Finishing August! (Yes I am that far behind!)

After our vacation--we didn't do a whole lot.  I think we were recovering :)!

I had my "summer" list of activities that I chugged away at finishing--and I think I almost did everything!

We went to Ella's Deli with some friends and got ice cream and rode the carousel.  Alaina was not too happy about being on the horse that went up and down.  Thank goodness the ride was only 2 minutes long! :)

Rob and I celebrated our anniversary (low key).  Rob had class, but we still managed to have a nice family dinner.  Rob had planned a trip for us (no kids!) to San Francisco in September to celebrate.  (Isn't he wonderful!?)  So we really just focused on our get away!

The kids and I also spent our last day at Sandy Beach.  Really--there is nothing better than a day at the beach--even with all the effort it takes to lug everything from your car to the beach.  Aaaahhhhh...However Alaina has thrown a wrench into the enjoyment just a tad with her new found boldness to go into the water up to her neck.  EEKS!  But when she was playing in the sand--it was all good!

We also rode our bikes from our home to the Farmer's Market with Rob's Mom & Jan.  It was so nice and fun!  We had a blast.  I know we will be doing this more in the future.
 

11 weeks

11 WEEKS!

Well it turns out I am a bit further along than thought--actually, I kind of figured I had to be with the timing of things....Anyway, the ultrasound today confirmed it.  I am at least 11 weeks.  Well baby Moe you were very cute and wonderfully entertaining at the ultrasound today.  We watched your little heart flutter and you kept jumping around--your whole body would just lift and float back down.  Very entertaining.  You also waved to us.  Your tiny little fingers--BEAUTIFUL!  Aren't you just God's Amazing Creation!  We also saw your tiny little feet.  And of course your oversized head filled with SCHNAKE brain!

How blessed we are--and how blessed I am.  I also just found out that another friend is expecting at about the same time we are.  YEAH! 

So the due date was May 8, but I guess that will be moved up to May 1st or something around that.  I guess I will wait for the doc to tell us.  Anyway it is seeming VERY likely we will have an April baby!  YEAH!

17 week update---

Well this kiddo is dancing and moving.  Food is always a motivator.  We have dubbed this kid as "Moe" declaring Ky our "Larry", Alaina our "Curly", and so as you can see "Moe" just fits.  (That and Rob and I ran out of name combinations...)

When we told Ky there was a baby in our tummy, he was in disbelief.  He told me that my tummy wasn't big enough.  Since then we have convinced him that the baby is in there and growing (and he can tell now by the bulge that is beginning.)  As you can see from the top picture, one of the kids new favorite games (initiated by Ky of course) is to shove a baby doll up their shirt and declare they are pregnant.  I am pretty sure Alaina is really clueless in the whole thing.  We have tried to explain the concept of a new baby to her--but well--she has other things to focus on.  Right now, I think she is convinced that she has a baby in her tummy...Hmmmm...Hopefully we can get this situation rectified before April.

We told the kids first that way they could tell the relatives.  We were not planning on telling anyone yet, but Mom & Jan were moving and we volunteered to help--and then they wanted me to help paint.  Well there was no way to "weasel" out of that except to 'fess up.  So Ky got to tell the news--and of course everyone was excited.

We then had Ky share it with Pops & Debi, who "already knew?"  Bummer....

My mom had known instantly.  Around 6 weeks or so she had called and woke me up during a nap (in the middle of the day) and accused me of being pregnant.  It says a lot about how much that woman knows me--she KNOWS I would not be sleeping during the middle of the day--and there had to be a good reason.  I didn't even have a definite answer for her then.  But, of course, she knows now.

Ky has spilled the beans to a few other people.  I did a FB post hoping to inform the rest--but I suppose there are probably some people that still don't know.  Well soon enough they will figure it out (or Ky will tell them.)  We are excited.  And yes we are finding out the gender--and no we are not telling you--you will just have to wait.  I need to start getting rid of those bins of clothes in my basement though--so once I find out what we are having, I will start sorting and setting aside the clothes I can get rid of.  (I will wait until after birth though--because the last thing I want to do is get stuck with a bunch of the wrong gender clothes because they didn't see things correctly in the ultrasound.) 

