At the Empire Mine State Park, Tate and Carson put on their best behavior and biggest smiles while making their holiday requests to Santa. Tate politely asked for a "golden turtle" (good luck with that Santa). Carson is hoping for an Alvin & the Chipmunks toy and a Golden "KooKoo bird" stuffed animal.Holly was not going to sit on Santa's lap or even stand anywhere near him. Mrs. Clause (a brunette?) was kind enough to lure Holly into the photo by showing her the basket of candy candy canes.
I would like to have a beautiful wreath like this at my house!
Eric and I were married at the Empire Mine almost 10 years ago and this was the first time we have ever brought the kids. Our ceremony was set up here between the two giant fountains on the big lawn.
We were married here on the front steps of the old Bourne cottage. It is still just as beautiful as it was 10 years ago.
Carson sipped his hot apple cider in this picturesque setting
Holly danced around while she happily ate a cookie given to her from Santa's refreshment area.
We walked around the beautiful grounds surround the Borne cottage. We strolled along the Holly hedges and through the rose gardens. Although it is a much different landscape in the summer months, it was still a lovely place to spend a crisp cool afternoon in November.
Fall is still very much in the air at the Empire Mine. We let the kids run off some extra energy in the leaves before moving on to the actual mine portion of the state park.
Sometimes they can be good buddies.
We visited the gold mine part of the park which Tate informed us many times was, "so awesome". The mine was one of the largest mines in use from 1850-1956. We were able to go into and see a small portion of the actual underground mineshaft. Carson was very interested in watching the demonstrations given by the blacksmiths, and they all liked climbing in the coal cars.
Finally, at the end of the day, we stopped to get our Christmas tree. We searched and searched, the tree farm and finally found "the one". Eric carefully cut it down and got it tied to the roof of the Explorer. The tree we chose is much slimmer and a bit more sparse then what we normally pick each year, but sometimes its good to do things a bit differently!
I would like to have a beautiful wreath like this at my house!
Eric and I were married at the Empire Mine almost 10 years ago and this was the first time we have ever brought the kids. Our ceremony was set up here between the two giant fountains on the big lawn.
We were married here on the front steps of the old Bourne cottage. It is still just as beautiful as it was 10 years ago.
Carson sipped his hot apple cider in this picturesque setting
Holly danced around while she happily ate a cookie given to her from Santa's refreshment area.
We walked around the beautiful grounds surround the Borne cottage. We strolled along the Holly hedges and through the rose gardens. Although it is a much different landscape in the summer months, it was still a lovely place to spend a crisp cool afternoon in November.
Fall is still very much in the air at the Empire Mine. We let the kids run off some extra energy in the leaves before moving on to the actual mine portion of the state park.
Sometimes they can be good buddies.
We visited the gold mine part of the park which Tate informed us many times was, "so awesome". The mine was one of the largest mines in use from 1850-1956. We were able to go into and see a small portion of the actual underground mineshaft. Carson was very interested in watching the demonstrations given by the blacksmiths, and they all liked climbing in the coal cars.
Finally, at the end of the day, we stopped to get our Christmas tree. We searched and searched, the tree farm and finally found "the one". Eric carefully cut it down and got it tied to the roof of the Explorer. The tree we chose is much slimmer and a bit more sparse then what we normally pick each year, but sometimes its good to do things a bit differently!
