Brother, can you hear through the flames and rage? You're digging a hole where you're digging a grave.

Being the responsible adults that we are, myself, Lil Bro#2, and Big Sis#2 decided to take Niecey G trespassing on Sunday.

I've been to the Gingerbread Castle before, but only got to see it from the outside. Some history: once upon a time when the Mill was still operational, someone built the Gingerbread Castle so that the mill workers could leave their kids there during the work day. Fifteen or so years ago, there were tours offered by a long since closed restaurant across the street. Kids could meet up with Hansel and Gretel, who would take them on a tour of the castle and at the end they were confronted by the Witch, and to escape they had to throw a coin down the wishing well.

Since then, the Castle has sat abandoned. More recently, the property has been listed for sale, something that has been met with some hostility from the locals.

 A couple weeks ago, two different friends posted photos on facebook of their explorations inside the Castle. I'd been dying to revisit it ever since.

Upon our arrival, Lil Bro#2 and Niecey G skirted the fence and said they found no way in. All four of us took a long walk around the entire property (which includes 4+ buildings) looking for a way through the fence.

No luck. We thought about exploring the mill itself, but it doesn't look entirely stable.

 Then we got back to where we started and I walked the length of the fence directly in front of the Castle. Somehow Lil Bro#2 and Niecey G managed to miss the giant gaping hole someone had cut in said fence.

Big Sis#2 opted to stay outside, chatting with a family who had also come to check out the castle. Niecey G, Lil Bro#2, and I proceeded inside the castle. We could hear the complaints of the small child whose parents still stood chatting to Big Sis#2, because her parents would not let her follow us through the hole in the fence.

It's a pretty cool roadside attraction. But it's a shame there's so much graffiti. And not even decent graffiti. Some highlights:

Lil Bro#2 and I may go back and attempt to steal that

That was the only part of the building we didn't explore--those stairs did not look at all stable. 

We explored and took some more photos and then went back to the car.

And no exaggeration, LITERALLY as we were piling back into the car, a police car came down the street and pulled into the Castle/mill parking lot. He didn't bother us (I'm presuming because we were by that time on the legal side of the fence, and we looked like 3 adults with a child in tow, so probably did not look like the trespassing hoodlums that we are). So we possibly narrowly escaped getting arrested. Niecey G was thoroughly impressed with this adventure.

Normal 11-year-olds go to sleepovers or the mall on weekends, but Niecey G can now tell her friends she went trespassing in abandoned buildings.

Later I stopped at the bird sanctuary that's down the street from my new home. Got some good pics of a great heron

  

a red-winged blackbird

a swallow

a green heron

this birb I could not identify

and what I think is a family of otters.

Lil Bro#2 and I grabbed some dinner at the Wit's End tavern with one of his friends. This particular friend used to be afraid of me (which I find hilarious, as I'm a hobbit and he's 6' 5"), but now he likes me. Lil Bro#2's friends cannot keep his many sisters straight, so we are apparently referred to as The One That Lives In England, The One With The Kid, The One That's Not Actually Related To Him, and Daenerys. I will admit I was extremely flattered by this, even though I hated Daenerys's character in the books. I'm guessing it's because of my hair, because I don't think I look anything like Emilia Clarke...

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... I find Lil Bro#s's friend incredibly attractive, which makes me feel like sort of a pedophile. I confided these feelings to M., without mentioning names, and he guessed which one of Lil Bro#2's friends it was immediately. Apparently, I have A Type. 

What did the rest of y'all do with your weekends?