Hiddenite Gems Mining

Alex Mining for Treasures

Anthony Panning for Gems

Amethyst

Before Smokey Quartz and Emerald

Ring that they made from the Smokey Quartz

Well a about a month ago we ventured out to the Hiddenite Gems Mining Site.  Needless to say we came back with a ton of gems and treasures. Once such treasure was the smokey quartz I had made into a ring for me:) (see above pictures), so the pic doesn't do it justice, it is gorgeous! We were there for a couple of hours getting very dirty but it was a lot of fun, something that our family will remember for years to come. This trip we just did the panning for gems, next time we will probably be better prepared and do some DIGGING.  This is just one of many family "field trips" we are planning to do, before the boys are grown. It seems like there is never enough time and time flies when you have kids before you know it they are grown and out of the house. I am excited for them, but sad for me and hubby. I am wanting to make a bunch of great memories for them to remember and tell their kids about one day.

I am planning on taking it further with the gems they found, over our summer "break". I say break but we really are not taking much time "off" from school, just shifting gears for a couple of months. The boys are going to be doing research on the treasures they found, first they are going to find out exactly what they panned out of the dirt. My plan is then to have them put them in alphabetical order, tag them, find out if they are worth anything, discover any history of when they were first discovered, if the American Indians used them for anything, things like that:) I have seen several other homeschoolers who have done studies like this and it looked like a lot of fun. Just what we need for our summer activities.

What fun family field trips are you planning this summer? Are you going to continue to homeschool or doing other educational research projects?