Yes, there was a birthday

I know it's been almost a month since the boys had a birthday, and we really did celebrate! This year Scotty wanted to do a big steam-up, so Chris' dad agreed to steam up the big tractor. Scotty was so excited and really enthusiastic about helping to get the engine clean and ready. When the big day came the first thing was getting his presents. Scotty got a rechargeable electric motorbike and Chris was so thoughtful that he picked up some paint for Eli so she wouldn't feel left out.




Scotty selected the guests for the party and he invited everyone he thought would love to see the steam engine. Most everyone came, but he did miss his Nino, who was home with a bad knee.



Papa Scott operated the steam hoist which is used to hoist a real mine bucket into a 1:1 scale model of a mine shaft head frame which he built several years ago as a demonstration model. Several guests took a ride down the "mine shaft" which is really only an 8 foot deep hole because we'd hit water if we dug it any deeper.




And of course there would be no birthday celebration without firing off the potato cannon, which was built for last year's Mythbusters party. It's always a hit with the crowd!




Several of the kids and the kids-at-heart went out to the landing zone to look for the spuds after they were launched.



We all had a great time and we thank everyone who came so much for helping to make it such a fun day.