You can walk up a zigzag trail for an even better view.
The kids had a great time playing in the snow (with constant reminders and reprimands that it was DIRTY and NOT to be eaten), running, jumping, and playing. Matthew looked down at the mud flats and noticed the deep cracked earth. "look Mom! Its another continent" he shouted seeing a huge chunk with cracks all around. I love it when kids use what they are learning (we are talking about continents in school). It was fun explaining a bit more about continents, and praising him for noticing.

While playing in the sand/dirt/ash at the top of the viewpoint Matthew made a volcano out of sand then carefully hollowed it out as it erupted (sound effects included) and the mud flow moved down copying the Mt. St. Helens eruption.

On our way down Rachel had to use the potty so we pulled into a forest learning center place that somehow we had missed on previous visits. They were locking up (though kindly let her in first) but it will be on our list for next time. Just the playground looked worth the stop.
All in all it was a perfect day. Bit of stress getting out the door and on our way, but the weather was great, the kids were good, and we all had fun.