As of now, I believe the official due date is May 2.  I meet with the Dr. this week to have that confirmed.  Since April 24th is Easter--we will either aim for a few days before or after to have the baby.  April 27th--might be too late, so I think there is a better chance of having the baby prior to Easter.  Either way is fine by me.

My cravings have changed now from meat to salad and carbs.  Buttered Noodles and Olive Garden salad have been serious WANTS (though I have yet to try out the OG--but SOON!)  We are going to the Melting Pot this weekend with some friends who are expecting at the same time as us.  I am so excited for the food!  (oh yeah and the friendship too! :) ) 

Well that is all for preggo posts for now.  I have to get back to my general family posts....which I think I am doing pretty well on...Hopefully I can get caught up in the next couple weeks or so.  Until then!

It's Official!

A new "favorite" game of the kids--shoving babies up their shirts and declaring themselves pregnant.

I peed at the doc and they declared it official--I am preggo.  They gave me a due date of May 10/11--I think they are wrong.  I will talk to them later.  (BTW--I had not taken a pregnancy test at all--I figured my intuition was enough.  Rob was getting frustrated with me though---and basically said--you need to just get this done so we know for sure.) 

I don't think the doc was too happy that I waited so long to come in (at almost 8 weeks).  They couldn't schedule me until 9.5 weeks and they like to see you by 8.  My argument is that nothing is going to change during that time, and if it did--it would be nothing they could do anything about.   Anyway--this time during the "call" they told me that I couldn't eat any lunchmeat of any kind.  In the last 2 pregnancies neither of my docs said anything about lunchmeat.  This makes it rough for me since all I crave is MEAT!  (Can you sense this is a boy?)  I don't know what I am going to do.  The ham in the fridge looks SOOOOO GOOOD!  ARGH.  I am going to have a rebuttal with this at my first appointment.

October 8--

I had my first "appointment".  It was very frustrating.  They were running an hour behind.  This appointment was supposed to be our chance to ask all sorts of questions, some tests run, and have the ultrasound.  Well--it didn't turn out that way...UGH!  It was rushed and we left winded.  I felt bad and was ready to hurry home to pick up the kids (we didn't bring them because they aren't allowed in the ultrasound room--well turns out we could have brought them anyway...) ARGH!

And then on the way out we saw an accident...Okay I have to vent a minute here so hear me out...

We are the third car behind 2 cars turning left.  I was angry because of the appointment and then I also realized I turned on the street without a light so it was going to be hard to turn left.  That is when the car in front of me turned into the right lane and turned right.  That was when I saw the sign--"No left turn 3 - 6 PM" and of course it was 5.  I then started turning right to get into the right lane.  The truck in front of me either didn't pay attention to the sign or disregarded it.  They charged forward into the traffic.  That is when we saw the motorcycle.  Yeah, there was no way for that motorcycle to stop.  It ran right into the back of that truck.  The guy came flying off the bike.  (REALLY PEOPLE--I am so against motorcycles now!  How dangerous!)  Anyways at this point I am freaking out.  I start yelling--"We have to call 911.  Get your phone!"  And then my whole first aid class (which I had taken the week before) came flying into my head.  Oh my--I have to help.  I parked the van and dialed 911 as I ran to the motorcyclists.  He was sitting up.  The guy in the truck was yelling at him.  (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!  THIS DUDE JUST FLEW OFF HIS BIKE ONTO THE GROUND AND HE IS BEING YELLED AT!!)  The truck driver is picking up his bumper off the ground yelling at the motorcyclist for hitting his car!  Why isn't he making sure he is okay??!!  Seriously...

