Britannia Mining Museum

We had a lot of fun going to visit the Britannia Mining Museum in the afternoon after visiting Stanley Park.  We had some friends tell us about this place and I am so glad that they did because it was such a fun place to visit!  They had lots of different exhibits you could see with plenty of hands-on things for Alden.  We also got to take a train inside the mine on a tour and see parts of the mine that they used to work in.  They were also able to actually show us some of the tools that used to be used in the mines that are still functioning today.  We all had to wear hard hats in the tunnel and I had to hold one over Anders' head the whole time since he is too little to actually wear one.  It was a very neat tour and we had a great tour guide!

I think we all thought that this was an awesome place to visit.   We had so much fun exploring the different exhibits and learning about the mining that took place there.  I think between riding a train, walking around an old mine, playing with old tools, playing with trucks and panning for gold Alden was very entertained and had a great time.

The first few exhibits that we saw.  Alden thought the blasting box was really cool.

This was Alden making the blasting box go off over and over again.

Old equipment that they used to wear in the mine.

They also had these neat things on display that were fun to see.

Alden had fun making these exhibits move.

Anders was very happy being held.

Do you think this is a big enough truck?  Alden thought it was really cool.

On our way to the train ride.

Waiting for the train and getting our hats on.

Alden was very proud of his and Anders was unsure about his.

Getting on the train and getting ready to go.  They told us there were going to be some loud noises and we would need to cover our ears and Alden thought they meant right away.

Inside the mine.

They even demonstrated how the Stoper drill worked on the tour.

This is inside the old building.  It is a huge structure that was incredible to see.

Those stairs on the right looked incredibly intimidating.  They were extremely steep.

Grandpa and Alden trying out an old car.

Alden and Daddy having fun looking at lots of old equipment.

This was the "kids" display that we all had fun looking at.

Drew was a little worried if these are our future...

They found the big tools.  These were extremely heavy but the boys thought they were really cool.

Alden found one that was his size that he could actually lift.

And another one!

Alden didn't want to be king so Daddy was.

Alden getting to see one of the Stoper Drills up close that they demonstrated using in the mine.

Alden thought this was a really neat playground.

They even had trucks for him to play with!

All the guys had to see if they could get water out of here.  It took a lot of work but they finally got a few drops.

The last thing we did there was pan for gold.  

I think my mom was the most successful.

Alden wanted to help at first but then decided he would rather just play with the shovel.  We had a really good day and I think this was a great stop because there were things that everyone found interesting and they had enough to do to keep Alden busy.