Sunday June 15th - Happy Father's Day!!!

Sorry I haven't posted. I have had no internet access for the last couple of days. Sunday we took Dalton to IHOP to eat a big breakfast and then checked him in. We took lots of pictures, shared some hugs and waited around a little bit. Then we headed on out. It was so HARD to leave him, but we did it. He called while I was still in the elevator and we offered to stick around, but he said no. So we pulled on out and headed where Tom Tom said to go, ended up not being the route we wanted, but we made a pit stop in Mt. Airy (Andy Griffith's hometown) and visited. Most things were closed b/c it was a Sunday, but I took a couple of pics and then we headed on out.
We stopped in Hiddenite, NC at the Emerald Mines. Dayton and Dayne really enjoyed it. I think mom and dad did too. We found garnet, amethyst, pyrite, blue and green adventurine, rose quartz and tons of little tiny pieces we still haven't identified. We went creekin' where you go down to the creek and dig for gems and then we sluiced as well. We were a bit dirty by the time we left, but a good time was had by all. We then hit the interstate and headed towards home. Jerad and I both were ready to be "home" at this point so we decided to give it a shot and see how far we could get. We stopped around Hickory and ate at McDonald's let the kids climb on the play yard and then hit the interstate.