Anyway, I yelled at the truck guy to stop and said something along the lines of "he could be seriously hurt" or "now is not the time"  I honestly don't remember.  At this point I handed the phone off to Rob and went over to the cyclist.  I got to the motorcyclist and did my whole First Aid line of "Hi, I am trained in First Aid, can I help you?"  (Ari should be very proud of me.)  I spent some time talking to him.  I found out his name was Bob and he was consious.  He knew the date and all those fun questions.  I then checked him from head to toe.  He was wearing his helmet (Thank you God!).  I took off his sun glasses and checked out his vision. It seemed fine.  With my check we confirmed that he had pain in his right chest and tail bone (he landed hard on his butt.)  I was concerned at this point with a spinal cord injury so I then spent the remainder of my time trying to keep his head still.  Another man was there on the scene as well.  He said he was an ex-EMT and began removing his helmet.  I was adamantly against that and I stated so, but I wasn't about to fight over an injured man's head.  I had Rob call Bob's wife and they chatted briefly on the phone letting her know that he was in an accident.  I have to say--I am so relieved I had my First Aid training.  When the EMT's got there I was able to give them a rundown of the situation and they immediately put him in a neck brace. 

I guess I am writing all this stuff of checking him out as more of a reflection to myself.  CRAZY to think that my First Aid training would so quickly come into use.  I do realize now that I probably should have checked on the other driver as well--and at least showed some compassion there.  I was a bit worried about the motorcyclist though and a bit miffed at the truck guy for yelling at the cyclist--but whatever, it is not my place to judge, but to show compassion.

Anyway, afterwards we gave our account to the officer and left.  Talk about a "Disaster" of an appointment.  We pray for Bob though and hope that he has a full recovery.  We also pray for the other driver to be humbled by this accident and to take it as something to learn from--we need to show compassion to everyone, no matter what the situation.

Kylan's haircut

Before...

After

We got a new trimmer from Debi.  I was so excited!  What a great way to save money!  I could now cut Rob's hair!  YEAH!  Well, first I needed to test my trimmer abilities.  Ky was a wonderful option.  I was not planning to cut all his hair short, I just wanted to do the back.

Things went really well and I was impressed by how easy the clippers went.   When it came time to clean up his sideburns, I discovered the clippers did not do a good job.  So I had Rob go get his shaver and he then attempted to trim them.  BIG MISTAKE.  They were crooked.  I told him he had to fix them and then they got worse.  Next thing I knew Ky was sitting in the chair with no sideburns.  Poor kid looked like an Amish lad.  At that point we felt we had no choice but to take "ALL" of it off.  So yes, I trimmed my sweet boys head.  I almost cried.  I love his hair long.  *Sigh*  And now he looks so much older...

So lesson learned--don't let Rob near Ky's hair.  And yes we will be growing it back out.

Room For Three

Well they fit....

Three carseats in the back of the Camry.

Yes--if you haven't figured it out, I am expecting. The due date is May 8. Since I will be doing a c-section (I am not going to risk a V-Bac after my scary delivery with Alaina), I am hoping we might be able to have the baby April 24 to coincide with August 24 (our anniversary) and September 24 (Alaina's b'day). My second ideal date is April 27--this would go with the "7" trend. Ky's b'day is on the 7th, I'm on the 17th, the new one would be on the 27th. But who knows how much say I will have with the date.

So do you find it odd that I already tested the back of the Camry for fitting carseats? Well--I did. As with each pregnancy, I went through about a week of total panic once I knew--and one of those panic moments was "will we always be limited to the van? What if it breaks down? Do we need to trade the Camry in?" Before I jump too far ahead in this blog, I should probably start back at the beginning...

Prior to marriage, Rob and I had discussed kids. I had wanted 3, he had wanted 2. We figured sometime down the line we would figure it out. Well, after 2 kids, I was really unsure about having a third, but always kept it in the back of my mind. Two kids are a lot of work--but THREE??Can I handle three? Of course, I then gave it to God and prayed about it. I prayed that Rob and my hearts would want the same thing. Whether that be 2 or 3 kids, we would both be content with the same. So we always kept the option of 3 kids open. Rob occasionally would ask me, and I would tell him that I am still torn. Finally we had a discussion in August. I told him that I do want a third, but I was really scared and wasn't sure if wanted to commit. I also told him that I had an "idealized" timeline--which meant us getting pregnant this month or maybe not at all. Rob said "let's just see what happens". Well just like Ky and Alaina--God quickly blessed us.

