a fun date

Why haven't i posted in so long? Life...you know how that is...and i've been taking some online classes for work, which have taken most of my free time. I have a break for a month so i think i'll try to catch up a bit.

How about some pictures of a fun date a month or so ago?

One thing that I've quickly learned about California is that there was GOLD here! The grade schoolers that I work with often go on field trips to the nearby historic town of Coloma, which was the first gold mining town in this area. Matt and I decided to venture out to see it for ourselves.

The town was tiny and pretty run down, but was still fun to see. We came across what looked like some abandoned gold panning troughs and decided to look through the tiny rocks for gold...and we found some!!! I figured it was just fools gold, but we later found out that it's real and that the troughs are still used today for events and field trips for kids.
Since we finished exploring Coloma pretty quickly, we decided to drive a little further and visit the small town of Placerville, a.k.a. "Hangtown." The name gives it's history, but this town is actually lived in and more than just a historical site.
I found my new favorite shop!!! Mom, i have to take you here when you come again! My favorite thing about it is all the tiny little birds of different varieties!
We also enjoyed trying some vintage and some strange types of SODA!! (i can hardly say "pop" anymore...i've just gotten too many strange looks and comments. it almost sounds funny to ME now. NO, I WILL NOT LET GO OF MY OREGON ROOTS...it's POP!!! anyone with me?). Almost every tourist shop had at least a few varieties.
We ended the day at a great little cafe with some Gelato! YUM!