What I did on my summer vacation
Okay, trip scoop.
We headed out Tuesday morning for Cave City, Kentucky - home of Mammoth Cave, other lesser-known yet equally impressive caves (it's not about size, y'know), and several dozen tourist traps. Our first trap stop was Dinosaur World. Kevin loved it. I thought it was kinda lame. Most of the dinosaurs didn't look very realistic - blue spray paint on their heads, either no detail or too "perfect" of detail, etc. I think Dinosphere at Indy Children's Museum has spoiled me. But again, Kevin loved it so all was well.
He got to do a "fossil dig" and really liked his new-found treasures.
There was one thing that made me snort - a series of drawings entitled "Theories of Extinction" included this one:
After our jaunt with the dinos, we went to the Wigwam Village to claim our concrete cone.
Hung out there for a few minutes.
Then we went back down Mammoth Cave Road to KY Action Park for the Alpine slide, a gocart ride, and one of those "old fashioned" photos where they dress you up on Old West gear and take pictures. Did you know when you take an already fluffy person, put her in a "southern belle" style dress, and make her sit down, she transforms into someone closely resembling Jabba the Hut?
"Bring me Solo and the Wookie."
The chair-lift to the top of the Alpine slide was nice - albeit a little unnerving. I'm not afraid of heights at all, and I've been on many o'chair lift at ski resorts, but never with my small-enough-to-slip-through-the-safety-bar-and-plunge-to-his-death child. My involuntary clutching of his shoulders around-the-shoulder hug surprised me. And it annoyed him.
"Mommmm, you can let go. I'm not going to fall out."
"Uh, yeah. I'll let go when you quit trying to touch the leaves on the trees down there with your feet. That's how you slip off the chair and impale yourself on a tree, dorkhead."
::: child rolls eyes, but complies so mom will release shoulder grip :::
So we got to the top of the hill/mountain/elevated mound of earth, each grabbed a sled that has wheels on the bottom, and headed to the slide.
Behold SlideCam!
My kid is greased lightening on that thing - kicked my butt every time we rode it, which over the course of two days totaled seven times.
After the slides, we drove into Mammoth Park for sightseeing and, if we came across a lake or river, fishing. We didn't get to fish, but we did get to see how unafraid the deer of Mammoth are of cars. This mama was about 5-6 feet from us, with her baby close by.
Then it was time to head back to the Wigwam. By the time we got there, it was nearly dark - kids were all over the playground area. We hung out there for a couple hours and Kevin made instant playground friends. Remember doing that on vacation as a kid? I love that.
I convinced Kev to finally come in around 10:30. He was tired but refusing to give into it, choosing instead to bounce all over the place. I got him to lie down with me and turned on the TV.
Then he said, "I don't like French Brillo."
"Huh?"
"French Brillo. I don't like that one."
"What are you talking about?"
"That on TV!"
"Dude. That's the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Bwa ha ha ha!"
"Oh. Well, I don't like it."
So of course, you know what I had to respond with. "Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down..."
"Mommmmm!"
Bugging my kids will never stop being fun.
So, on to Wednesday morning - Cave Day! We got up early, checked out of the Wigwam, and headed to Onyx Cave. That one is really small but the tour is great. There were five of us who went in with the guide - that was nice. The guy who took us into the cave grew up in the caves and is studying speleology in college, and he hit heavy on the environmental and scientific aspects of caves - we dug it.
After our tour of Onyx Cave and the obligatory gift shop purchases there, we were off to Mammoth Cave Park!
We did the Frozen Niagara tour which isn't very long - little over an hour. Had to reserve our spots a few days in advance which was a surprise to me; last time I was there I just picked a tour, bought a ticket on the spot and went. Since this trip was Kevin's first experience with cave stuff, I didn't want to sign us up for a 4-hour one. It was a good tour; much bigger than the other one - about 25 people - and of course, being Mammoth, there was more to see. Kevin bought a hard hat with a light on the front at Onyx and he wore it to Mammoth. Oh, and he chose a special glow-in-the-dark shirt because he knew they'd shut the lights off in the cave at some point in the tour.
Inside Mammoth - that's cave bacon. Neat, eh?
After Mammoth, it was on to Big Mike's Rock and Gift Shop! Aside from the rocks and gifts, they have a "mystery house" that kinda sucks at first, but then they have these rooms that are all slanted so if you stand up "straight," you'll fall over, so you have to lean, and it makes you dizzy and it's pretty cool. So we did the mystery house and then hit the rocks. Lookit these things!
See how big that dark blue one is compared to my shoe? Kevin said, "Wow, that's as big as Mom's butt!" Thanks, boy. Kev chose one of the light blue ones to bring home - a much smaller one than those pictured. Anyone have any idea what kind of rock it is??