Once again, I knew about a week before you can usually find out. There were the tell-tale signs. The week that would confirm sent me into a panic. I couldn't sleep. I was up hours every night--often on the computer googling stupid things like "Do 3 car seats fit in a sedan?" and "How does going from 2 -3 children affect your family?" --BTW--I highly recommend NOT googling that, because only bad and more worrisome stuff came up--such as, you can only book suites at hotels b/c they won't let you put 5 in a room (by the way this is UNTRUE of most hotels) and 3 car seats rarely fit in the back of a car. (which as you can see, I proved wrong! HA!) Also then tons of abortion topics came up--and that just is NOT an option.

After about 5 days of this worrisome panic filled with many tears, I had a breakthrough. It happened at Lifegroup (our church group made up of 3 families.) We were discussing how God has control of everything and how wonderfully he has planned and made all of our lives and that is why he has protected us. WOW! At that moment I realized how selfish I was. God chose me to be the mommy of this little baby. He so carefully prepared us for this child. He put his own touch in creating this little being. How selfish am I? And honestly a lot of it came down to convenience. Nothing is convenient in life. However, God has always prepared us for the difficult times and been with us throughout it all. He is faithful. He chose us as parents for this child because he knew we would succeed in raising him/her in his ways. WOW! Isn't God awesome!? And how flattered am I to have been chosen to take care of this little being, this piece of work--God's creation.

After that Lifegroup and since I have slept through the night. My heart has been at peace (of course I still wonder about things--but I know that God is by my side and everything will be just fine.)

So here I am now about 7 weeks pregnant and for the last week I have been STARVING! WOW! I just want to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. I have held back. I am already starting to show. I need to fit in my pants a little while longer yet. We were hoping to keep it from Rob's side until T-giving, but I don't think that is going to happen. I have yet to take the pee test for the doc. I am just not interested in toting my urine into the clinic again. It was embarrassing enough last time. They won't really do anything anyway until I am 10 weeks or so. So I am just biding my time.

I know my friend Rachel is pregnant too. I really want to have a preggo buddy--but she isn't telling anyone (including me) so I don't want to push her. Rachel--if you are there--I totally watched you down that Big Mac at Mc'D's a couple of weeks ago and I knew. You were eating like I wish I was. Seriously though...Another month and we can get on with things and not feel so secretive.

I did weigh myself today. I have only gained 2 lbs, which could easily be explained away with vacations. However, I am gaining it all in one place. UGH! I look forward to the 2nd trimester when things get a little more enjoyable and I start to feel the baby move. It makes things more real.

So do I want a boy or girl. Either would be fine. I always envisioned myself with boys so I wouldn't be surprised if it is a boy--especially with my appetite. All I want is MEAT & Carbs!

If it is a boy, that would be nice because then even though Alaina is a middle child, she would be the only girl and hopefully override any "middle child" syndrome. If it is a girl, however, then Alaina will have a best friend and TONS of clothes to pass down and share with her little sister. We will find out the gender for my own sanity. I have to start getting rid of all the clothes in the basement. I have 4 years of boys and girls clothes right now (yes girls--I have been blessed with hand me downs!)

Well I think I will end this blog here. I am very excited for you little one! I can't wait until I feel you! Love you!

Kentucky/Indiana Vacation

Better late than never...here we go.

We left after a long night/morning of packing for Illinois.  Of course, like always, we were a bit later than we would have liked.  We had to stop at the bank since we were refinancing the house and that took a little longer than planned--and then a few other things came up as well--like the garage sale in our neighborhood I HAD to go to.  (Okay don't laugh at me.  I go to these people's sale every year--their kids are 2 years older than Ky and Alaina--I pick up lots of clothes that are in GREAT shape for really cheap prices...And if you are still laughing at me because you are one of those "brand" name people--when I say "nice" I mean brand name quality clothing that I could probably sell for more than I bought it for AFTER my kids wear it.  We are talking an investment here....Okay now you are really laughing at me....Do you see how my mind works?)  Anyways--back to my story...

