First Day of School, New Wheels, and a Sandbox

Click here to view these pictures larger

Some pics from the last day of our trip, spent at the Kentucky Horse Park...

Andalusian

Shire

Friesian

Arabian
Pony Ride

How they really felt

coerced smiles

The End

exhausto day

Day 3 of our trip was probably everyone's favorite. We went canoeing on the Green River, through the national park. 7.5 miles, about 3 1/2 hours. I didn't take the camera for fear it would get wet. There was even a place to canoe into the caves a little way... we did and heard an animal in there with us... maybe a beaver? Ian was worried it was an octopus. :-) There were several times when the boys were totally silent in the canoe. We'd stop with our paddles and all just listen to the woods around us, floating along. It was so peaceful. They dangled their hands in the water and caught leaves and let damselflies land on their fingers. By the end we were all as filthy as we've ever been. Thank God for baby wipes (next best thing to a shower) because Matt wanted to go see Lincoln's birthplace.

Oh my it was cool! I doubt I can do it justice in words, but the main thing that struck me was the family Bible. It was huge - one with lots of commentary in it. It was VERY well used. The binding and the pages were all very worn. It just hit me - that was the actual Bible that Abe Lincoln's mother sat and read to him as a child. I pictured his very long fingers holding that big book. Above the display case was the quote:

“In regards to this great Book , I have but to say it is the best
gift God has given to man."

The original quote goes on to say: "All the good the Savior gave to the world was
communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right
from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and
hereafter, are found portrayed in it.”

Powerful stuff. I just stood there thinking about it while the boys built mini log cabins with Lincoln logs.

We walked around the grounds and Caleb decided to try pulling mommy in the wagon:


The sinking spring which the Lincoln family used as a water source:

Two exhausted kids... passed out (in the Courtyard Marriot we stayed in for $48... gotta love priceline!)

Vacation day 2

The second day of our trip we took our last tour of the caves. It was the Historical Tour which begins with the beautiful natural entrance to the caves.

Right inside you find the site of a mining operation - people used to get saltpetre from the limestone and make gunpowder with it. You also find some graffiti. I took this shot of a 170 year old signature, because the guide mentioned that this person also owned another cavern, which Tom Sawyer explored. The boys are enthralled with the "Tom and Huck" stories their grandpa tells them.
It goes from huge high and open passageways all the way down to this tight squeeze:

A few times I noticed something fluttering about the cave... I decided to take a shot of the rock formations and then found right in the middle of the shot I had managed to capture the bat flying! (it's blurry but it's there) This was especially exciting for Ian "Batman" McElheny. :-)

On the way back out... everyone tired and hungry...


Out and on the way to lunch (the only bribery that worked to get them to pose like this):
The rest of the day was spent swimming and going to Dino World...

2009 Family Trip - Day 1

We just returned last night from a 4 day family trip. We realized before we left that this was the first time for just the four of us. We've gone to the beach and elsewhere with one or the other set of grandparents, and done a lot of things locally as a family, but this was the first time for something like this.

It all began many months ago, when Ian came to me asking what the largest instrument in the world is. "Mommy, can we wikipedia it?" So we did, and it's a pipe organ. We learned a lot that day online and discovered that there is an underground pipe organ made with stalactites and stalagmites in the Luray Caverns in Virginia. We knew we were taking a break from a big vacation this summer due to home repairs that have had to happen (and some that still need to happen). So we were going to go see this pipe organ and make a mini-vacation out of it. Turns out it would have taken 7 hours to get there for only a 1 hour tour through the cave. So we will make that trek sometime in the future, when it is a halfway point to another destination (like the beach :-)

This time around we opted for the Mammoth Caves, because there were so many options for tours, and so many other things around that we were interested in doing. After about 5 hours on the road we were able to make it for an afternoon tour the first day. This was the "New Entrance" tour - which is a man-made entrance to the caverns, and began with a bus ride. It was a great way to introduce Ian to what his school bus will be like NEXT WEEK. (Good grief. My child is going to school next week. But I digress.)

On the way, Caleb was all decked out watching Peter Pan while his brother tried to nap.

Mommy and Ian on the bus - proof that I was actually there -
thanks Matt for taking over the camera! :-)

Daddy and Caleb on the bus.

The boys seemed interested, but mostly just wanted to go off the trail and go exploring through the caves rather than listen to the guide going over historical facts. I think it was hard for them to grasp why that wasn't allowed! Anyway they had their mission from grandma, to figure out the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite, and they took that seriously. Ian also asked the guide how the caves got so big.


I did get some photos, but my forte is not low light... and it is really difficult to navigate these often narrow and slick passageways underground, towing a camera (no camera bag allowed), helping a little one the whole way.

a cave cricket

Frozen Niagra

Afterward we had pizza at the hotel and pool time and bed. The boys were very restless sleepers that night - Caleb had apparently swallowed some pool water, and was crying a lot about his tummy right before bed. He never did get sick but fell out of bed in the wee hours, and bit his tongue in the process. I helped him wash out his mouth and after that we all finally got a little more sleep.

proof that my children sometimes play nice

I was in no way involved with this little set up. They sweetly decided to share both coloring book and crayons, sweetly offered crayons to one another before putting them back in the box, and I even overheard the words "I love you" pass between them. No, I don't know what special set of circumstances might possibly have caused this event to occur. I did not drug them. Maybe the constellations were aligned just right. Maybe they were at the exact moment of digestion that creates calm and happiness. Maybe the rain in Spain was falling on the plain.... who knows but it was nice, and I enjoyed it.

(Okay, they really do play nicely together usually for at least some portion of each day. I am very blessed that way. This was just a crazy example of unusual kindness and cooperation between them, that lasted for an unusual length of time.)