starting san francisco

Today was a learning experience for everyone as the kids took to the streets again and learned about the beginnings of San Francisco as a major, bustling, crowded city. Yes, that's right: it was Gold Rush day.

They took a tour of the Old Mint.

The tour guide's beard was pretty impressive.

The rocks painted gold were less so, but the kids were still interested in the idea of gold.

Bustling downtown proved to be a fascinating place in the present in a much different way in than in the past, of course.

A comic interpretation of a Barbary Coast purse thief, an act that was also played out during the day.

Sutter Creek and mining towns were the basis of the Gold Rush game that the kids played when they got back from their field trip: using poker chips and dice to simulate moving west with only a few dollars in your pocket, mining or panning for gold and not always striking it rich, running out of food, and getting supplies for a trek up some mountains to make your fortune.

Zada and Logan try to determine how succulents absorb water best - their own self-guided experiment.