So off we go to Illinois.  The plan originally was to leave early enough to go to the Children's Museum in Rockford in the morning and then off to visit Grandpa Herbst, Aunt Linda and Aunt Janice.  But like all things--I couldn't find our membership cards until the last minute--so yeah--we were late...

But we got to Grandpa Herbst safely and had a WONDERFUL visit with him.  In fact, one of the best ever.  It was past his nap time so he was probably overtired, but he was a lot of fun.  He kept calling Ky "Charlie" and really enjoyed watching the kids. He also gave us a peek at the young man he once was.

After the visit Aunt Janice & Aunt Linda took us for ice cream at Oberwiess.  (Do they know us or what?!)  What a yummy and fun time!  The cashier even brought out balloons for the kids. We had a wonderful time visiting with our Aunts before beginning the official "vacation".

The rest of the day was spent driving to Indianapolis.  On the way, we tried stopping at a Bob Evans, but were unable to find one.  (We don't have Bob Evans in Wisconsin.)  Instead we ended up stopping at a Denny's that was very smoky--ICK!  It is always funny going to out of state restaurants that don't have the no smoking ban yet.  I am so used to not being around smoke, that now when I am, it is just overwhelming.

We got to Adam & Liz's in good time and were able to plan the next day with them. Saturday we slowly got up--what can I say--it's the weekend!  and were off to Conner Prairie.  Liz used to work there and gave us all the fun "behind" the scenes stories.  It was a VERY hot day though, and made the outdoors difficult to really enjoy.  I felt sorry for all the characters dressed in their garb--especially the blacksmith!  What a job on a 90 degree day!

I think the kids most enjoyed tormenting, I mean playing with the animals.  There was this poor mule that Alaina kept following around.  I think she found his tail intriguing.  Ky also got to meet his buddy Diego who was making special appearances that day.  (Talk about another hot gig.  Can you imagine wearing that giant furry costume?!)   Alaina cried and didn't really want to get near him.  I could tell that Ky was being very shy--but it was a fun experience.

At one point on our long journey Ky was being obstinate so we went to the doctor (at Connor Prairie--remember 1800's characters) and asked him what we could do about a naughty child.  He said that he had just the remedy.  He told us that we needed to go outside and find a hickory tree and then cut off a branch about yeah long and yeah wide.  He then told us that we needed to apply it to his buttocks area.  It was all very funny and well done for his character.  That man sure thought quickly on his feet!

After that we were off for some dinner.  We ate at a yummy place (Liz--what was the name of the restaurant?  I don't remember.)  They had awesome barbecue.  And there was SO MUCH food.  We were stuffed.  I know Adam and Rob definitely had lots of brisket left over (it became dinner the next day.)  At one point in the meal Alaina reached over and grabbed some spicy food off of Liz's plate.  Oh, how I wish I had had a video camera on her!  She started scraping it off her tongue and making faces and then began to cry.  I guess she learned her lesson--don't take food off of other people's plate!

On Sunday, we enjoyed another lazy morning before we headed out for ice cream at Handel's, a local ice cream place.  Ky got Dora on a stick, while Rob and I enjoyed some of the flavors.  I had chocolate raspberry truffle and it was DELICIOUS!  This place definitely had 2 thumbs up from me.

After Ice Cream we walked through the Art Institute's gardens.  The kids had fun in the crazy house.  I enjoyed the flower area by the river which had a lot of butterflies.  And then there was a ledge.  First Ky, had to walk on it.  I was okay with that--it was even with the ground on the other side, and I just made sure to stand next to him on the "Drop-off" side that got bigger and bigger.  Well then, of course Alaina saw Ky do it so she HAD to do it as well.  Talk about making me nervous.  She did fine though.  That girl is definitely an adventuresome one!

