Valkenburg and Gangelt

Hi

I helped out on Jacob's year group trip to the Valkenburg mine. Brunssum is an old mining town as is a lot of the local area. Valkenburg also has a castle so I'll have to take Allen there so we can explore a bit more. The mining was coal. I learnt a lot and it was all the more interesting due to the Chilean mine rescue happening at the same time. An old miner took us on the tour and we saw the mine trains, drills, seams, conveyor belts that conveyed coal, rocks and the miners themselves. He let the kids have a go with a pnuematic drill (no health and safety concerns which was nice and refreshing!), they all piled onto a train and they also had a go on the mining bikes. I've put a photo in of Jacob driving the train and one of him in the tunnels. The kids thought it was great although some of the Americans were a bit dramatic about not being able to breath etc.

We had a busy Saturday of gymnastics, selling cub scout popcorn, Ikea shopping and then general shopping too plus breakfast and lunch out. Today, Sunday, we went to Gangelt wildlife park in Germany. It was great. The best bit for Jacob and Abi was feeding the animals. I've included a photo of feeding the deer. They liked the play park too. As you can see from their clothing it was a chilly autumn day. We may end up getting a season pass as I think they would happily visit here again and again and it will look very different in each season.

Allen's off to the UK tomorrow for a few days. My Mum, Nephew and Niece arrive for half term in a week so we're hoping to do more exploring with them. J&A have Wednesday off so we're going to try either an indoor swimming centre or an indoor play place. House is being repainted tomorrow, hoping it won't be too much of a mess!

Rachael.