After Big Mike's, we went back to KY Action Park for more Alpine Slide fun. We'd planned to go horseback riding but no horses were available until after 6, and we had to leave for MomLand. So we said our goodbyes to Cave City and hit the road. Got to MomLand late, where Kev had a bath (because you must have a bath before you go to bed at MomLand if you're a kid) and hit the sack.
Thursday morning we had a good ol' visit with Libby (a.k.a. SuperPooperPuppy). I mean Josie. Josie is her name now. She was *so* excited to see us, and we were excited to see her too. She looks great and is very happy. Hooray!
That afternoon we went to Southland Pool in Lexington with my niece A. Haven't been to that pool in years.
And then later that night we hit the county fair. Wheeeeeedoggies! Did the rides, the funnel cakes, the suck-your-money-out-of-your-pocket rigged games, and had some giggles in the fun house.
Kev drove a bumper car by himself for the first time - he's finally tall enough. I went with him once and then decided to let him be free and crash into other people all on his own.
Friday was going to be spent on the river with my sister R in her boat, but it started raining so we made a quick change of plans.
Dig our fancy bowling shoes! We bowled with Calvinball Rules. That was fun. Kevin beat us.
Friday evening we hung out at MomLand - made some popcorn and sat on Mom's deck. Kevin started talking to Mom about how he wants me to put up a privacy fence at home so he can go outside naked. Yep, he's still a nudist. I said, "Y'know Kev, now's your chance. Gramma's on 300 acres so she doesn't have any neighbors." Kevin agreed. He ran over to the side of the deck, stripped down, and took off for nekkid frolicking in the fields.
(Photo slightly altered. No showin' the bootie on the internetz).
He went bounding down the hill - arms waving, legs kicking, rolling in the grass - it was a hoot. Mom, not much of a nekkidness fan, grumbled, "He's gonna get chiggers and ticks." I was sure to do a thorough tick check and send him to the bathtub after his romp.
Saturday was low key - being lazy at Mom's, then packing up and getting ready to head home. Mom loaded me up with things she's wanting to get rid of like a big wicker picnic basket and a big carry-around cooler thing. They're both pretty cool and we'll get good use out of them.
Saturday night we came home. The end of vacation.
But July 4th weekend...Holiday World here we come!
We headed out Tuesday morning for Cave City, Kentucky - home of Mammoth Cave, other lesser-known yet equally impressive caves (it's not about size, y'know), and several dozen tourist traps. Our first trap stop was Dinosaur World. Kevin loved it. I thought it was kinda lame. Most of the dinosaurs didn't look very realistic - blue spray paint on their heads, either no detail or too "perfect" of detail, etc. I think Dinosphere at Indy Children's Museum has spoiled me. But again, Kevin loved it so all was well.
He got to do a "fossil dig" and really liked his new-found treasures.
There was one thing that made me snort - a series of drawings entitled "Theories of Extinction" included this one:
After our jaunt with the dinos, we went to the Wigwam Village to claim our concrete cone.
Hung out there for a few minutes.
Then we went back down Mammoth Cave Road to KY Action Park for the Alpine slide, a gocart ride, and one of those "old fashioned" photos where they dress you up on Old West gear and take pictures. Did you know when you take an already fluffy person, put her in a "southern belle" style dress, and make her sit down, she transforms into someone closely resembling Jabba the Hut?
"Bring me Solo and the Wookie."
The chair-lift to the top of the Alpine slide was nice - albeit a little unnerving. I'm not afraid of heights at all, and I've been on many o'chair lift at ski resorts, but never with my small-enough-to-slip-through-the-safety-bar-and-plunge-to-his-death child. My involuntary clutching of his shoulders around-the-shoulder hug surprised me. And it annoyed him.
"Mommmm, you can let go. I'm not going to fall out."
"Uh, yeah. I'll let go when you quit trying to touch the leaves on the trees down there with your feet. That's how you slip off the chair and impale yourself on a tree, dorkhead."
::: child rolls eyes, but complies so mom will release shoulder grip :::
So we got to the top of the hill/mountain/elevated mound of earth, each grabbed a sled that has wheels on the bottom, and headed to the slide.
Behold SlideCam!
Click to viewMy kid is greased lightening on that thing - kicked my butt every time we rode it, which over the course of two days totaled seven times.
After the slides, we drove into Mammoth Park for sightseeing and, if we came across a lake or river, fishing. We didn't get to fish, but we did get to see how unafraid the deer of Mammoth are of cars. This mama was about 5-6 feet from us, with her baby close by.