On Monday morning we left for camping in Kentucky.  The plan was to visit Mammoth Cave.  We did not make reservations for camping--and now we are very glad we didn't.  We had planned to camp at Nolen Lake Park.  It was the only campground near Mammoth Cave that had a lake.  I thought having a lake was an important aspect in our camping with the kids (especially with some potentially VERY hot days) so this is why we chose that campground.  I had called ahead because I noticed that many of the Kentucky Parks did not have sites reserved.  It turns out that school starts in Kentucky in early August--so the only campers would be out-of-state ones.  When we were browsing the Kentucky sites, we were not very happy with the limited info they had, and honestly after calling a few times, I was a bit concerned about how great the sites would be as well.  This is why we didn't reserve sites.

We got to Nolan park and there was no one in the office.  We found a man mowing the lawn and he said "just pick out a site, set-up, and we will settle up with you later".  Hmmm...

Well we saw a few sites but they were all crammed together in a treed area--and I mean crammed.  There would be no privacy.  We went to another office and found a lady working the desk.  We asked about other campsites and she said "SURE!  Just let me xerox you a map of the park".  She dug a hand drawn map out of her filing cabinet and copied it.  All the other sites we found we did not think we would actually be able to fit our tent in the area allotted.  We are VERY glad that we didn't make reservations. 

At this point we called Mammoth Cave NATIONAL park (Nolan lake was a Kentucky park) and they said that they had sites available.  We let the kids play in the lake for a bit and then left to find a campsite at Mammoth Cave park. 

To get to Mammoth Cave Park we actually had to take a ferry across the river.  The kids LOVED it.  I felt sorry for the ferry operator.  What a boring job!?  back and forth, back and forth....

We were so happy to finally get a nice normal camping site at a park that was ran professionally.  While we worked to set up the tents the kids lost it.  I mean LOST IT!  They were screaming and crying--yeah--it was not a happy day.  They were overtired and were done being crammed in the van.  The people around us must have thought that we were lunatics (and to those people I apologize.)  By the time we were done setting up, Rob and I were losing it--and we STILL had to make dinner.  We got it done though and then threw the kids in bed.  WHEW!  With the crazy campsites and driving, that day was crazy!  Mental note--never plan on camping in a Kentucky park again!

Tuesday, so in case you didn't know, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the largest known cave system in the world.  They currently have almost 400 miles of cave system charted--and would not be surprised to find more.  We were very excited to be able to take a vacation so nearby and get to explore a small piece of this cave system.

We took 2 tours.  The first tour we took was the New Entrance Tour.  This entrance was found/created by a man who sold cave tours to make money.  Eventually he sold it to the park.  This tour had a lot of sharp turns and took quite a bit of negotiating, which was not easy to do if you were the one holding Alaina.  It was really neat to see the formations.  (I think our pictures don't even do justice the the actual beauty of the cave.)

We went back to our site for lunch and Ky found a stick bug that he was very excited about.  Unfortunately, I don't think it survived the love of a four-year-old.  After that we went back to Nolan Lake.  It was the last really warm day that was predicted and we figured we would take advantage of it.  The lake was beautiful.  Nobody was there, so it was like having the place to ourselves.  The kids LOVED it.  The water was beautiful, with exception of the fish that would come and nibble on you.  The only downside was Alaina was getting a little TOO brave in the water.  She was not afraid to walk out shoulder deep.  Yeah...we gotta get that girl some swim lessons.

That evening we returned to the campsite where we paid $2 to shower.  Yes at this campground you have to PAY to shower.  My shower was quite horrific.  I was with Alaina and the water went from hot to cold- there was no in between.  I ended up burning her in attempt to get the soap rinsed off her.  Yeah--we did not take anymore showers at the campground.  I was done.  I also went and got my money back.  I was not happy at all with that experience.

