I wanna be a millionaire so freaking bad

When jacob announced that we were going gem mining the words to that song kept going through my head. I really didn't know exactly what it was we would be doing but I had an idea it involved mud and water and by jove I was correct. The girls were really excited, no Lily was really excited and Rosie was just tagging along unsure what she was meant to do.

Once everyone was set up with their stuff Rosie really got into it. I didn't do very much as I was busy helping Rosie and making sure she didn't fall off of the bench. Rosie thought the prettiest thing she found was a sea shell. Go figure. She tried to throw away a large ruby until the chap in charge suggested she keep it. It's so nice up here the people are honest and kind.......lucky for Rosie and her ruby.

It was so much fun. I won't be a millionaire anytime soon, at least not from gem mining but it was something different to do and we had a great time doing it. Lily ended up with the biggest haul and the biggest stone out of all of us, no surprise there.

bb, I couldn't help but think of you and the time you walked part of the Pennine Way and came home with a rucksack full of amethyst.

Lily all excited and raring to go meanwhile Rosie is wondering why on earth she has been given a sieve of mud to play with.

Daddy showing Rosie that she has got some good stuff

Taking their work very seriously

Our work area with a spectacular view........beyond the car park

I just love the old fashioned panning plate

Lily with her stash. To the left of her hand is one big ruby and above that is her pile of emeralds

Rosie with her cache of goods. Her ruby is also in the lower left hand corner.

One little interesting fact we learnt yesterday: North Carolina is the only state that has Emeralds. They are very light, not at all like the dark green Brazilian emeralds we are used to seeing. They actually look more like jade and are exported to China and are sold "as" jade over there. Hmmm, I wonder how many of us bought NC emeralds thinking it was jade??? Darn! The people here are so friendly y'all.