Then it was time to head back to the Wigwam. By the time we got there, it was nearly dark - kids were all over the playground area. We hung out there for a couple hours and Kevin made instant playground friends. Remember doing that on vacation as a kid? I love that.
I convinced Kev to finally come in around 10:30. He was tired but refusing to give into it, choosing instead to bounce all over the place. I got him to lie down with me and turned on the TV.
Then he said, "I don't like French Brillo."
"Huh?"
"French Brillo. I don't like that one."
"What are you talking about?"
"That on TV!"
"Dude. That's the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Bwa ha ha ha!"
"Oh. Well, I don't like it."
So of course, you know what I had to respond with. "Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down..."
"Mommmmm!"
Bugging my kids will never stop being fun.
So, on to Wednesday morning - Cave Day! We got up early, checked out of the Wigwam, and headed to Onyx Cave. That one is really small but the tour is great. There were five of us who went in with the guide - that was nice. The guy who took us into the cave grew up in the caves and is studying speleology in college, and he hit heavy on the environmental and scientific aspects of caves - we dug it.
After our tour of Onyx Cave and the obligatory gift shop purchases there, we were off to Mammoth Cave Park!
We did the Frozen Niagara tour which isn't very long - little over an hour. Had to reserve our spots a few days in advance which was a surprise to me; last time I was there I just picked a tour, bought a ticket on the spot and went. Since this trip was Kevin's first experience with cave stuff, I didn't want to sign us up for a 4-hour one. It was a good tour; much bigger than the other one - about 25 people - and of course, being Mammoth, there was more to see. Kevin bought a hard hat with a light on the front at Onyx and he wore it to Mammoth. Oh, and he chose a special glow-in-the-dark shirt because he knew they'd shut the lights off in the cave at some point in the tour.
Inside Mammoth - that's cave bacon. Neat, eh?
After Mammoth, it was on to Big Mike's Rock and Gift Shop! Aside from the rocks and gifts, they have a "mystery house" that kinda sucks at first, but then they have these rooms that are all slanted so if you stand up "straight," you'll fall over, so you have to lean, and it makes you dizzy and it's pretty cool. So we did the mystery house and then hit the rocks. Lookit these things!
See how big that dark blue one is compared to my shoe? Kevin said, "Wow, that's as big as Mom's butt!" Thanks, boy. Kev chose one of the light blue ones to bring home - a much smaller one than those pictured. Anyone have any idea what kind of rock it is??
After Big Mike's, we went back to KY Action Park for more Alpine Slide fun. We'd planned to go horseback riding but no horses were available until after 6, and we had to leave for MomLand. So we said our goodbyes to Cave City and hit the road. Got to MomLand late, where Kev had a bath (because you must have a bath before you go to bed at MomLand if you're a kid) and hit the sack.
Thursday morning we had a good ol' visit with Libby (a.k.a. SuperPooperPuppy). I mean Josie. Josie is her name now. She was *so* excited to see us, and we were excited to see her too. She looks great and is very happy. Hooray!
That afternoon we went to Southland Pool in Lexington with my niece A. Haven't been to that pool in years.
And then later that night we hit the county fair. Wheeeeeedoggies! Did the rides, the funnel cakes, the suck-your-money-out-of-your-pocket rigged games, and had some giggles in the fun house.
Kev drove a bumper car by himself for the first time - he's finally tall enough. I went with him once and then decided to let him be free and crash into other people all on his own.
Friday was going to be spent on the river with my sister R in her boat, but it started raining so we made a quick change of plans.
Dig our fancy bowling shoes! We bowled with Calvinball Rules. That was fun. Kevin beat us.
Friday evening we hung out at MomLand - made some popcorn and sat on Mom's deck. Kevin started talking to Mom about how he wants me to put up a privacy fence at home so he can go outside naked. Yep, he's still a nudist. I said, "Y'know Kev, now's your chance. Gramma's on 300 acres so she doesn't have any neighbors." Kevin agreed. He ran over to the side of the deck, stripped down, and took off for nekkid frolicking in the fields.
(Photo slightly altered. No showin' the bootie on the internetz).
He went bounding down the hill - arms waving, legs kicking, rolling in the grass - it was a hoot. Mom, not much of a nekkidness fan, grumbled, "He's gonna get chiggers and ticks." I was sure to do a thorough tick check and send him to the bathtub after his romp.
Saturday was low key - being lazy at Mom's, then packing up and getting ready to head home. Mom loaded me up with things she's wanting to get rid of like a big wicker picnic basket and a big carry-around cooler thing. They're both pretty cool and we'll get good use out of them.
Saturday night we came home. The end of vacation.
But July 4th weekend...Holiday World here we come!