That night Rob and I enjoyed a couple of beers by the fire.  I think I actually drifted off.  As we were preparing to go in our tent we noticed it was starting to sprinkle.   I put the firewood under the picnic table and thought nothing more about it until....we woke up to POURING rain a couple of hours later.  It stormed and stormed.  I had hanging laundry--it was soaked.  The firewood--wet.  And around 4 AM or so I got up out of bed to notice the bottom of our tent had become a water bed.  I would step and I could feel water squirting out from the sides of my feet.  It was coming in the tent through the seams of the tent and getting our bedding wet.  Alaina was in luck being elevated in her pack and play.  The rest of us had bedding that was getting sopping wet.  Aroudn 6 AM--it was still pouring and rain was starting to come in a little bit through the top of our tent.  Our tent held up well--despite the TORRENTIAL downfall.  And I am not exaggerating.  Around 6 AM we were able to look out and see that our entire tent was submerged in water.  And it was still pouring.  The kids got up around 8 AM.  Rob and I had had little sleep trying to keep bedding up and dry.  It was still raining.  We were lucky that I remembered that there was an umbrella in the van.  I ran and got it and we took turns running to the bathroom.  We ate breakfast in our tent (not a good thing when you have little ones) and stayed in the tent. 

We decided after a while, that SINCE it was still raining, there was nothing better for us to do, but to go on a cave tour.  We drove to the tour area and discovered we had just missed the last tour we wanted to go on.  At this point we went to a shelter and prepared lunches and ate (while it continued to pour.)  We then returned back to catch the Historic Tour. 

The history behind the caves was fascinating.  We found out that it was a status symbol for the really rich to visit the caves.  People would come dressed as though it was a black tie affair--men in tuxedos and women in huge petticoats, heels and parasols.  Many left their mark in the cave by paying their tour guide to "burn" their names in the cave with a candle.  It was so neat looking at names of people from over a century ago.

When we left the cave it was still lightly drizzling.  We decided at this point that we would drive to the local town--cave city.  And let me say--this city was a joke.  Signs were falling down and misspelled.  People were trying to sell "cave" rocks out of their front yards.  Buildings and amusement parks were decrepit and looked closed.  After driving around I told Rob we HAD to stop somewhere--just to say we did.  So we stopped at the fudge shoppe.  It was the only store open in this series of buildings--most of the buildings were molding.  It was just really weird.  We bought some fudge from a guy who had half of his store taped off with caution tape--yeah weird.  I think I felt sorry for him.  He then tried to convince us to visit the wax museum.  He told us how FASCINATING the waxed Abe Lincoln was and how it all felt so real--"No thanks, sir."  I think we will pass on this one.

After that adventure we were still scared to return to our "flooded" camp.  We made our way down a short path to a cave opening where a man died in.  It was a huge news story in the 1920s.  On our drive back we had a lot of fun watching the butterflies.  Kentucky has TONS of butterflies.  They are ALL over the road.  We probably hit over 100 of them. 

We returned to our wet site.  The good news was--the puddle under our tent was gone.  The bad news--everything was wet and muddy.  We ended up moving our tent up onto the cement driveway for the night.  We were a bit concerned it might rain again--and we needed the tent to have a chance to dry out--and we didn't want to have to walk in and out of mud to get in the tent.  Let me tell you--having a muddy campsite made it very difficult to have both kids out.  Rob and I managed though.  We put the kids down early and it all worked out. 

We were more than happy to leave the next morning--though much of our stuff was still wet and some stuff was even starting to mildew.  When we packed the van--it stunk of wet stuff.  And we still  had several days left of our vacation (I am sure you can picture how bad it smelled by the end.)

Thursday morning we were off to Louisville.  We had a hotel reservation there and were going to take in some of the sights.  On our way we stopped at the Jim Beam Distillery--it only seemed right, being in Kentucky.  The kids did not necessarily enjoy the tour, but they did LOVE the fire truck they had there.  They also loved the bourbon chocolates!  Yum! (and yes they were safe for kids.)

When we got to Louisville we were ecstatic--SHOWERS!   BEDS!  DRYNESS!  Our room was AWESOME.  We had purchased our stay on priceline and paid very little for our room (I think we paid 35% of the normal stay price!)  We had this OUTRAGEOUS window that was on the river and we could see everything.  The kids loved watching the tugboats and ferries.  It was so neat!

Back to the showers.  We all showered and it was WONDERFUL!  At one point Ky pushed Alaina off of one of the beds and we had a bit of a scare.  The beds were elevated and she was standing on it.  I watched her fly off and hit her head on the floor (I mean she literally landed on her head)--and she really cried.  She is a tough girl, she only cries when she really gets hurt.  I called the doc and everything.  God watched out for her though and she was fine.

After our showers, we took a walk through some of the parks in Louisville.  The kids had a lot of fun, they had a lot of playgrounds made for different ages.  From there we stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner.  I had a FABULOUS lasagna.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.  At one point, Ky put 2 straws in his drink and you could just see that he was plotting something.  I then asked him "Ky, why do you have 2 straws?  You don't need 2 straws."  He was very quick on his feet to answer.  You could see in his face that he knew he was busted.  But then he got this "Aha" look.  He replied to me, "I have 2 straws so I could share with you!"  Smart boy!  For that, I let him keep the straws.

The next morning we were off to the Louisville Slugger Factory.  The kids had fun finding the baseball bats that led the way to the stadium.  The museum part was pretty interesting.  I liked seeing Babe Ruth's bat with notch marks on it for each homerun.  Ky & Rob both got to hold some really old famous people's bats--I don't remember who--however Rob should.  Unfortunately the camera ran out of battery power and since we walked to the factory, we did not have more with us. 

Shortly after the factory tour we all received little bats.  I SPECIFICALLY told Kylan not to hit his sister with the bat.  And what did he do.  Once I had my back turned "Crack" right on her head.  Yeah, it did not make for a very good last 20 minutes at the museum.

After that it was time to go--to the local winery.  Of course we had to stop!  We went to the River Bend Winery and had a tasting.  The kids were good.  We gave them crayons and pictures as we tasted the different wines.  It was very good.

On the way back  we stopped by some fountains and let the kids play before we hit the road back to Indy--but first a detour to the local ice cream place.  And let me tell you, the bakery was SOOOOOO Tempting!  If we are ever back in the area, we will stop so I can get some cookies and pie and more ice cream.  It was all very yummy.  Definitely a memorable place. 

When we got back to Indy, we were bummed to find out that Ma & Pa Vander Heyden would not be joining us.  The boys took a ride in Adam's Javelin to get some pizza and we hit the sack for the next day--Day at the Indy State Fair! 

It's been a few years since we have been to the fair and boy was it memorable.  Deep fried butter, peanut butter sandwiches, pickles--you name it--they deep fried it.  There were also the cheese sculptures and the cockroach races.  It was all fascinating.  Of course the kids like petting the animals the most.  And poor Aunt Liz was sneezing because of her allergies.  We didn't make her suffer too long though.

We left the fair in the early afternoon to hit the road for home.  We had a wonderful time!  Thank you Adam & Liz for your hospitality.  It was a wonderful visit.  You are ALWAYS welcome here.  Camping in Kentucky again---uuuuhhh...only National Parks.  Louisville was wonderful. 

Our vacation next year will be in Wisconsin.  We try to do an "every other year" traveling vacation outside of the state.  All in all it was a good vacation, despite the Kentucky surprises.  (And we only lost a few things due to water damage & mold--that's pretty good!)    So finally--here it is mid-November and I finished our August vacation blog.  I feel really lousy about being so behind, knowing that I am missing writing down memories.  I am going to try harder to put some things on the back burner so I can catch up on this blog.  These years with the kids are flying by TOO fast to lose the memories because I didn't have time to write them down.  (Can you believe Ky starts school next year!  And he is starting to read on his own!  Alaina is NONSTOP talking!  And is potty trained!  YEAH!  Okay...I will catch up and give you all those details, I promise!  But here is this blog entry along with a few other ones...